Here at DAC, we’re all about local—which means keeping up with the latest and greatest developments in the world of local advertising is essential. Last week, I attended the 10th annual Borrell Associates Local Online Advertising Conference (LOAC). With speakers who are leaders in their field from top companies like Yelp, Waze, Facebook, Google and more, there was plenty of opportunity to network with experts in local.

This year’s conference was held in Manhattan on March 11th and 12th and was packed full of presentations. Since online advertising is a constantly evolving business, it’s important to be one step ahead. Here are a few key local advertising trends discussed at this year’s conference:

1. Advertisers have hundreds of local marketing channels to choose from

   When it comes to video advertising, in 1995, there were 20 local marketing channels available. Today, there are an average of 126 local media entities per TV market for advertisers to choose from. Choosing the right channel to maximize the impact of your ads is a lot more complicated than it used to be. Strategies have to have data to back them up and be designed to target the right audiences. That’s why 46% of advertisers are experimenting by choosing a new channel every year.

   Even though there are more choices, advertisers are sticking to 5-8 different types of media. It takes time for new medias to start catching on and many advertisers prefer the security of the tried and true methods while they set aside a smaller budget to experiment with up-and-coming medias such as virtual reality.

2. Simplifying the process is key: 90% of advertisers are buying bundles

   With all the data available and all the options to choose from, ad buying can get overwhelming. Digital marketing is becoming too technical for many medium-sized businesses to understand, so 90% are buying bundles, which include digital and traditional mediums, to simplify the process.

   Developing solid relationships with companies is also becoming more important. Many advertisers are cutting back on the number of companies they buy from both in an effort to simplify and to bring some consistency to their strategy.

3. Growth is slowing down: Under 1% projected for 2021

   Despite the emphasis on digital media over traditional, annual growth for US local digital advertising has gone from 28% in 2015 to 12% in 2019 to a projected 0.3% in 2021. Media companies are struggling with the following:

   • Regaining monetization of their audience
   • The seamless monetization of video
   • Driving digital revenue over traditional
   • Working with new ways to monetize such as augmented and virtual reality

Top companies like Facebook and Google are always updating their approach and working on ways to make local advertising more targeted and effective. That constant evolution means you have to be on top of your local business listings as well as your local advertising strategy.

We know local—and we’ve made it our mission to stay ahead of the curve. Interested in learning how we can help you build a local strategy that works for your business? Get in touch with DAC!