Advertiser spend on TV and social media is twice as high as daily consumption

For the first time, social now attracts more investment from advertisers than linear TV, a new WARC Global Advertising Trends report reveals, but both media attract a disproportionate share of advertising budgets when one considers the time the average consumer spends with these channels each day.

WARC Global Advertising Trends: The Investment Gap

• Social media is forecast to account for 39.1% of 2022 adspend but has a 21.4% share of daily media consumption; the equivalent figures for linear TV are 31.5% and 16.1%.
• Social media spend would need to reduce by $94.3bn in order to mirror global consumption levels next year, while the investment gap is $86.9bn for linear TV.
• The largest gaps between social consumption and adspend can be found in China (where advertiser spend is 3.3x consumption), the UK (2.2x) and the US (2.0x).
• Conversely, in Australia (0.9x), India (0.4x) and Russia (0.5x), social’s share of daily media consumption is higher than its share of advertising budgets – a potential indicator of opportunity for brands.
• While linear TV spend is inflated in relation to its consumption, online video is now close to parity after years of underinvestment.

Undervalued media

• Podcasts are found to be undervalued by $40bn, with the greatest opportunities for advertisers among audiences aged 16–24, middle earners, and those educated until the age of 16.
• Advertisers would need to spend $58.0bn on online press ads globally next year to achieve parity with consumption levels. Instead, forecast spend is just $12.8bn.

WARC’s Global Ad Trends: The Investment Gap is based on WARC analysis of advertising spend forecasts for 100 markets worldwide, combined with the results of a survey by GWI of more than 715,000 consumers. A sample report is available for all. WARC Data subscribers can read the report in full.