Myers 2016 Ad Spending Forecast

Advertising spending is forecast to increase a surprising 7.7% to $194.6 billion in 2016, according to the bullish annual ad spending report published yesterday by MyersBizNet. This is Myers’ 29th Annual Advertising and Marketing Spending Forecast, which also projects that below-the-line marketing investments will decline by 3.6% to $369.7 billion, resulting in total U.S. marketing communications growth of only 0.2%. The growth in ad spend, while driven primarily by a shift of budgets from below-the-line trade promotion to digital advertising investments, reflects three primary dynamics:

• Political and Olympics spending in 2016;
• Continued exponential increases in digital video, mobile and social media investments;
• Marketers’ returning confidence in network television, radio and out-of-home media as necessary drivers of audience reach and sales influence.

MyersBizNet estimates total 2015 advertising investments grew 1.8%. Over the next few weeks, MyersBizNet TomorrowToday reports will provide a deep dive into our forecasts, specific media dynamics, and market insights. The data available at here reflects 2016 forecasts for each medium, with legacy (traditional) and digital spending provided separately (with the total). Most industry forecasters include only legacy data in their forecasts, and therefore their data does not reflect an accurate market assessment. Also included below are forecasts for Hispanic media, by sector. MyersBizNet include social marketing, direct marketing and search in our below-the-line data, which we will publish in detail in upcoming reports.

Click below to download our detailed 2016 ad spending forecast, covering both digital and legacy ad spending data for 26 media categories.