According to Business Insider, 2016 will be the year that US advertisers spend more on digital advertising than TV ads. Researchers at Forrester believe that email marketing, social media, display advertising and search marketing combined will grow at an annual growth rate of 30% by then (compared to 24% in 2014). By 2019, interactive spend will reach $100 billion, while TV advertising will be at a little over $90 billion.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that TV networks and broadcasters are useless. But it does show us the overarching trend of markets increasingly moving away from a 30-second commercial spot. So rather than this being TV’s demise, it’s the end of an era dominated by TV.
It’s like what happened to newspapers and radios all those years ago. They became a second-rate medium as TV grew in popularity. This is essentially what the Internet is now doing to TV.
While this might seem like it’s moving quickly, it’s hardly a surprise. Consumers are spending more time on their desktops, mobiles and tablets than they are watching live TV. Looking at this graph, we can see that the money spent on ads in particular mediums is becoming more equal to the time consumers spend on that medium.
Image Credit: Business Insider
Digital formats are also becoming increasingly attractive. Brands can run beautiful campaigns like on TV, but they’re no longer restricted by scheduling. They can use more sophisticated targeting techniques. This helps them to better reach the markets that actually benefit and find value from the advertisements.
While it’s unclear if this trend will last for many years to come, we do know digital advertising is on the rise for the next two years.