online and growing — fast

Here are some numbers: online advertising now accounts for around 10 percent of the total advertising spend in New Zealand; and the total online advertising spend for the first quarter of 2010 was $53.32m, up 12.31 per cent from the previous quarter.

It’s a not dissimilar level to the global online spend, with the Internet increasing its share of the global ad market from 10.5 per cent in 2008 to 12.6 per cent in 2009, (overtaking magazines for the first time) and expected to increase to more than 17 percent in 2012, according to communication firm ZenithOptimedia.

Put that alongside a trend visible mainly in the United States so far, where wealthy sponsors are starting to back online community newspapers to fill holes in local news coverage caused by shrinking newsrooms at traditional papers, and a pronounced swing to online communications is becoming clearly visible.

Or perhaps, more accurately, the value of online communication is being recognised and understood.

Do you get your news by picking up a paper from the dairy on the way to work, or is it easier to do some surfing at morning tea from your desk? Do you find products and services in magazines and newspapers or on TV; or do you turn to the net as your first port of call?

And, more importantly, where are your customers finding out about you? Online, online, online.