IAB Projects: 2023 Overall Ad Spend Willl Be Up 5.9%

In IAB’s 2023 Outlook Survey: Ad Spend, Opportunities, and Strategies for Growth report released today, the trade group asked buy-side ad investment decision makers (brands and agencies) about their 2023 ad spend outlook.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

2023 Outlook: Ad Spend

• • 2023 overall ad spend is projected to be up 5.9% YoY
  • Although most categories are projecting ad spend growth in 2023, the growth will not be uniform:
    • B2B (+20.8%), travel (+20.6%), restaurants/beer/liquor/wine (17.1%), and financial services (11.1%) are projected to post double-digit growth YoY while other categories are projected to be down, flat, or post single-digit growth
    • Led by CTV(+14.4%), every digital channel is projected to see ad spend growth in 2023 while traditional channels will decline YoY

2023 Outlook: Opportunities and Strategies for Growth 

• • Customer acquisition is by far buyers’ top goal for 2023 media investments (61%), followed by increasing brand equity (43%) and improving media efficiency (35%)
  • More than half of buyers (52-55%) expect to focus more time and resources on measurement, MMM, 1P data, and creators in 2023
  • Over 6-in-10 buyers (63%) will more frequently reforecast media plans in 2023, most of whom will do so at least monthly

Deep Dive: Retail Media Networks (RMNs)

• • 6-in-10 buyers (61%) are investing or considering investing in RMN advertising
  • Among those currently investing:
    • 2023 RMN ad spend is projected to be up 28.4% YoY
    • RMN ad investment is spread across multiple partner types, which includes aggregated marketplaces (82%), retailer owned (75%), and e-commerce owned (64%)
    • Onsite (O&O) ad investment is by far the top RMN ad tactic being leveraged (by 91% of RMN buyers)

Deep Dive: Metaverse

• • More than half of buyers (56%) are investing or considering investing in metaverse advertising/marketing
    • Buyers’ top reasons for metaverse advertising investment are building brand awareness (52%), engaging existing customers in a new way (48%), boosting brand perception (46%), and reaching hard-to-find audiences (42%)
  • Buyers not investing in metaverse advertising cite multiple reasons for their lack of investment, including the nascency of the space (41%) and it not being a good fit for their audiences (37%) and brands (35%)

Read the full report here.