By 2016, Digital Advertising will finally claim its rank as the number one media category at $69 billion. With this bit of knowledge available, arts marketers should be increasingly aware of the importance of connecting with and engaging their patrons in the digital environment.
Last year, digital revenue increased 16% from 2013 (to $49.5 billion). Interestingly, revenue for digital in the first quarter of this year also rose 16% from the same period last year.
A large part of digital advertising’s growth can likely be attributed to Facebook, which boasts one of the largest market shares in digital advertising. With about 968 million active users per day, and 4 billion views per day on just Facebook video ads alone, the social media site is emerging as one of the most dominant players in the digital ad market with other ad options like Facebook Carousel Ads. For arts marketers, this means it’s especially important to remember that their patrons are on social media as well as mobile devices.
Why the mobile consideration? Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, claims that individuals are spending more time on their mobile devices “and on Facebook apps…” Facebook use also accounts for more than one out of every five minutes spent online on mobile devices in the U.S., according to Sandberg.
Even though the 2016 forecast for digital is important, it’s also important to consider how current trends will continue even farther into the future. By 2019, advertising revenue is expected to reach or exceed $95 billion, according to a recent report by comScore. In 2013, over 50% or more of organizations spent at least a quarter of their budgets on digital alone, up from just a quarter in 2012. Based on this information, one can only conclude that this allocation will continue to “slant” digital. Digital spend is generally increasing, no matter the industry. When it comes to investing in specific media channels, for arts marketers, display, video, and social (Facebook) ads are seeing a significant year over year growth.
Mobile and video are the fastest-growing segments of digital advertising, according to the report. Arts marketers should continue to follow these trends and also their patrons’ online behavior to make sure they are effectively maximizing their digital marketing budgets over time.