DIGITAL AD SPEND IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2021

Digital ad spend accelerates 49% in the first half of 2021 to hit £10.5bn

Optimism was high among digital advertisers over the first six months of the year, with new figures recording a 49% year-on-year rise to £10.5bn. The digital marketing industry is positively thriving.

Impressively, the stats chart a 42% increase versus ad spend in the first half of 2019, proving that the market is outperforming its pre-pandemic baseline.

This growth is documented by the IAB’s (the Internet Advertising Bureau) latest Digital Ad Spend report. 2021’s jump is the biggest ever recorded by the media company since it began biannual reporting.

IAB UK’s chief executive officer Jon Mewd said: “The pandemic forced businesses to either accelerate or improve their e-commerce offering to cater to a nation of housebound consumers – we saw three years of change take place in just three months. Advertisers in turn adopted a more digital-heavy strategy as it was the medium least impacted by lockdown. Meanwhile, the surge in video spend runs parallel to an explosion in short-form video content and a move from advertisers to harness this as a vehicle for effective brand building.”

Search is still the most significant digital channel, rising a further 49% year-on-year to £5.5bn, but the video segment of the display market has also performed strongly with growth of 70% year-on-year to £2.3bn.

Restrictions saw many seek solace in their mobile devices over the last year or so, fuelling a huge 75% year-on-year rise in mobile ad spend – ensuring that 64% of all digital investment now falls on the sector.

The grand performance of the digital advertising sector also shows no sign of easing, with the largest upward revision of marketing budgets since the first quarter of 2019 happening in the second quarter of 2021 – indicating that the rest of the year will continue recent trends.