Gen Ys the most engaged with online advertising, new research reveals

Small businesses are growing increasingly invested in online marketing, but the latest research reveals if you want to get the greatest return on investment, Gen Ys are your best bet.

The latest online advertising research from Roy Morgan released on Monday revealed Generation Y are the most engaged with advertising across all mediums.

Roy Morgan media and communications general manager George Pesutto said in a statement it’s no surprise Gen Y is the most engaged.

“For them, it’s normal whereas Boomer generations are more accustomed to advertising via traditional media,” he says.

The survey of more than 50,000 Australian found Gen Ys were significantly more engaged than any other generation with online advertising via smartphones.

Fifty-four percent of Gen Ys had viewed an online advertisement in a video on their smartphone in the past few weeks, 61% had looked up a website because of TV and 52% had clicked through on an online advertisement.

Gen X was the next most tuned in generation, with 24% viewing an advertisement in an online video, 20% looking up a website online because of TV and 29% clicking through on an online advertisement.

“Generation Y owns more smartphones than the other generations, so the fact that they account for such a high percentage of people engaging in advertising-related activities via their smartphones is to be expected,” Pesutto says.

The study revealed overall 25% of people aged over 14 engage with online advertisements in a four week period.

In terms of click throughs on online advertisements, 34% of Australians in Gen X had clicked on an ad in the past few weeks, 30% of Gen Y, but only 20% of Baby Boomers.

But when it comes to advertising in online videos, 37% of Gen Ys had viewed an ad, while only 27% of Gen Xs had watched one and an even smaller 13% of Baby Boomers.

Businesses targeting Baby Boomers are best to try other advertising options, as the survey found only 9% of this generation read an email newsletter in a four week period and only 2% saw an advertisement in an online video.

Pesutto says advertisers in the digital era need to understand who is best to target through the different mediums.

“Knowing who is most responsive to different online advertising activities and formats unlocks one more lawyer for marketers seeking to effectively target, retain and get the most returns from their advertising investment,” he says.

“Obviously a 25-year-old watching an online video will respond to messaging differently from a 45-year-old e-newsletter subscriber. With the proliferation of ways to reach people via the digital platform, it is becoming increasingly important to be as targeted as possible.”