96% of Agencies Say Clients Will Maintain or Increase Spend on YouTube Despite Economic Uncertainty

Pixability, a leader in AI-driven contextual targeting, brand suitability and performance on YouTube and CTV, revealed the results of a major survey of U.S. Media Agency executives and buyers and planners. The study asked agency leaders about shifts in video advertising behaviors and how advertiser strategies are affected by the uncertain economic conditions.

According to the survey, 96% of all agencies predict that advertiser spending on YouTube will stay steady or increase in 2024, with 48% indicating budgets will be steady and 48% indicating they’ll increase. Only 4% said they predicted a decrease in budgets, which is down slightly from the 7% of respondents who indicated they would decrease their 2023 YouTube spend from 2022. Additionally, brand safety and performance were cited as the top priorities for brands advertising on YouTube. Agencies also indicated they are increasingly using YouTube for full-funnel and action-related purposes in addition to using it for awareness and consideration campaigns.

The study also asked for predictions on spending on CTV, TikTok, Facebook/Instagram and Linear TV. CTV should continue to enjoy the most aggressive growth in the industry, with 65% of agencies predicting an increase. Not surprisingly, only 10% of agencies predict an increase in Linear TV spend, with 36% predicting a decrease. Meanwhile 43% of agencies predict an increase in Tik Tok growth but just 28% foresee increases in spend on Facebook and Instagram, possibly representing continued backlash against Meta.

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“This data reflects what we’re hearing from our big agency and brand partners,” said David George, CEO of Pixability. “YouTube and CTV spend will increase in 2024 for many brands. There will also be continued emphasis on driving measurable performance for YouTube campaigns specifically while also making sure they are brand suitable.”

Agencies also expressed their wide-ranging feelings about brand suitable content when advertising on YouTube. When asked which types of content a typical client would want to avoid, Made for Kids content and Political content ranked at the top of the list, while GVP (Google Video Partners) content and News content ranked much lower–with the contrast in “Political” v. “News” content revealing how nuanced it can be to get brand suitability right for brands.

Other findings of note from the study include:

• An unrelenting focus on balancing brand suitability and performance: 62% of agencies say balancing the two is more important than relying more heavily on one or the other
• The importance of brand suitability tactics: Agency execs say that YouTube campaigns would only be 70% suitable without them
• A migration to more holistic CTV planning: While just 39% of agencies have a team that plans CTV, TV, and YouTube advertising in one unified group, 46% of agencies predict they will have a group like this in the near future

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