New York Fashion Week might well be the talk of the town this week, but have you considered what mobile-advertising trends will emerge in autumn 2014? Below are five predictions for what advertisers should be aware of in the coming months.
1. Continued traffic growth
Mobile devices are still increasing in popularity among users. In 2013, mobile devices accounted for nearly one-fifth of the time that we spend with various media. That’s more than radio and print media together—and equally as much as the web. During summer 2014, growth further accelerated and Widespace experienced a significant growth of 61% compared to 2013.
2. Huge gap between mobile device use and mobile advertising
When it comes to mobile devices, consumers are far ahead of advertisers. In 2013, consumers spent 19% of their time using mobile devices, but only 4% of all advertising ended up in mobile devices.[1] Over time, this gap will narrow. But it’s clear that huge advertising opportunities still exist for exploiting this gap. Why? Because competition is lower, and advertisers get a larger share of voice—at a lower price.
3. Tablet advertising demand expected to skyrocket
For 2015, Gartner predicts that global tablet sales will surpass PC sales.[2] Already this year, demand for customised ads for tablets has increased substantially. Developing specific ads for tablets combine the best of both worlds—a big screen combined with all functions found in mobile devices, for example, location-based services.
4. Clicks becoming less crucial as success measurement
Larger screens and faster connectivity increase mobile-device advertising quality. This phenomenon strengthens the clear trend to use mobility for brand-building advertising. Rich media is also gaining ground. Consequently, mobile-campaign evaluation methods must change. Rather than measuring the CTR, our customers now investigate the time that end users spend with an ad—and the degree to which they interact with an ad. At Widespace we see an increased interest for Widespace Brand Impact Survey, measuring real effects as observation, message recall and purchase intent.
5. Mobile devices already main media in some industries
As the market matures, many industries now use mobile devices as a main media. This transforms mobile devices from being a campaign medium to being a channel in which more and more users now have continuous presence. We see this trend very clearly in industries such as FMCG, telecom and gaming. These industries were also first out in using mobility as an advertising channel.
[1] eMarketer: emarketer.com/Article/Mobile-Continues-Steal-Share-of-US-Adults-Daily-Time-Spent-with-Media/1010782
[2] Gartner: gartner.com/newsroom/id/2791017
