UK To Be First Country Where Half Ad Spend Goes Digital

Digital World 50% Loaded

Tally-ho, chaps! We’re leading the charge.

The UK is set to become the first country ever where half of all advertising spend goes digital due to a nation obsessed with our digital toys and most importantly, our social media. I’m not sure if I’m proud of us or a little bit ashamed.

Group M, the worldwide media buying arm of the market services company WPP, has forecast that the total UK ad market will hit £15.7bn in 2015. Within this, online spend is forecast to grow 12.7% year-on-year to break the £8bn mark, making the UK the first in which more than £1 in every £2 of ad spend will go on digital media.

source: deviantart.com

I recently wrote about Australian teens being obsessed with social media, but Australia is lagging behind the halfway spend mark at 42%. Other countries coming close to the threshold include Sweden (47%), Denmark (43%) and Norway (40%).

This means that in the UK next year, more money will be spent for online ads than on any of traditional mediums. Television, cinema, billboards, newspapers, magazines, radio, posters and buses all combined still won’t match the revenue spent for a good online presence.

So if you didn't quite understand just how important your online presence is, let this report finally show you the path you need to be preparing to take as soon as possible.  

Adam Smith, a futures director at Group M, commented on the UK fuelling the digital ad world.

"The British are the most enthusiastic online shoppers in the world in terms of spend per head, and there has always been a high level of credit and debit card use. On top of that Britons have rapidly embraced smartphone and tablet use, all of which has fuelled where advertisers spend their money."

I own a smartphone and every day I can’t help but feel that I need a tablet to use while I sit down in front of the television. We've become a nation where we want to be plugged in while we’re plugged into something else. To be fair, if there’s a scary film on I need to distract myself by cute pugs on a separate screen.

Facebook plays a very significant role in this surge. It’s been estimated that this UK operation will draw in £720 million just through Facebook alone.

source: thenextweb.com

Unfortunately, this prediction also means stark issues for other mediums. Newspapers are expected to suffer greatly. Group M estimates that £160 million will be lost in print advertising in the UK newspaper market next year with £82 million in losses for all following years.

I like reading a newspaper, there’s something so refreshing about ripping it in three different places and having ink stains on your fingertips for the rest of the morning. But, with these predictions it doesn't seem like there is much more they can do.

So there we have it, the UK is digitally ad mad. Online presence for businesses is becoming extremely important, and more so with these predictions.

I’d suggest starting sooner rather than later. 

Tom Welby

Tom has just graduated from University of East London in Creative and Professional Writing. He loves writing and is currently interning as content writer hoping to go further. His other loves include Arnold Schwarzenegger films and his dog. Follow him @TomAtSMF

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