Telecom, Financial Services Lead U.S. Ad Spending Growth In 2025.

The U.S. advertising landscape is seeing major shifts in 2025, with telecom and financial services industries powering growth, even as traditional leaders like retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) remain the top overall spenders, according to Emarketer.

Meanwhile, digital advertising has become the dominant channel across all sectors, with social media spending rising faster than any other digital format.

Total media ad spending in the U.S. is projected to exceed $413 billion this year, according to the report. Retail will account for more than a quarter of that total, maintaining its position as the largest spending industry after surpassing the $100 billion mark in 2024. CPG crossed $60 billion last year, and financial services are set to pass $50 billion in 2025.

“Retail, consumer packed goods (CPG), and financial services remain the top total ad spenders, and all industries will lean further into digital,” the report says. “The three will account for more than 55% of ad spending in 2025.”

However, when it comes to growth rates, financial services and telecom are taking the lead. Financial services are expected to increase ad spending by 11.9%, followed by telecom at 11.5%. Both industries are largely insulated from tariff pressures that are currently hampering sectors like retail, travel, and automotive, Emarketer says.

“The telecom industry has been surging for two years, and it will lead all industries in digital ad spending growth in 2025 (16.3%),” the report notes.

Auto, travel, and CPG are projected to post the slowest growth rates this year due to ongoing economic uncertainty and trade-related challenges. In particular, the auto sector has fallen to last place in digital ad growth, at just 2.2%.

Compounding the slowdown in some industries is the steep drop in political advertising after last year’s presidential election. Ad spending in the “other” category, which includes political ads, is expected to fall 27.7%, or nearly $6 billion. Excluding “other,” the average ad spending growth across nine primary industries stands at 6.8%.

Across the board, advertisers are shifting more of their budgets to digital channels. Nationally, digital will account for 81.8% of total ad spending this year. In categories like technology and electronics, that figure rises to nearly 90%. Retail’s digital share will exceed 85%.

Still, some industries maintain a notable presence in traditional media. “Healthcare and pharma still spend nearly a quarter of its budget on traditional advertising,” Emarketer says. “The industry will spend $7.85 billion (24.1% of its total) on traditional ads in 2025.”

Telecom, insurance, cryptocurrency, and healthcare companies are fueling the current surge in digital ad spending. Subcategories within financial services — such as insurance (20% growth) and payments (16.1%) — are also posting strong gains. The payments subcategory includes the booming cryptocurrency sector, which has spurred an uptick in marketing activity in 2025.

Despite slower growth, retail and CPG will continue to lead in total digital ad dollars, combining for nearly $148 billion in digital spending this year.

Telecom’s growth is also reshuffling the rankings. “Telecom will leapfrog auto in the digital ad rankings this year,” the report notes, marking the first time the industry has outspent auto since tracking began in 2016.

Search and display remain the primary digital formats, with display capturing 57.2% of spending. Travel and healthcare are the only two industries that prioritize search over display, while technology, media, and telecom companies heavily favor display formats for broad, branding-oriented campaigns.

Mobile advertising continues to dominate digital ad spending, with 66% of dollars going to mobile platforms. Telecom and tech are the most mobile-focused industries, while healthcare and travel skew more toward desktop, citing the nature of their services and customer base.

Social network ad spending is growing faster than any other digital format, expected to rise 12.6% in 2025 and surpass $100 billion for the first time. “Every industry will grow its social spending faster than its overall digital ad spending,” the report says.

Telecom’s resurgence is most visible in this space, with a 20.5% increase in social ad spending. Retail and CPG remain the dominant players in social, contributing nearly half (48.4%) of all social ad dollars.

“Retail, CPG, telecom, and media and entertainment drive social network ad spending,” the report concludes, underscoring the widening influence of social media in modern advertising strategies.