Canadians love the Web
Posted: October 19, 2011 | 9:03 ET by Tessa Wegert

This month eMarketer released its latest Global Media Intelligence report for North America, and as always it contained some valuable insight into media consumption habits and ad spending levels for the coming years. It's estimated that ad spending in Canada and the US will exceed $190 billion by 2015. Brand marketers continue to acknowledge the importance of digital media by upping their spending on online advertising, and, as eMarketer suggests, consumers continue to flock to the Web. Here are the highlights.

Canadians are routinely online
According to statistics provided by the Print Measurement Bureau (PMB), more than 71 per cent of Canadian residents above the age of 18 were online in 2011. EMarketer, meanwhile, predicts an even higher number of 76.5 per cent.

Online advertising is on the rise
Online ad spending by Canadian advertisers grew by 260 per cent between 2005 and 2010, with marketers spending more than 2 billion in 2011. Though media ad spending in Canada overall increased only slightly in 2011 (from $10.1 billion in 2010 to $10.4 billion this year), it's predicated to increase by nearly 6 per cent in 2012.

Male and Female consumers are equally attracted to digital media
Though women lean slightly toward cable TV and magazines and men toward mobile media, both are dedicated Internet users and represent a viable audience for online advertisers.

Gen X et al are catching up
The Internet media adoption gap between young consumers and those in their 40s, and 50s appears to be closing. In 2011, 21.3 per cent of 25 to 34 year olds used the Internet in the month during which they were surveyed, while this number stands at 20.7 per cent for groups aged 35 to 44 and 45 to 54. These figures exceed time spent with nearly all other forms of media (apart from radio, to which those aged 45 to 54 are still particularly loyal).




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Tessa Wegert is a veteran media strategist with a background in media planning and buying, content development, ad copywriting, and campaign management. As a prominent industry writer she has been covering digital marketing and technology for leading newspapers and trade publications for over a decade. Connect with her on Twitter (@tessawegert) and LinkedIn.
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