As we explained in the previous article, newly launched apps’ chances to be found is decreasing and ranking at top of any category is harder than ever. And that makes things harder and more important for mobile advertisers too. Because there are more than 4 million apps in app stores, app owners and indie developers are aware of the importance of mobile adverting. According to a research provided by eMarketer regarding mobile ad budgets, it is obvious that within 3 years from now mobile marketing will dominate digital ad spending.
Taking into consideration that mobile advertising is exploding, comparing to other types of advertising, marketers are ready to benefit from this opportunity and make some serious steps into this direction.
Now, let’s look at what will dominate mobile advertising in the next years to make it better.
Improving Targeting Options
Nowadays, a phone covers many domains for every user. It is like a wallet because it knows how much money you have and it provides the necessary tools for you to make payments. It’s also like a diary, knowing your preferences, needs and plans. It knows where you like to shop, what are your travel destinations, how many friends have you. A phone is a local newspaper too. It tells you how are the weather conditions in your area, the current news and the stock market status. These are amazing opportunities for marketers. They can target every customer with a specific context. This evolution of data collection is the bridge between brands and clients. It will help advertising to pass from a platform of announcements to a source of rewordings and help for users when they need it the most. Now it is time to reach your potential users with data! Data-driven targeting and data-driven marketing will be the irreplaceable piece of mobile advertising.
The key solution for a company is to know its customers. A study made by Forbes Insights shows how data – driven marketing will evolve within 2 years from now:
Another chart published by Marketing Charts reveals that advertisers will focus more on the costumer’s needs using data – driven marketing.
Increase In Native Ads
Advertisers have to figure out how to engage mobile device owners and not reduce user satisfaction. Oe of the better solutions for that is to use native ads. According to a recent study of IHS Technology native advertising will generate 63.2% of mobile display advertising and amount to $53.4bn by 2020. While first party in – app native ads (like ads on Facebook or Instagram) will provide the biggest mobile native revenue, the third party in – app ads (ads that are operated into apps by outside partners like Facebook’s Audience Network) will grow at an annual rate of 70.7% with the amount of %8.9bn by 2020.
Image Source: https://web.facebook.com/audiencenetwork/news-and-insights/future-of-mobile-advertising-is-native-infographic
Location – Based Marketing
Mobile ads help advertisers reach their audience as they are on – the – go. The goal of location –based marketing is to discover the perfect place and time for the user. There are a couple of solutions to do this, like geo – targeting (it targets all users in an area, using GPS), geo – fencing (it targets special types of users in an area, using IP address) or beaconing (little physical objects placed in specific locations to detect devices when people are in their range) to send potential customers messages and convince them to take advantage of some promotions or products. This kind of ads is more oriented on user’s needs. This the reason why a report of Statista shows that the number of the location – based service users in the United States will be around 242 millions.
Other interesting research assumes that location – based advertising and marketing spends will reach $6.5billions in 2017.
Increase in Ad Games
Latest stats reveal that mobile users spend 32% of their time on games. Due to this, it’s a great challenge for marketers to promote their products. It is known the fact that smartphone users like to be entertained, to be involved in a rich experience. Using ad games will be a great way to engage the user and to reach your target audience.
Image Source: www.gamewheel.com (Burger King: Angriest Game)
One advantage of using this type of advertising is that you don’t need to be a coder to have a game ad. After you select a game and you add branding, you can launch and track the campaign. A great thing about game ads is that you can use them also for giveaways and coupons. These are the reasons why game ads will increase significantly over the next period.
Dynamic / Personalized Ads
Dynamic ads transform all those variables like location, temperature, day of week, hour of day into personalized announcements that make mobile user’s life easier and more interesting. Collecting users’ data is the first step in creating personalized ads. The next steps are to provide context, drive offers and grab attention, as they are described in a very interesting Infographic that shows the future of dynamic ads.
Image Source: http://www.cmo.com/content/dam/CMO_Other/Misc./verve_infographic.jpg
FINAL THOUGHTS
Smartphones will continue to represent the main component of every consumer’s activity. Marketers are increasingly aware of the evolution of mobile devices. Mobile advertising has become a part of the mobile user experience. And what a rich experience will be provided through ad games and native ads. Advertiser will invest the main part of the budget in improving targeting options, location – based marketing and dynamic ads. But, the key to a successful ad campaign is to take care of users’ desires and needs while promoting a product.