A new report from eMarketer projects that the Africa/Middle East region will the world in the share of 2018 media spend from traditional media sources. According to the report, AME will generate total media spend of $24.9 billion this year, of which 81.4%, or US$20.3 billion, will be from traditional media sources. The remaining $4.6 billion will come from digital advertising.
By comparison, the US$235.2 billion North American media market will be just 50.4% traditional this year.
The fact that the AME lags the world is digital as a share of media spend means there is a big opportunity in Africa to help both enterprise and SME reach new customers through digital marketing and advertising services.
The report cited a few global trends that are driving the shift to digital, notably the dominance of mobile and the growing prevalence of social networks. According to the report, there are 197.2 million social media users in Africa and the Middle East. The report said that in most of the countries included in the survey, more than 80% of internet users routinely check in on social sites.
The size of this opportunity also explains the advent of BigFiveDigital.org, which has as its mission creating a platform for knowledge and best practice sharing among those companies going to market in the local-digital-SME space in the AME region. The BigFive Summit takes place 13-14 May in Cape Town and will address this very challenge.