A new advertising expenditure forecast published by Zenith claims that global advertising spending in social media will grow by a whopping 72% between 2016 and 2019; this can also be characterised as a rise from $29bn to $50bn. In 2019, social media advertising will represent 20% of all internet advertising in that year and will be just 1% smaller than newspaper advertising. By 2020, advertising expenditure in social media will be ahead of newspaper advertising expenditure, according to the report.

Regarding the forecast, Zenith said:

“Social media platforms have benefitted from the rapid adoption of mobile technology, using it to embed themselves into their users’ daily lives. For many users, social media is a focal point of their social lives as well as their main source of news. Social media ads blend seamlessly into the news feed, and are much more effective than interruptive banner formats, especially on mobile devices.”

Aside from ad expenditure in social media taking over newspaper ad expenditure by 2020, online video advertising expenditure is set to overtake the money spent on radio advertising. By 2019, online video advertising expenditure will reach $35.4bn, compared to the amount spent on radio ads which is expected to be $35.0bn.

In terms of the total amount spent on global advertising, this figure is set to grow 4.4% in 2017, which is the same rate Zenith predicts for 2016. This ‘strong performance’ is riding on the back of several Asian countries including China, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Source: Zenith | Image via Open Advertising