As ad spend in traditional media continues to fall by 6.2pc, digital advertising in Ireland has increased by 12.3pc to surpass €150m for the first time, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB).
The IAB/PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) study revealed that paid-for search advertising has grown by 24pc year on year with a 45pc share of online adspend at €66.6m.
Display advertising holds a 34pc share with a spend of €50.6m and an increase of €2.8m on 2011.
Classified advertising online grew by 13pc in 2012 and holds a 20pc share of online ad spend at €29m.
In 2012 mobile ad spend reached €9.9m, with Display and SMS/MMS advertising accounting for 82pc of this revenue and Mobile Search holding an 18pc share. FMCG is the top spending category on Mobile Display/SMS/MMS.
The digital channel has broken the €150m milestone in 2012 with a total digital ad spend including mobile of €158m.
FMCG advertisers are the top spending category in online display spend with a category share of 15pc of total display spend. Finance is in second position at 12pc, followed by telcos at 11pc.
The top-spending category for classified advertising in 2012 is Auto at 36pc followed closely by Property/Recruitment in second place at 34pc. These two categories continue to hold the top spending positions of the classified format.
PwC predicts 15pc growth per year in Irish online ad spend during the period 2012- 2016 (PwC Annual Global Entertainment and Media Outlook).
Media agency Vizeum forecast a growth of 15pc for digital ad spend in 2013 with Core Media predicting a growth of 11pc in the next 12 months.
61pc of smartphone users go online every day
Key drivers for the growth in online spending include a 10pc growth in unique visits in 2012 and the average person spends 19.5 hours a week online.
Smartphone penetration is 43pc, with 61pc of users going online via smartphones every day.
IAB also reported that 80pc of medium/large businesses have committed to growing their digital budget in 2013.
“A key takeout from our 2012 study is the increased adoption of display advertising by FMCG marketers as an important driver of brand awareness,” Suzanne McElligott, CEO of IAB Ireland explained.
“IAB is also delighted that mobile ad spend is now tracked in the 2012 study, this data will enable brands to grow their digital spend with informed strategy in 2013.
“Another finding is that Irish advertisers are increasingly using video and new innovative display formats which feature enhanced interactivity in their integrated campaigns,” McElligott said.
Digital marketing image via Shutterstock
