Of the different media used for advertising and promotion that BIA/Kelsey tracks in the LCM survey, only two of the traditional media crack SMB’s top 10 most used media for advertising and promotion: newspapers and direct mail. The rest of the top 10 are filled with digital media.

In the chart below, I looked at eight of the traditional media from LCM. Newspapers and direct mail, the only two of the traditional media to crack the Top 10 most used media list, fall first and second among traditional media. Radio comes in third, with TV and outdoor bringing up the rear for usage.

But how do SMBs perceive the return on their investment for time spent in advertising or promoting themselves on traditional media? The traditional media with the highest usage, newspapers, had the lowest perceived ROI, while the ones with lower usage: TV, cable and outdoor, had the highest ROI among the traditional media.

TV had the highest perceived ROI among the traditional media, with 50% of SMBs rating it as either excellent (10-19 times return on that investment) or extraordinary (over 20 times the return), while only 13.7% of SMBs surveyed reporting using TV to advertise or promote their business.

Newspapers, which had the highest usage among the traditional media, had the lowest perceived ROI, with 26% of SMBs reporting returns as excellent or extraordinary.

Radio had the third highest usage among SMBs for advertising/promotion. But advertisers who used radio as part of their advertising mix reported being pleased with the results, as 36% rated the perceived ROI of radio advertising as either excellent or extraordinary.

For the first time in several survey waves, SMBs indicated that they are actually decreasing the number of media used to advertise or promote their business. The implication: media must deliver concrete ROI or risk losing business traction. Digital media penetration with SMBs has increased, as many of these solutions generate concrete leads and offer trackable ROI metrics.

Traditional media are far from obsolete, however, as the data suggests, and many are still well-regarded. However, for newspapers in particular, and all traditional media, as SMBs enjoy more digital options and demand clear value from their advertising spend, the need to produce clear ROI is stronger than ever.

More information about LCM and custom renderings of the data can be found here.

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BIA/Kelsey projects Out-of-Home advertising revenue to grow from $7.3 billion in 2012 to $9.0 billion in 2017, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3%.

While leisure/recreation was Out-of-Home’s biggest spending vertical, more leisure/recreation advertising dollars went to newspaper in 2012 than Out-of-home. In 2012, Out-of-Home Advertising was the second highest media among Leisure/Recreation advertising, according to Media Ad View Plus, with 18.5% of the vertical’s advertising spend. Newspaper accounted for 21.7% of the vertical’s advertising spend. However, as newspaper’s advertising revenue continues to decline, BIA/Kelsey projects leisure/recreation spending on out-of-home will outpace newspaper in 2014.

2012 Leisure/Recreation Ad Spending by Media

Media Ad View Plus breaks the Leisure/Recreation vertical into 10 subcategories: Traveler Accommodation (Hotels-Motels); Airline Transportation; RV (Recreational Vehicle) Parks and Recreational Camps; Performing Arts Companies; Spectator Sports; Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions; Amusement Parks and Arcades; Gambling Industries; Other Amusement and Recreation Industries; and Motion Picture and Video Exhibition. In 2012, Traveler Accommodation (Hotels-Motels) accounted for more than 35% of the spending on Out-Of-Home advertising in the Leisure-Recreation vertical.

The Out-of-Home advertising medium includes more than just billboards. The chart below, from the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA), shows the different Out-of-Home displays available to advertisers.

Source: OAAA

According to OAAA, billboards accounted for 64% of Out-of-Home advertising in 2012, followed by transit with 17%, alternative with 12% and street furniture with 7%.

More information on Media Ad View Plus is available here.

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