The year 2017 marked some significant changes in the advertising landscape, particularly for paid television.

If you’re an advertising executive in the television industry, you may want to look away:

• In 2017, digital ads finally surpassed TV ads in total revenue generated.
• In Q1 alone, the U.S. paid TV market lost over 762,000 subscribers.
• Streaming service providers are on the rise: Netflix alone has recently achieved more subscribers than the entirety of the S. cable TV market.

You may notice a trend—the confluence of streaming service providers and low-cost digital marketing are slowly crushing television-based paid media. Digital advertising will inevitably push out old-fashioned TV ad spots altogether, but you marketers shouldn’t count out TV just yet.

Cross-Channel Marketing: Bridging the Old and the New

Television may be out of fashion, but it still has value to share. Forward-thinking companies like Google are helping users bridge their old-fashioned advertising assets with their more modern online marketing channels.

The company recently announced a real-time trigger allowing advertisers to publish specific online ads that correspond with events happening in the real world. Companies can leverage popular TV events, sports games, political addresses, holidays, and even the local weather conditions to create customized ad promotions at the click of a button.

By using tools that instantaneously publish ads based on what happens on live TV, advertisers gain an important connection between their established and digital ad channels. They no longer have to rely on intrusive commercials or interruptive outbound advertising to put their ad dollars to work; they address consumers in the moment and speak to them with fresh and relevant promotions.

These changes speak to the advertising necessity of connecting real-life events with the often abstract outreach channels used to address consumers. And while Google is currently leading the charge in this area, we’re willing to bet that ad campaigns with both televised and digital components will become the marketing norm in 2018.