by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily
Source: www.mediapost.com, January 2023
Mobile advertising may not be getting the intense focus it did a few years back, but any brand that underestimates its importance is doing itself a disservice.
Smartphone users worldwide are now estimated at 6.7 billion, and 83% of the world’s population own smartphones, per Statista. In 2021, nearly 56% of global web traffic came through smartphones and other mobile devices, versus 41% for laptops and desktops.
Here are some of the key mobile advertising trends to keep in mind for media and creative planning in the year ahead, from mobile marketing/advertising firm Thumbvista.
*Advertising in apps and games Mobile app downloads are estimated to have reached 258 billion by year-end 2022 (up 45% versus five years ago), and in-app advertising in gaming, news and other popular verticals will claim an increasingly dominant share going forward.
*Ad curation with the end user in mind To enhance users’ perception of the brand and maximize ad performance, savvy advertisers will adapt UX principles in creating ads —meaning prioritizing usability, fostering transparency about the ad through clear labeling, ensuring that users can control their ad experience, and minimizing pop-ups and other interruptions. And with so much content competing for consumers’ time and attention, it’s more important than ever that mobile ads are simple and straight to the point. They need to drive home their message in five seconds or less to be effective. Ads also need to avoid long text or using a large amount of visual space—two mistakes that frustrate the audience.
*Mobile campaigns that respect all data privacy laws With the U.S. still sorting out by-state versus national data privacy regulations, and consumers showing increasing concern about data privacy, more mobile marketers will respect local privacy laws, regardless of where they do business, in collecting and employing critical consumer user data.
*Continued growth in location-based campaigns GPS has 100% penetration in the smartphone world, and location-based ad targeting has been shown to double the effectiveness of mobile campaigns, so use of this technique in mobile is set to keep showing significant leaps.
*Continued growth in influencer marketing Consumer purchases are increasingly swayed by influencers — whose content on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, blogs and other platforms is increasingly consumed via smartphones. Brands will continue to increase their use of influencers to establish trust for brands in 2023 and beyond.
*Continued growth in email marketing With more than 1.7 billion people checking emails on their mobile phones, and Statistica projecting that the number of email users will reach 4.4 billion this year, email marketing will only continue to grow. Some 89% of marketers use email primarily for generating leads, and small businesses can significantly increase profit margins on product launches by employing mobile and other email marketing, notes Thumbvista.
Karlene Lukovitz is editor of MediaPost’s “Digital News Daily” and writes the weekly “Video Insider” and “Advanced TV Insider” columns. You can reach her at karlene@mediapost.com.
