2020 is a year that needs no introduction. It has become a synonym for unprecedented. While the entire world has spent the year grappling with the new normal driven by the pandemic, advertising industry has not been spared either. With complete lockdown across the entire country, enforced by the government, ad platforms like outdoor, airport, transit, and cinema were hit severely while there was an adverse effect on print, television, radio as well. Digital emerged as the hero while there were occasional spikes in demand for advertising during reruns of old content and news content on television.
This made us think what’s better than the top 10 media for advertising in 2020 before the year 2020 comes to a close? Following are the top 10 media that witnessed the highest traffic on The Media Ant Website during the year 2020:
1.
Indian Premier League is undoubtedly the biggest sporting event of the country every year. However, due to the pandemic, in the year 2020, the series was postponed to coincide with the onset of festive season. IPL season 13 not only became the most viewed season but also became the most searched topic of 2020 as per Google Trends, leaving even Coronavirus behind.
While IPL advertising on Star TV channels witnessed several new brands, it was IPL advertising on Hotstar that stole the show. With video advertising rates as low as INR 180 CPM and targeting options to filter audience based on geography, interest and device, IPL advertising proved to be a win-win deal.
IPL Advertising on Hotstar gained traffic in the year 2020 by a whopping 195%. That’s how popular IPL advertising in 2020 was.
Interestingly, IPL 2020 advertising attracted advertisers from across the country including non-metros like Patna, Lucknow, Indore, etc.
2. Hotstar App Digital Advertising
Hotstar is one of the most used video platforms across the country. Of course the biggest attraction of the OTT platform is live streaming of Indian Premier League that has given the platform reach equivalent to YouTube last year. However, there are a very few platforms that offer content mix, user experience as well as advertising options at par with Hotstar. This year, with Disney added to the existing platform, the offering has only got better.
Hotstar App Advertising was most sought by advertisers from Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi and Pune.
3.
Television has been the top preferred media for many years for advertisers, thanks to the mass reach and connect it has. With lockdown followed by several restrictions placed on shooting for series and movies, television did suffer a slowdown but a large part of the loss was compensated by the surge in news viewership as this section was exempted from lockdown restrictions and was one of the few sources of updates about the world. Aaj Tak was one of the top visited news channel for advertising this year and gained 33% visitors this year.
The top cities from where advertisers came looking for Aaj Tak Television Advertising in 2020 are Delhi, Lucknow, Pune, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.
4.
This year was also bad for newspaper distribution. Several areas were under lockdown and newspaper delivery was adversely affected. A number of people canceled their subscription over fear of newspapers carrying virus. This entire shift was responsible for gain in the popularity of news websites and apps. Inshorts, a very popular online news app was one of our top visited advertising platform that witnessed a 27% growth in traffic this year.
The top cities from where advertisers visited Inshorts Digital Advertising in 2020 are Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Pune.
5.
Although television suffered from loss of fresh content during the lockdown, even the re-runs of old television shows were a hit among the entertainment starved audience who was forced to spend maximum time at home. Star Plus is the most popular among the GEC channels and made it to our top 10 advertising media list despite witnessing a slight drop in traffic this year.
Top cities: Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Lucknow.
6.
Short video format platforms are on a rise thanks to the unparalleled popularity of TikTok. And that’s the reason TikTok advertising is the 6th most visited media in 2020, despite being banned in the month of June 2020. If we have to put a number to the growth the app witnessed in traffic in 2020 (till July 2020) vs the entire year 2019: there’s a jump of 15%.
Top cities: Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai.
7. Times of India Mumbai Newspaper Advertising
Even though print media faced major challenges to stay afloat during the lockdown and Mumbai was one of the worst hit, Times of India Mumbai Newspaper Advertising did really well and is among our top 10 advertising media for the year 2020.
8.
In our recently concluded social media poll on LinkedIn, 71% people agreed that social media advertising has worked the best for them in 2020. And Facebook in our top 10 advertising media for the year proves this. With a growth of 7% over the last year, Facebook advertising is our top social media advertising media this year.
Top cities: Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Pune and Chennai.
9.
When we talk about video advertising, how can we forget the most popular video advertising platform- You Tube? With a jump of 21% over the last year, YouTube advertising has broke all our records to be the 9th most visited advertising media for the year 2020.
Top cities: Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and Pune.
10.
Radio too witnessed a tough challenge as people stopped commuting due to the lockdown and work from home norms but radio brands not only adapted to the situation but also flourished. With a number of innovative programs based on the current situation, radio stations managed to sail through the difficult times. While the same might not have been translated into ad revenue, radio advertising was quite popular in 2020 and Red FM Delhi advertising was our 10th top visited advertising media.
