Almost 60% of the digital ad budgets of marketers are allocated to video, and more than half of buyers plan to increase digital and mobile video spending over the next year, according to a new study from the Interactive Ad Bureau.
Per the Digital Content NewFronts: 2018 Video Ad Spend Study, advertisers are poised to raise spending on digital video and mobile by 53% compared to two years ago, to an average of more than $10 million annually.
Of that spend, there’s a growing emphasis on original digital video programming, with the vast majority (more than 8 in 10) agreeing that the category is an essential part of their media buy. The biggest drivers there are quality of programming (45%), attractive costs/CPMs (40%), and effective audience reach and quality of environment (38% each).
About half of buyers plan to spend more on social video advertising in the next 12 months.
The study’s findings are based on an online survey of 353 marketer and agency execs conducted from March 6-16. To qualify, those execs had to be involved in digital video ad decision-making at a company responsible for $1 million-plus total ad spend in 2017.
“Marketers’ commitment to digital video—especially original digital video—has been skyrocketing over the past few years,” Anna Bager, executive vice president, industry initiatives, IAB, said in a statement. “These findings reflect consumers’ enthusiasm for the dynamic storytelling which original video programming delivers in spades, and the power of the medium to deliver strong ROI. There is no question that we will see buyers out in full force throughout this week’s NewFronts presentations, as they look to invest more and more of their budgets in the latest original digital video programming opportunities.”
The study also found that 83% of advertisers believe that cross-platform measurement has improved versus a year ago, and that 44% of advertisers had strong interest in buying interactive ads on connected TVs.
