That’s according to the latest local advertising report from BIA Kelsey. Total local advertising in the state of California will hit $18.5 billion, up from $18 billion in 2016. Direct Mail will bring in the largest amount, $4.60 billion, followed by TV at $2.68 billion, Online at $2.30 billion, Mobile at $1.99 billion, and Radio with $1.58 billion.
BIA/Kelsey says retail, automotive, and general services will together spend nearly $8 billion experiencing the highest growth. The fastest-growing vertical ad category in California is real estate, projected to grow by 29 percent through 2021.
In the top three California markets – Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento — the spend by the top three verticals varies significantly, according to BIA/Kelsey’s forecast.
– Retail: LA $1.58 billion; San Francisco $815.3 million; Sacramento $361.3 million.
– Automotive: LA $1.03 billion; San Francisco $411.9 million; Sacramento $190.0 million.
– General Services: LA $994.6 million; San Francisco $474.2 million; Sacramento $204.6 million.
Why are we in radio not getting the share that we deserve? And WHY does radio take a back seat to direct mail?? Really? It doesn’t cost 49 cents ( the price of a stamp) every time you want to listen to radio. And who uses the mail anymore anyway??!! And why a back seat to TV? Your commercial gets lost when the are hundreds of channels! Only radio is ubiquitous, and used by 94% of all Americans every week. … For sure, we’ve got to demand bigger budgets from clients or raise our rates our both, because competitors with products nowhere near the value of radio, are taking our money.