After a pandemic-driven decline last year, global advertising spend is expected to increase by 19% overall in 2021, according to GroupM, a leading media investment company. A major component of that forecasted growth is the estimated 26% growth of online, or digital, advertising. The 26% growth number is itself rather astounding, given that in December, GroupM’s estimate of digital advertising growth in 2021 was just 15%!
Advertisers continue to invest more in advertising digitally than in any other media, primarily driven by continued growth in audiences and engagement across multiple digital channels- audio, video, social, e-commerce and others.
Across the Beasley Media Group footprint of 11 markets, local businesses invested over $10.5 Billion in online advertising in 2019, an investment that is forecasted to top $11.9 Billion in 2021, according to Borrell Associates’ COMPASS data.
Although it may seem daunting to business owners, especially those new to digital advertising, accessing those growing, engaged digital audiences isn’t as difficult as it may seem. First, business owners should examine their businesses to ensure they can answer four critical questions:
- Who are we trying to reach? [target audience]
- What do we want them to do? [click, call, set an appointment, purchase online, etc.]
- How will we measure what they do? [click-through rate, # of calls, foot traffic, online revenue, etc.]
- What return are we expecting for our investment? [realistically, for every $1 we invest we’d like to get back $X]
Next, business owners should determine which media to advertise in, and which partner they can work with who will help deliver the answers and return-on-investment for the four questions above. Many media companies have access to potential target audiences, as well as to your existing customers. Those media companies have relationships with their engaged audience and will help you access them. However, digital media companies have access to not only their engaged audiences, but also to the tools and solutions that can leverage (and even increase) their audience’s engagement. And these digital media companies can provide a return-on-investment by showing you how targeted, interactive, and measurable digital advertising is.
So, to recap- digital advertising is back- and it’s growing. Maybe you’re not as familiar with digital advertising, or advertising in general, and you’d like some help. Or maybe you’re really savvy and you’re looking for a good local media partner to help drive your digital advertising. Either way, we’ve got you covered. Click here and download Beasley.Digital’s “10 Tips for High- Performing Digital Advertising” and let’s talk further.
We look forward to the conversation!