During a March 2020 survey of media buyers and planners in the United States, gauging the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on short term advertising and targeting tactics, 38 percent of respondents said they were planning to increase their use of audience targeting and 35 percent said the same about targeting OTT and CTV devices. On the other hand 30 percent were going to decrease direct buying from premium publishers between March and June 2020. In general, 42 percent of marketers said they were planning to make changes to their advertising tactics in that time.
Share of advertising professionals planning to make changes to their advertising and targeting tactics in response to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States as of March 2020
Characteristic
Increase
No change
Decrease
Audience targeting
38%
46%
15%
OTT/CTV device targeting
35%
50%
15%
Mobile/tablet device targeting
34%
55%
11%
Programmatic buying
29%
52%
18%
Demo targeting
28%
55%
17%
Desktop/laptop device targeting
27%
59%
14%
Local geotargeting
23%
57%
20%
News publishers and/or news content targeting
18%
55%
27%
Direct buys with premium publishers
13%
58%
30%
National geotargeting
9%
71%
20%
0%25%50%75%100%125%
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Share of advertising professionals planning to make changes to their advertising and targeting tactics in response to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States as of March 2020
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Original questions: Are you making any short-term advertising TACTICAL changes as a result of Coronavirus? Please indicate whether you plan to increase, decrease or make no change regarding usage of any of the following tactics.
Citation formats
J. G. Navarro
Research expert covering advertising and marketing with a focus on South America
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IAB (U.S.). (March 27, 2020). Share of advertising professionals planning to make changes to their advertising and targeting tactics in response to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States as of March 2020 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved April 29, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109931/covid19-influence-on-ad-targeting-tactics-us/
IAB (U.S.). "Share of advertising professionals planning to make changes to their advertising and targeting tactics in response to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States as of March 2020." Chart. March 27, 2020. Statista. Accessed April 29, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109931/covid19-influence-on-ad-targeting-tactics-us/
IAB (U.S.). (2020). Share of advertising professionals planning to make changes to their advertising and targeting tactics in response to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States as of March 2020. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: April 29, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109931/covid19-influence-on-ad-targeting-tactics-us/
IAB (U.S.). "Share of Advertising Professionals Planning to Make Changes to Their Advertising and Targeting Tactics in Response to The Coronavirus Outbreak in The United States as of March 2020." Statista, Statista Inc., 27 Mar 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109931/covid19-influence-on-ad-targeting-tactics-us/
IAB (U.S.), Share of advertising professionals planning to make changes to their advertising and targeting tactics in response to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States as of March 2020 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109931/covid19-influence-on-ad-targeting-tactics-us/ (last visited April 29, 2025)
Share of advertising professionals planning to make changes to their advertising and targeting tactics in response to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States as of March 2020 [Graph], IAB (U.S.), March 27, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109931/covid19-influence-on-ad-targeting-tactics-us/
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