Digital Ad Spend in Mexico to Reach $1.20 Billion

Despite an internet penetration rate that lags behind nearly all its neighbors, Mexico still remains a major digital market due to the sheer size of its population.

Total media ad spend in Mexico will reach $5.32 billion in 2015, representing 7.7% growth over the prior year, eMarketer estimates. To compare, Brazil and Argentina will boast respective shares of 48.9% and 12.1%, with populations of 203.0 million and 21.1 million.

One likely factor behind Mexico’s lag in total ad spending is the de facto duopolies endemic in most of the industries in the country. This curbs the need for incessant advertising to differentiate brands from a broad field of competitors, as explored in the new eMarketer report, “Digital Ad Spending Benchmarks in Mexico: A Conservative Advertising Market Embraces Digital and Mobile Ads.”

Mexico does lead the region in the portion of overall ad spending that goes to digital channels. eMarketer estimates that in 2015, digital ad spending will increase by one-fourth, giving it a 22.6% share of total media ad spending in the country. By comparison, the average share of ad spending budgets dedicated to digital in the region will reach 16.3%. Argentina and Brazil will trail Mexico significantly, falling closer to the median, with digital making up 15.4% and 16.6% of total advertising budgets.

Furthermore, mobile ad spending is the fastest-growing component of the digital ad spending expansion in Mexico. eMarketer predicts that expenditures in mobile ads will surge 76.0% to total $391.4 million in 2015. Brands in Mexico have been more aggressive about experimenting with mobile than their peers in other Latin American markets, and for good reason. Mobile ad spending will represent 32.6% of all digital ad outlays in Mexico this year, compared with 13.3% in Argentina and 17.6% in Brazil; the regional average will stand at 18.9%, eMarketer estimates.

As the base of mobile users swells in Mexico, particularly mobile internet users (adding 20.4 million between 2015 and 2019) and smartphone users (adding 23.9 million), mobile advertising budgets will likely continue to experience robust growth for years to come.

Courtesy of eMarketer