Are We in a Local Advertising Renaissance?

Local advertising is thriving and is projected to pull in an impressive $33 billion this year, showing a strong 16% year-over-year growth. At the same time, including diverse audiences in media plans can unlock access to a staggering $6+ trillion in potential buying power for brands. It’s like finding a treasure chest brimming with gold coins: the value is undeniable, but the real magic lies in how you spend it. I recently interviewed two media leaders in these respective areas—Peter Jones, VP of Revenue at Premion, and Sheila Marmon, Founder and CEO of Mirror Digital—how they’re helping businesses unlock these opportunities and turn those numbers into real-world marketing value, one shining idea at a time.

The Local Advertising Renaissance: Beyond Fragmentation to Focused Outcomes

The fragmentation of the media landscape that we hear about all the time has created challenges but also opportunities, especially in the local space, where advertisers can target audiences more accurately by leveraging first and third-party data. Jones said that Premion is focused on maximizing those opportunities in local via data-driven decision-making for omnichannel presence and measurable outcomes.

For Premion, those are the three pillars of a smart advertising strategy: Inventory, Data and Measurement. “A big thing that we’re trying to educate clients on,” Jones stressed, “is their omnichannel strategy: ‘what different media are you looking at to help drive outcomes?’ Then, try to be agnostic, rather than relying on intuition or preference. “Everyone has their favorites, like live sports” he acknowledged, “but let’s just look at what’s driving the outcomes,” he said, leading into his mantra of “outcomes over impressions.”

And those impressions should come from omnichannel presence. “If you’re getting outcomes from one media or one inventory set, great, let’s repeat that behavior. Let’s find that data or find that inventory to drive that outcome for you.” That means making data-driven media decisions, Jones emphasized.

Inventory: The Groundwork for Effective Campaigns

CTV promises vast opportunities to reach consumers, and that’s where more dollars are flowing than ever, but there’s that fragmentation issue. Advertisers must navigate multiple platforms and publishers to identify the best inventory for their campaigns, which, for Jones means how well consumers engage with content, wherever it is. “Consumers love streaming because they have choices,” he said. “They have the control of what they want to subscribe to, and then it’s the convenience of being able to watch what you want, when you want.” So, Premion applies those same principles—convenience, choice, and control—to advertisers, allowing them to select inventory, leverage data, and measure outcomes in ways that make sense for their specific goals.

Read more on MSN here.