In 2019, we’ll spend more time using the internet than watching TV. People will spend an average of 170.6 minutes a day, or nearly three hours, using the internet for things like shopping, browsing social media, chatting with friends, and streaming music and video in 2019, a recent report by media agency Zenith estimated. That’s a tad more than the 170.3 minutes they’re expected to spend watching TV.  And, by no surprise, in 2016, digital ad spending surpassed TV ad sales for the first time ever.

What are we doing online?

• In 2010, the average buyer checked five sources before making a purchase. By 2013, that number had grown to 12.
• Today’s consumers spend over 23 hours a week using apps, viewing video, streaming audio and social networking on their smartphones.
• Over 83% of adults use a smartphone to access the internet.
• Almost 59% of households with a TV also own at least one Internet-enabled device such as an Apple TV, Roku, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, smartphone, computer, laptop or tablet.

But is traditional media dead?  Not really. It’s how we prefer getting our programming. We are getting much of our traditional media online today.  Your radio stations are streamed or you may use Pandora or Spotify.  Your favorite TV is available online from a variety of sources including the television networks. You browse your favorite newspapers online.

Marketers still find value in traditional channels when it comes to brand building, awareness, ad recall and favorability. However, less than one-third of respondents from Nielsen’s new CMO Report 2018 plan to increase their traditional media budgets over the next 12 months.

TV was ranked the most important traditional channel by 51%, and 30% said TV was “extremely important” to their strategy. Like digital, measuring ROI on traditional media is also a struggle, with just 23% saying they were “highly confident” in their ability to track effectiveness.

So understanding our consumers, segmenting them and understanding their media habits has become more important than ever.  We need to better understand how they are using the media to deliver the right message at the right time in the right place.