Events, Digital Ads Raise B2B Revenues by 2.7 Percent
Connectiv report shows print ads in decline for fourth year in a row.
Source: Connectiv’s BIN Report
Revenues went up in the B2B media and information industry by 2.7 percent in 2015, according to the Connectiv Business Information Network report.
The report credits growth in digital advertising/marketing, a steadily growing events industry and a rise in data and information services, for increased revenues to $28.35 billion in 2015, from $27.6 billion in 2014.
Events account for the majority of revenue across the B2B media industry, with $12.65 billion dollars in revenue, up 3.7 percent.
Print and digital advertising are nearly tied, bringing in $6.4 billion and $6.3 billion respectively. However, this marks a steep decline from print advertising, which dropped 4.1 percent year-over-year. Print ads were worth $6.7 billion in 2014, down from $7.6 billion in 2009.
Source: Connectiv’s BIN Report
Connectiv reports that exceptions to this is trend can be seen in three of the 22 vertical categories: Architecture, healthcare and automotive publications all saw an increase in print advertising revenue.
Overall, trends point to a new mix in revenue streams. Today, print accounts for 23 percent of all revenues, down from 33 percent in 2009.
Meanwhile, digital advertising and data/business info have both steadily risen since 2009. Digital ads went from 10 percent of revenues in 2009 to 22 percent of revenues in 2015. Data went from 8 percent of revenues in 2009 to 11 percent of revenues in 2015. Year-over-year, digital advertising grew 17.4 percent, while data grew by 2.7 percent.
Matt Kinsman, VP of content and programming at Connectiv, wrote that he expects that most Connectiv members will self-classify as “business information services” rather than “business media” by 2020. Kinsman also expects paid content and data/information services to pick up speed moving forward.
Connectiv’s Business Information Network report is based on calculations of the size of the industry and aggregated data from several sources that report on revenues. Event revenue is supplied by CEI, print advertising data is supplied by IMS. B2B digital advertising revenues are estimated by Connectiv and based on information by IAB. Information on data is supplied by Outsell and supplemented by public information and Connectiv estimates.
Source: Connectiv’s BIN Report
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Becky Peterson is Folio:'s associate editor. Find her on Twitter at @beckpeterson.
