The Digiday+ Research Briefing reveals trends in advertising spend, metrics used for ad campaign success on streaming platforms, and investment in programmatic ads.
Upfront Spending: 51% of marketers plan to allocate some budget to the upfront marketplace, an increase from 37% in 2023 and 29% in 2022. 48% of marketers plan to increase their upfront spend in 2024 compared to 2023. The majority of upfront spending will be on streaming platforms rather than TV networks. Nielsen will be the primary measurement provider for the upfront event.
Streaming Ad Inventory: The scarcity of streaming ad inventory is less of a concern for marketers. Impressions and engagement continue to be the top success metrics on streaming services like YouTube, Prime Video, and Hulu. The cost of media and lack of scale are the main challenges faced by advertisers on ad-supported streaming services.
Programmatic Advertising: Programmatic advertising remains a significant part of brands' and retailers' ad budgets. 77% of brand and retailer professionals use programmatic site display ads, and 80% of agency retailers said the same of their clients. However, the percentage of agency clients spending a lot on programmatic has been trending downward.
The research is based on data collected from Digiday's proprietary audience of publisher, agency, brand, and tech insiders.