In today’s fast paced world, people are viewing more content on their mobile devices than on TV. Mobile devices give people the ability to control what content they consume and at a quicker pace, with bite sized information readily available at just a swipe of the finger. Television up until 2013 was still beating out digital and generating more ad revenue. Thanks in large part to Mobile, advertisers are for the first time spending more on digital than broadcast television ad buys according to the IAB’s annual Internet Ad Revenue Report.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that digital has finally surpassed television in ad revenue, nor does this mean that people are watching less television.  In fact this is evidence that we live in a multi-screen world, where people are not choosing one viewing platform over the other but rather viewing multiple devices at once.  The internet allows for additional ways that the television audience can engage with additional content.  From participating in a poll on a show’s website to sharing opinions on  their favorite show’s on social media, people are able to engage in more content with the use of multiple devices.  As people continue with the use of multiple devices, the lines between digital and television ads may start to blur and marketers will need to start to strategize on ways to best utilize this and advertise effectively across multiple devices.  “Our survey confirms that we are fully in transition to the post-desktop era,” said David Silverman, Partner, PwC U.S. (source: IAB Report).

Digital marketing gives marketers greater reach and a variety of ways to target audiences from site and impression retargeting to page level content targeting. Mobile ad revenue continues to grow.  According to the IAB, mobile has “achieved triple-digit growth year-over-year, rising to $7.1 billion, a 110 percent boost from the prior year total of $3.4 billion.” Only time will tell if mobile will be able to continue to sustain this rapid growth.

Laia Wong
Just Media, Inc.