The Winterberry Group forecasts a robust 10.4% growth in U.S. advertising spending, reaching an estimated $570 billion in 2024—thriving at a pace nearly three times faster than the gross domestic product (GDP). The research emphasizes the pivotal role of political ad spend, data-driven advertising, and various digital channels, contributing to the anticipated surge.

The 2024 outlook report, “Outlook for Advertising, Marketing and Data 2024,” delves into online and offline channels, dissecting the trends and business drivers influencing the advertising landscape. The study sheds light on 2023 ad spending and outlines projections for the upcoming year.

Digital advertising is poised to dominate, comprising over 60% of total spending in 2024. Notable channels exhibiting significant growth include search, expected to rise by 12.4% to $120.9 billion, social up by 12.7% to $77.9 billion, CTV surging by 30.4% to $33.1 billion, video increasing by 16.6% to $30.5 billion, and influencer marketing growing by 14.3% to $7.2 billion.

The research also anticipates the total expenditure on data services to hit approximately $36.1 billion in 2024. This encompasses a 12.8% rise in spending on services, reaching $9.4 billion, and a 14.1% increase in data infrastructure spending, reaching $15.2 billion. Moreover, data services are expected to witness a 14.6% boost, reaching $11.4 billion, encompassing identity resolution, analytics, measurement, attribution, verification, and data solution integration.

The study underscores the transformative impact of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) on the advertising and marketing landscape. While global consumer awareness of GAI is widespread, only half have explored tools such as ChatGPT or DALL-E. The report reveals that 51% of consumers are aware of the latest GAI trends and have explored OpenAI’s tools, while 35% are aware but haven’t explored the tools, and 14% remain unaware and unexplored. The trend towards GAI is poised to shape the advertising and marketing industry in the coming year.