Is mobile advertising the future?

From the first quarter of the year, half of the population around the globe has been forced to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak, which has paved the way to spend more time with our digital devices. Pandemic aside, 2020 was set up already as the year of mobile advertising, with mobile consumer spending at almost four hundred dollars.  

On average, mobile users spent 90% of their time navigating through mobile apps, which along with e-commerce platforms have become more important now. In addition, with 5G reaching into our lives, having an effective and customised mobile ad strategy has become mandatory. 

The power of targeting

For the shake of mobile advertising, targeting the public through more interactive and personalised campaigns has reached a new dimension. To put into words, now marketing and advertising agencies are aiming to engage their customers through all possible digital communication channels. The wide range of mobile devices that we have now, such as smartphones and tablets, also allows taking on new and richer forms of interaction.

With social advertising at the top of the pyramid, it is easier than ever to have a deep understanding of how interactive ads can connect more efficiently with the public that you or your business aim to target. All social media channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and so on are fighting in a competition where awareness, engagement and traffic campaigns are constantly on the go. Using variables such as age, gender and geo-location, multiple versions of the same ad can be quickly released, ensuring an increase in mobile conversions.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) also plays an important role here, as it seems that search engines already know what you are looking for without even typing it in the search bar. 

The rise of apps and E-commerce platforms

Due to the various lockdowns taking place across the world, the overall time that the population spent on apps grew up to 20% following a recent study. Moreover, in-app advertising is becoming cheaper and more open to everyone than ever before, with countries such as Japan, Brazil, USA and Canada as the core markets.

Last year, mobile game apps experienced an increase, with consumers spending most of their time on these kinds of applications. Following this trend, advertisers are focusing their marketing efforts on branding ad campaigns.

On the other hand, the non-gaming top industries that have experienced a surge during this crisis have been News apps, Health and Fitness, Music and Shopping amongst others. Due to this, advertisers are currently shifting their strategies and are launching mobile ad campaigns on different sectors, such as Parenting, Dating and Food and Drink apps.   

On a different note, it is clear that consumers have been using their mobile devices to shop online for a while now. Meanwhile, the digital revolution has enabled the integration of shopping apps and social media channels. The high competition here (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Tiktok etc.) has also reshaped content, which is being oriented to videos and images mostly. In 2020, mobile purchases are expected to reach almost $300M, which means that social networking sites will keep offering different ways to create and strategise content.   

Mobile audio marketing and geo-location target ads

As above-mentioned, nowadays tablets and smartphones enable customers to receive a more synchronised, engaging message. Marketers have infinite opportunities now, and a wide number of brands are betting on audio ads. Now that podcasts are becoming more popular, this channel appears as a very attractive source to deliver audio ads. While listening to content, these audiences have the chance to receive those target ads from brands, which have proven to highly influence behaviours and patterns.     

At the same time, from international to local, location-targeted mobile ads have shown their ability to successfully engage the right public. Looking through the website from a certain place has proven to receive high levels of attention from advertising professionals who now focus on spending their money on the right ad format. From your mobile device, you will be able to receive the same ad in different formats, as it will change depending on your location at a certain moment.  

What is coming next?  

As consumers’ needs are always subject to change, the mobile advertising world keeps evolving to offer the right response. Wide ranges of possibilities are offered when creating ads, with marketers and advertising professionals competing daily to place and sell their products/services online. One of the things that this crisis has taught us is the need to reinvent ourselves if we want to thrive. However, these extraordinary times also come with special restrictions and the need to adjust marketing strategies to tight budgets.

Overall, the novel COVID-19 has punished almost every sector across the globe, which has been forced to re-adapt to the current situation. Looking at this example, we see a similarity with mobile ads, as you have two options: re-think your strategy and thrive, or be the same and face the consequences.