Remember watching YouTube videos in the early days, without all the advertisements? It almost feels like yesterday. The mass shift toward digital advertising that has occurred over the last decade is more than obvious. And although TV advertising is still number one in terms of dollars spent overall, many companies have already adjusted their spending budgets to focus more on digital ads and less on TV. A number of market forecasters, including eMarketer.com, predicted that digital ad spending would overtake TV ad spending by the end of 2016. As the first graph below indicates, the growth of mobile ad spending in the U.S. since 2012 has played a significant role in this trend. While desktop-based internet spending growth has slowed quite a bit, mobile ad spending has shown the opposite trend.

Of course, this makes sense as the evolution of the smartphone in particular has changed the way consumers interact with their mobile devices. However, a quick look at the second graph reveals some very interesting insights. As indicated, the yellow bars depict time consumers spent using a particular medium while blue indicates the percentage of total ad spending on the same medium.

Easily noticeable is the fact that consumers spent more time using mobile devices than traditional internet access. It is also somewhat obvious that percentages of ad spending for certain media, such as print, seem excessive considering the percentage of time spent. But as the graph points out, the most interesting detail is probably the 12% allotted to mobile ad spending compared to the 25% for total time spent.

This may present a huge opportunity for marketers moving into 2017 and beyond as digital spending makes a deeper cut into TV advertising budgets. In fact, if the above numbers are an indication, marketers will shift ad spending from other mediums as well, even within digital ad spending, as mobile use represents a larger portion of total internet consumers. Sound strategies will be key for capitalizing on these trends, most importantly, finding creative ways to develop engaging and entertaining ad content.

Editor’s Note:

How are professionals adjusting to the evolution of digital media, and how has it changed traditional advertising? Check out this JIAD study:

“Embracing Change:  Exploring How Creative Professionals Use Interactive Media in Advertising Campaigns”

Volume 13 – Issue 2

Journal of Interactive Advertising