After turning in a robust performance in 2018, the ad market will experience a slower growth rate in 2019. In their most recent forecast, MAGNA analysts predict that advertising spend will increase 4.1% (including cyclical events.) Here are the details.

What Happened in 2018

Search continued to shine as a growth vehicle last year and accounted for $54B of the total market. The growth rate for search was 23%. The out-​of-​home format also experienced strong demand (a 4.5% growth rate) which translated to revenue of $8B. The largest advertisers continue to purchase media at a healthy clip. These companies include P&G, AT&T and Geico. For the first time, Amazon’s ad spending brought it into the Top 10 advertisers.

The 2019 Outlook

Amazon also bears watching in 2019 as it will most certainly increase its share of the ad revenue market. Last year, the company reported $6 billion in ad revenues. As a big spender in the technology vertical, Amazon joins other companies like Disney and Apple that are expected to go on ad buying sprees this year. Other verticals with higher than average ad spending increases will likely be finance, insurance and pharmaceutical.

We can expect digital ad sales to jump 12% to $124B. On the other hand, linear (traditional) ad sales will fall by 5% and end up at $92B. The digital sales figure sounds impressive, but analysts note that this year’s increase will be less than last year’s figure. In digital, the social, video and search categories will stand out with increases of 23%, 19% and 13%, respectively.

Last year, the OTT market accounted for $2.8B in ad sales. This year, that number will rocket to $3.8B. And in 2020, the OTT market could be worth $5B as more contenders look for ways to roll out ad-​supported business models.

Look for traditional radio to shrink another 5% and print to decline 18% in 2019. Some of these losses will be offset by digital growth at media companies. Out-​of-​home remains the one traditional sector expected to increase sales. The projected 2.8% increase will be driven in some part by new digital screens and the industry’s push to attract technology, luxury and travel advertisers.

To learn more about which consumers respond to specific types of advertising, check out the AudienceSCAN profiles available at AdMall from SalesFuel.