More Advertising Money Will be Spent Online than Anywhere Else in 2009

Respected agency, 
ZenithOptimedia  has predicted that 2009 will be the year that the Internet becomes the number one destination for advertising revenue in the UK, as reported in MediaWeek. While traditional advertising is predicted to grow by 5%, a surging 32.3% growth is predicted for online spend.

The over-hyped credit crunch is turning out to be Internet advertising’s best friend

Many Internet and Social Media evangelists would call this the tipping point for the Internet’s reputation as a credible source to spend ad revenue (and may it never be questioned again!) and will be running back to clients armed with the stats. The dot bomb era wasn’t that long ago showing the powerful surge in reputation and power the Internet has undergone in the last five or so years, thanks mainly to pioneers like Facebook, Myspace and Google and the advent of Web 2.0 and Social Media.

Stealing from Baskets.

The over-hyped credit crunch is turning out to be Internet advertising’s best friend. With companies fearing a slow year, advertising budgets are being tightened, putting pressure on marketers to produce tangible, accountable results on a smaller budget

. The Internet is of course the ideal platform to engage with under these parameters so many marketers are shifting funds from (already reduced) traditional advertising budgets and putting them into online budgets, creating a ‘stealing from other baskets’ scenario. This single factor could be the major reason for the swing in fortunes of Internet ad spend this year and next.

Possible reasons for the surge in online spend:

• Credit crunch. – Advertisers need to be wiser with their spend and online seems to be the answer.
• Social Network advertising is booming as measurable results overtake hype.
• Traceable results. – The single best feature of online advertising.
• Niching. – As marketers channel their efforts to a much tighter audience, Internet, once again, provides the solutions with psychographics, niche social networks, opt-in marketing activities etc.
• Viral – The best place to go viral is online and when it does, you can pat yourself on the back because it is money very well spent!
  del.icio.us Tags: internet ad spend,credit crunch,marketing in a recession