Survey: Ad Agencies Show More Interest In Radio

A recent survey of media buying agencies found that 45% of those polled are more interested in digital/online video than they were a year ago, while streaming/online radio saw a 53% increase. Overall, video dominates as 67% of agencies said that their clients' primary focus for campaigns is video advertising (which includes traditional TV, cable, and network, as well as digital video).

The second quarter survey of agencies was conducted by STRATA, the leader in media buying and selling software.

YouTube is the most dominant site within digital video, as 72% of agencies said their clients are interested in advertising on that medium, up 5% from last year. HULU followed at 36%, a 32% jump from 3Q13. Despite the strong growth for digital video, agencies still question the value of online video ads. Almost half (47%) said they are fairly confident they are getting a good value for their money in recent digital video ad purchases, while 40% say they are unsure.

Driven by television along with digital advertising, the overall ad economy appears to be strong as 62% of agencies say their business is increasing this quarter compared to the same time last year, representing an all-time high for the STRATA Agency Survey.  Spot TV continues to be the top source for advertisers as 55% say their clients are the most interested in that medium, the largest percentage in 22 quarters of the survey.

For spot radio, 13% of agencies responded that that medium is receiving the most interest, up 32% from a year ago.

Joy Bauer

"While dollars continue to flow to the traditional advertising mediums, our agencies continue to ask for better ways to buy digital video advertising," said Joy Baer, president of STRATA. "We are seeing long-form digital video content increasingly mirror the 30-second TV ad experience, further blurring the lines between devices. We as an industry need to make it easier to buy video, regardless of the platform, and provide the right measurement and accountability to help our buyers purchase digital video at scale."

The use of programmatic buying also continues draw differing opinions from agencies. Thirty-nine percent of agencies are still undecided as to whether they trust programmatic to carry out their media buying, while an equal amount of agencies believe that programmatic buying is effective in reaching their clients' target audiences. The most popular form of programmatic buying, according to agencies, is digital, with a third of agencies polled stating they use programmatic to purchase their digital ads.

Other key findings:

• 89% plan on using Facebook in client campaigns, which is the third highest number in the STRATA Agency Survey since 2008. YouTube (53%), Twitter (50%), LinkedIn (36%) and Pinterest (32%) followed.
• Pinterest had the largest year-to-year growth, jumping up 31% over 2Q13.
• 51% project the second half of 2014 to be better than the first half, up 19% from the second quarter of 2013
• 31% are less interested in Out of Home advertising than a year ago, the largest percentage since 2008.