As consumer attention is increasingly split across screens, marketers are looking holistically at all touchpoints to find their audiences in the right place, at the right time. It’s not enough anymore to look at digital media and TV advertising as separate channels with separate audiences that may potentially overlap, says the report. Advances in technology have allowed for incorporating audience data into both digital media and TV campaigns, presenting advertisers the opportunity to launch true cross-screen advertising efforts.

If you’re trying to advertise to a specific, niche audience, you wouldn’t be targeting something that doesn’t make sense for them. Having that unique data set, using first party data, affinities, tapping into TV… helps to have the ability to reach the right person with the right custom message at the right time. Liz Brock, Group Director, Social Media, Havas

Given these industry changes, it’s time to take a holistic approach, says the report. Previously, we presented our State of Social Media reports to show key areas of social advertising growth within the channel. As marketers orient their campaigns around audiences, and platforms expand beyond social content and utility, we present our first State of Media report. The quarterly report will detail data and advertising trends across premium channels, specifically:

DIGITAL ADVERTISING Based on a representative sample of brands active on 4C across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Snapchat 

• Digital media spend continues to grow as marketers leverage social and mobile advertising to engage their audiences. Overall digital ad spend through 4C increased 28% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) and 54% year-over-year (YoY).
  
• The total sample for our Q4 report included more than $400 million in media spend across 1,000+ individual brands.

TV ADVERTISING Using proprietary Teletrax TV monitoring technology, which tracks 2,100+ channels, we look at which brands were advertising the most in the US and UK over the past quarter.

• We measure cross-screen engagement, combining TV & social data together to see which brands saw the biggest impact on social engagement following TV ad spots. We’ll continue to bring together our proprietary datasets as our cross-screen advertising opportunities grow.
  
• The application of data science in multi-channel audience targeting has helped drive growth in the sector. The premium media industry grew and evolved in Q4 2017 as marketers strive to reach audiences across screens, says the report.

As seasonality dictates advertiser priorities, different verticals drive growth in ad spend each quarter. In Q4, retail and apparel drove ad spend across several publishers. Advertisers in these verticals made a push heading into holiday shopping season, when consumers are likely to be drawn in by ads as they actively search for gift ideas.

The government/organizations and travel verticals were responsible for the greatest growth in Instagram ad spend in Q4, with 373% and 145% QoQ. Instagram continues to use its place as a visual platform to appeal to advertisers. With a 1,006% increase in ad spend YoY, travel brands are investing heavily in Instagram’s visual strengths

LinkedIn Business-to-business marketers are turning to LinkedIn as a resource for branding and demand generation. While the cost of advertising on LinkedIn tends to be higher than other platforms, ad spend grew 85% QoQ and 81% YoY, showing the investment continues to pay off.

With seasonal shopping as a main focal point for Q4, tech brands like Google, Apple, and Samsung upped their broadcast ad time, as did retail powerhouse Target, to capture the attention of consumers in the market for their products. Car brands like Toyota and Chevrolet also continued to make investments in broadcast TV ad time, where they are likely to reach broad audiences. The top brands advertising on cable TV in the US stayed relatively the same from Q3 to Q4, with Burger King and Volkswagen as the only two new additions to the top 10. Cable ad time is a popular investment for both insurance and pharmaceutical companies.