Most Local Ad Agencies Offer Digital Marketing, But Trust TV the Most
A deeper understanding of what marketing services local ad agencies offer and what media they are buying is a strategic advantage for the savvy local TV salesperson.
According to an April–June 2021 survey of local ad agencies from Borrell Associates, agencies know their clients need assistance with the use of digital media to maximize the effectiveness of their overall ad spending. It’s why 88% of the surveyed agencies said they include at least one digital marketing service among their palette of services – and the top three media they bought and managed for their clients were digital: social media, online banner/display ads and SEM.
Of the major social media platforms, Facebook is where their clients generate the most customer engagement, and based on their experience, 58% of these agencies said Facebook is the most effective platform.
Top 10 Media Local Ad Agencies Bought/Managed
for Their Clients, April–June 2021
|
Media |
Percent |
|
Social media |
77% |
|
Online banner/display ads |
71% |
|
SEM |
71% |
|
Radio |
69% |
|
Streaming video/OTT |
64% |
|
Out-of-home |
64% |
|
Broadcast TV |
60% |
|
Newspapers |
58% |
|
Cable TV |
54% |
|
Magazines |
54% |
Marketing Charts (Borrell Associates), September 2021
As much as digital media is currently the hot trend, trust in a medium to deliver the right audience at the right time remains extremely important to local agencies and clients. The Borrell Associates survey found broadcast and cable TV are the most trusted.
A March 2021 survey from YouGuv supports the trust primacy of TV as the responding US adults said three traditional ad media were those they trusted the most. Television was tied with print at 46%, with radio at 45%. Among the digital media listed in the results, search engines were trusted by 38% of respondents, Internet Websites 30% and social media was last at 19%.
Digital media is receiving a substantial share of local ad dollars, but advertisers are more likely to achieve their sales goals when they combine digital media with TV to benefit from TV’s greater level of trust among consumers.
