Hey Champ-

I like to think I have a pretty good marketing mix going on for my business. We have a heavy presence in local radio and TV and have been pushing more energy and effort into Facebook and Google for our digital campaigns. I’m curious what you’re watching going forward?

-Savvy in Seattle

Hey Savvy. I felt a little like Meg Ryan receiving a message from Tom Hanks in the epic rom-com from the 90s. Of course, my AOL account is no longer active, so I didn’t get to hear the famous phrase … “You’ve got mail.” I bet there’s an app for that.Anyway, on to business.

Two things you need to be aware of as you look toward the future. One — Reaching people with advertisements is more difficult than it’s ever been in the modern marketing era. You have to do something else. Two — Ads are still necessary, but Internet video, not TV, is the place to be going forward.

Let’s clarify number one. We’ve known for a few years now that people are running away from traditional advertisements. A 2015 Nielsen study showed that the top four most-trusted sources of advertising were: people you know, branded sites, editorial sites, and reviews. Ads were near the bottom of that list, and that hasn’t really changed.

Going a step further, 30 percent of all internet users are expected to be using ad blockers by the end of 2018, meaning traditional ads won’t reach 30 percent of the possible target audience.

The trick is to make the advertisements more valuable and more relevant to the consumer. This is why we see more money going to content marketing, influencer marketing, referral partnerships, and other methods that are designed to deliver actual value to audiences.

Now, number two. Research shows that internet will catch up to television in 2019 in terms of hours watched. According to a study by research firm Zenith, people will spend 2.6 hours a day online and 2.7 hours a day watching the tube in 2019.

Approximately 45 minutes of an average person’s internet time will be spent watching mobile video.

That means that you need to be exploring ways to get your relevant and valuable ads in front of those online viewers. Even when you look at the traditional TV numbers, much of those TV hours are consumed through streaming app services, which often serve different ads from a traditional program.

So, as you are looking at your media buys, consider asking for placements that are either a package in both traditional TV and their streaming apps, or take a flier and run your ad exclusively in the streaming arena … you might be surprised.