Local Digital Ad Spend Expected to Sour [Infographic]

Stacey Rudolph — January 20, 2019

— January 20, 2019

Following the surge in internet penetration as well as the growing popularity of digital platform, digital advertising is one of the most critical forms of advertising today. According to InvespCro, digital ad spending will grow from $ 60.7 million to $ 71.3 million in 2022. This is quite significant and the fact that nearly 40% US marketers increased their digital ad spending in 2018, this shows that digital advertising has a bright future. And in another news, digital ad spend is expected to surpass TV spend in 2019.

The idea that mobile and online platforms would become preferable to Tv became inevitable in the last few years. Initially, marketers were dipping onto their print budgets but today more dollars are going to digital. According to another study, the internet is going to catch up to TV in terms of number of hours watched. An average person will spend an average of 2.7 hours on TV and 2.6 hours online.

Having said that, here are key areas marketers will need to focus on when it comes to spending on local digital ad spend.

Chatboks will become prominent

There was an explosion of websites using chatbots in 2018. Chatbots are very critical when it comes to engaging customers and it is expected that they will become the norm in 2019. Many consumers will find chatbots to be the first touch points. Therefore, marketers will need to take notice. According to AdNews, consumers now have a multitude of content options and marketers should better get prepared.

Beware of adblocks

Although banner advertising has been bearing some fruits in local search, banner ads will not enjoy much space in 2019 because consumers are becoming increasingly aware of adblocks. This means that marketers will be forced to optimize their content for local influencer marketing. Banners are no longer going to make much difference and will be replaced by more valuable content.

Integrated Marketing Will Become Even More Relevant

For sometimes now, we have been hearing that print is dead. However, many marketers still use print for media advertising. So, as you focus on digital trends, always remember that there is still space in print publications with which to make a splash. This by no means suggests that one should completely abandon digital. It should just act as a reminder that tremendous achievement can be realized by integrating digital and print media even in this age of HubSpot and MailChimp.

Having said that, it is worth noting that digital advertising increases awareness more than any other forms of advertising in a short span of time. According to RogerWest, local searches are growing 50% faster than mobile searches. As a result, more and more businesses are increasing the amount they spend in local search advertising.

Things like Wi-Fi hotspots, GPS, RFID and other tracking technologies have also helped in making it easier for local businesses to target, find and engage potential local customers.

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