According to the study, digital channels will once again receive a greater share in the media mix of German companies in 2021. Search engines, social networking sites and audio / video platforms will be the biggest winners here.

In contrast, the advertising budgets for print and outdoor advertising are set to fall further. According to the predictions of over 500 surveyed decision-makers, spending for advertising overall will decline slightly in 2021.

The big winners from the latest DMEXCO survey on the trend of advertising budgets for 2021 are search engines and social networking sites. Thirty-seven percent of respondents said that their company will be investing more advertising funds in these areas in 2021 as compared to 2020.

Twenty-three percent said that they want to invest more in advertising on audio and video platforms, and 17% in ads on editorial websites. By far, the largest proportion of respondents (40%) will not be allocating any more money to advertising on any channel in 2021, according to the study.

Although the majority of respondents (45%) have not even planned their advertising spending for 2021 yet or have only planned part of it, the mood is pretty clear, suggest the survey: for 29 %, the budget is expected to remain stable next year (as compared to 2020), and 26% are anticipating a smaller budget.

Just under 18 % want to spend more. Overall, these results signal slightly lower advertising budgets for 2021, which is more than understandable in light of the current pandemic and the macroeconomic forecasts for 2021.

Print, radio and TV draw the short straw

According to the survey, printed newspapers and magazines will still be the biggest losers next year: half of all respondents will be investing less money in print in 2021.

Relatively smaller budgets are also predicted for radio and outdoor advertising. Traditional TV could also experience slight losses: 6% want to spend more money on TV advertising in their company next year, with almost 12% wanting to invest less.

Market and opinion research company Civey surveyed over 500 specialists online between Tuesday, 18 August and Tuesday, 8 September for the representative study commissioned by DMEXCO.

"We will be welcoming more than 800 national and international top speakers and advertisers to 2020's DMEXCO @home. I'm really intrigued to find out what their thoughts are on the future trends in 2021's media mix. Our latest study delivers initial facts and figures for the German market as a basis for discussion," says Milko Malev, director of communications and media at DMEXCO.

"The digital economy is one of the winners when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic. During the crisis, digital technologies have made a lot of things possible that seemed unimaginable just a short time ago," says Dr. Dominik Matyka, chief advisor of DMEXCO. 

"Advertising budgets now seem to be following the trend and focusing on areas that are receiving the most attention. That's why it's all the more important to keep up to date on recent developments in digital marketing," adds Matyka.

Tickets for DMEXCO @home are available from the online ticket shop.

For more information, visit www.dmexco.com.