New Businesses Prefer New Ad Platforms

With the ever-growing popularity of mobile devices, new local businesses are more likely to target digital advertising over traditional, an industry watcher said Wednesday.

“Newer businesses are much more oriented toward new media,” said Matt Booth, BIA/Kelsey’s SVP, interactive local media. “What you’re really seeing here is a demographic shift of sorts.”

About 44% of new local businesses intend to build pages on social networking sites, like Facebook, further exemplifying their interest in new advertising platforms, he said.

Booth’s comments on Wednesday were part of a webinar BIA/Kelsey held exploring trends in the interactive local media marketplace in preparation for the company’s big conference on the subject slated for December in Santa Clara, Calif.

During his presentation, Booth highlighted growing mobile advertising trends, and what they can mean for legacy media still banking on traditional TV, radio and print sales.

While traditional media sales are slated to grow ever so slightly in the coming year, “robust growth” — 17.4% — in interactive advertising is predicted, meaning legacy media companies better get a piece of the $145.2 billion expected to be spent on local advertising by 2014, he said.

Comscore Director Gillian Heltai agreed, saying smartphone penetration, which hovers now at about 24% of the mobile phone users, will likely exceed 50% within three years, meaning mobile is going to be an increasingly lucrative advertising platform.

At the same time, the percentage of individuals who use mobile phones to access social networking sites has already exploded, with the number of individuals who do so daily jumping by 77% year over year, she said.

“The continued strong growth of social networking is inevitable,” Heltai said, explaining that social networking platforms will become increasingly important vehicles for local advertising as a result.