Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Tracker says the ad market grew in October, albeit a slower rate than a month earlier. It reports ad spending rose 0.9% during October compared to a year earlier., making 18 consecutive months of year-over-year growth. But that small increase compared to a 10.7% growth rate for September, in what may be a sign that some brands opted to remain on the sideline as political advertising filled the airwaves.
Something that could work in radio’s favor is the fact that the growth came mainly from smaller ad categories. Guideline says the top 10 ad categories decline 2.3% year-to-year, while categories beyond the top 10 increased 5.6% in October versus a year earlier.
Guideline’s U.S. Ad Market Tracker is a composite monthly index from Standard Media Index, designed to provide a real-world measure of U.S. ad spending, based on actual invoiced media buys — including on radio — from the major agencies and their clients. As such, it is mostly representative of spending by larger national advertisers.
The data is powered by Standard Media Index and covers radio, television, digital, print and out of home media types. It is based on actual spending data from the SMI pool partners at major holding companies and large ad agencies, representing 95% of all U.S. national brand ad spending.
The report shows digital ad growth led the way in October across the total ad market, increasing 11.3% year-to-year. And Guideline says digital advertising accounted for 68% of marketer spending during October, with 32% share of dollars were spent on traditional media channels. That compares to a 61% to 39% split a year earlier.
See Guideline’s U.S. Ad Market Tracker HERE.