Our economy continues to adjust as we reset business strategies following the recent hard-hitting pandemic. One fascinating development is the number of U.S. adults who have decided to start their own businesses. An Intuit report points to the expected launch of 17 million businesses in 2022. Some of these businesses will be side hustles, but at least 5 million of these new operations will hire employees, and they'll need to do some advertising. When you combine those details with the Global End-of-Year Forecast issued by GroupM’s Brian Wieser, 2022 looks promising for local media sellers.

2022 Looks Promising for Local Media Sellers

After an impressive rebound in 2021, with the U.S. ad market likely to grow 22.7% over last year, 2022 will likely result in “double digital growth.” Realistically, 60% of total advertising will go to digital this year. And while Alphabet, Meta and Amazon will dominate the digital advertising scene next year, analysts expect $7 billion in political ad spending will go to TV in local markets. Another $5.4 billion will be spent on digital ad formats as candidates, parties and PACs seek to sway voters.

The global ad market, excluding U.S. political ad spending, will break out as follows next year. The anticipated percent change from this year appears in parentheses:

TV/Video $163.9 billion (+19.6%)
Audio $28.8 (+6.4%)
Newspapers $29.8 ‑5.1%)
Magazines $16.4 (-7.9%)
Outdoor $39.0 (+14.9%)
Cinema $1.7 (+132%)
Digital $557.6 (+13.5%)

The analysts also broke out paid search marketing from the digital line item. That figure is likely to reach $185.5 billion, with an anticipated growth rate of 14.4% in 2022.

The Optimism for TV Advertising

After plummeting by 13.7% in 2020, TV advertising came back strong in 2021. For 2022, analysts expect marketers to spend $171 billion on TV advertising. This figure includes Connected TV+ ad buys of approximately $17 billion, or nearly 10% of the total. Analysts point out that marketers like the data certainty that comes with Connected TV+, but they expect them to use the format to “build brands the way traditional marketers used traditional TV for many decades.” It’s also possible, in the long term, that fewer people will watch ad-supported TV and marketers will shift money into video platforms like YouTube, “blurring the lines” between specific media formats.

The Outlook for Other Media Formats

Analysts have similar issues classifying media formats such as magazines or newspapers when so many publications now emerge at digital-only formats. But in 2022, the “low-to-mid-single digit declines” are likely. On the other hand, the digitization of out-of-home formats and digital audio will yield modest growth rates as marketers seek new ways to reach their target audiences.

Local Media Selling

Keep in mind “many advertisers—especially small ones and those whose businesses operate entirely online—often allocate all or nearly all of their budgets to digital media while large businesses typically allocate higher shares of their budgets to television,” say GroupM analysts. Specifically, a large brand may spend 47% of the ad budget on TV and 35% on digital (not including digital video extensions.) As you approach new businesses in your local market, know that their top initiatives for 2022 include:

Increasing online sales 40%
Improving marketing results 39%
Hiring new talent 29%

You can prospect for new clients by using AdMall, powered by SalesFuel, to present data they need. In particular, AudienceSCAN profiles reveal the media formats and ads most likely to attract attention and prompt consumers to explore a new business in their local market. Review this information and then set a meeting to discuss the importance of advertising with new business owners in your market.

Photo by Max Vakhtbovych from Pexels.