While we’ve spoken ad nauseam about the need for short-form content, it’s time to talk about video marketing in the more traditional sense: TV spots and localized video ads.
Who’s buying these ad spots, and who’s watching them? Can mid-sized businesses afford them? And are they worth the investment? Keep reading to find out.
Those bite-sized videos that come across your Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn feeds are still critical to your brand’s digital exposure, but depending on your demographic, they may not be the ideal way to gain consumers’ trust.
Similar to print marketing, ad spots on TV give brands credibility and legitimacy, not to mention reach a different demographic than those who primarily consume their media on social media.
Video Marketing By the Numbers
Video ad spend is expected to reach $230 billion globally this year—up 22 percent from 2025, according to IAB. This includes social platforms and traditional TV media, but also podcasts, streaming services and CTV (short for ‘connected TV,’ which refers to your Roku, Amazon Fire TV, or other smart TV).
CTV, in fact, has seen 35 percent growth year-over-year, which tells us that now is an ideal time to invest in video marketing.
This makes sense, when you think about how many households have A) at least one smart TV, and B) multiple streaming subscriptions, ad-free or not. In the same way AI is now integrated into most facets of the internet, so too are advertisements on our TVs.
Ad spots on CTV also allow marketers to fine-tune their target demographic even further than digital display ads, from household income and location to recent shopping history and TV watching habits.
This is what makes CTV advertising unique, thus blurring the line between TV and online search marketing.
Cost and ROI of Video Ads
There was a poster in my old office about how a final product could only possess 2 of the following qualities: fast, cheap, or good.
Thanks to AI, the cost of video production is more of a sliding scale than ever before, but it also brings to mind that old office poster.
Sure, you can use AI to create short videos for your social media stories (which disappear after 24 hours), but creating a quality TV ad that actually works takes more resources and brainpower. According to a report from Searchlab, the average video marketing budget can range from $3,500 per month to more than $20,000, depending on the size of the business—and that figure is expected to rise in 2027.
Did we mention we have an award-winning video production team?
