The Ad Biz is Coming to Save Us

Having been in the “ad biz” for three decades, I’ve learned a few things about it. Ups and downs. Ebbs and flows. Dollars and cents. Trends and fads.

One thing that most folks do not know is that the Advertising Business has been a barometer of the overall economy for over 100 years. Businesses cut spending on advertising 3-6 months before an “economic slowdown” and start increasing their spending just before a recovery. Market research and business intelligence firms, like Standard & Poor’s, have relied on ad spending as an important economic indicator.

According to S&P Global Ratings, ad spending trends can be a leading indicator of the economy’s direction, because advertising moves products and services. Good, bad, or indifferent, advertising works.

And here’s the good news: global ad spend is trending waaaaay up. In fact, the increase has been revised upward from 5.3% to 7.8% for the remainder of 2024.

This is back to pre-Covid levels and is seen by economists as a great prediction of economic growth in many sectors; especially business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers. At Madison+Main we’ve seen ad spend levels increasing for almost all clients, and most of it is going into digital.

You can break down the reasons very simply; companies cut ad spend on sites like Google and Facebook in 2021-2023, then sales fell and so did much of the economy. Then companies start increasing spending on ads in the first half of 2024 and in the second half, sales increase. The economy improves. And as I often say, “98% of all business is small business.” And small businesses are spending on ads again. 

So how do you benefit from this newfound wisdom?

1. Increase your ad spend to get a bigger piece of the pie in Q4 and 2025.
2. Call us. We can help. 877-623-6246.
3. Although I’m not a financial advisor, I’d suggest buying some Google (up 35% YTD) or Meta stock (up 47% YTD) or you can follow my lead and buy some SnapChat (up 1.4% YTD).