Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

The online ad market might look like the Wild West to outsiders. Search companies, social media operators and national portals are all competing for ad revenue at both the local and national market. Industry analysts have questioned whether operators of small media concerns in TV or print can make the shift to the online arena and begin earning ad revenue to make up for what they may be losing in the traditional media space. A new report from Borrell Associates shows there’s good news for this market.

The ad market is back in a big way. This good news comes from the just-released Highlights and Insights report issued by CMO Survey in conjunction with Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and the American Marketing Association. The report contains keen insights about marketer plans for the next 12 months – by sector and by business type.

After a big growth year in special event revenue from politics and the Olympics, TV and radio stations are back to focusing on fundamentals. Analysts foresee growth in demand from core marketers for these media formats in 2011. Providers of these traditional media platforms are repositioning themselves for a bigger market in 2012 and they’ll also be using 2011 to merge, acquire and consolidate.

It’s no secret that emerging economies will see higher growth in advertising expenditures during 2011. The U.S. should also see another rise in ad spending after beginning its economic recovery in 2010. Magna has issued its global ad spending forecast which it estimates will increase by 5.4% and reach a total of $411.7 billion. Some sectors will enjoy significant growth while others will struggle.

Online advertising cannot be all things to all marketers. Evidence to support that argument can be found in the latest release from Beta Research which finds that media buyers will be increasing their cable TV ad buys in 2011. In studying this topic, analysts found that programming quality, client services and desirable programming environments play a role when marketers determine where to place their buys.

The global ad market is in recovery and analysts are looking for a growth rate of 4.5% over 2010 levels. As in the U.S. , the big story for the global ad market is online. Analysts say that the growth in this format, on a global basis, will reach 16%. However, online market is still not close to catching up with the number one media format: TV. Especially in emerging nations, TV will grow steadily and maintain its top position with 42% of all ad spending. At the same time, the World Association of Newspapers believes that print will decline another 1% this year.