Sometimes even big data struggles to predict the future, and the latest Grand Finale of the Australian Open, where Rafael Nadal won against the most sophisticated mathematical models, is proof of it. Nevertheless, certain trends have a higher probability of happening, and today we review the future trends in the mobile industry.
Mobile devices remain to be an inseparable part of everyday human life. In fact, mobile devices have deeply integrated with our reality and continue to broaden their limits every year. That is why the mobile industry creates great potential for the future.
This can be easily proven with the recent statistics. In 2021 the number of unique mobile users around the world grew to 5.22 billion. Consequently, this fact influenced Internet traffic. Today more than half (55.7%) of web traffic comes from mobile devices. Moreover, daily time spent on mobile phones snowballs every year, and people are getting more attached to their devices.
This phenomenon has been reflected in the marketing world as well. Mobile is continuing to take over the leadership in the industry. In 2021, mobile advertising spending reached 290 billion USD. By 2024, it’s predicted that only in the US will this number reach $145.26 billion. Furthermore, it is expected that mobile marketing will continue to expand, creating more sophisticated cookieless ad technology, targeting, and attribution.
2022 seems to be intriguing and promising from the digital marketing point of view (learn more in our previous article presenting the 2022 digital marketing trends). Several trends, such as the popularisation of the metaverse and decreasing influence of the Covid-19 pandemic, also shake the mobile industry. Since mobile marketing is a fast-developing and ever-changing field, it is important to stay agile and adapt to expanding trends and innovations.
The video game industry is more than many can imagine. In fact, it is larger than the movie and music industries combined, and it is only growing. There are 2.2 billion mobile gamers worldwide. In the US, the most popular mobile apps are gaming apps.
The boom in the mobile gaming industry is caused by the fact that in 2022 in-game advertising will be considered a standalone ad category. This makes the in-game ad industry lucrative for investors and marketers. Also, an increased in-game ad budget will most probably affect game developers. It is expected that earned money from the advertisement will go to advancing user experience.
The most innovative ad-tech companies, though, already focus beyond in-app marketing.
For a moment, there are almost 4 billion social media users in the world, which constitutes half of the population! The average citizen operates with 6.6 social media every month in most cases with mobile devices. Hence, it brings a range of opportunities for mobile marketing.
How does it impact brands? 77% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand they follow on social media. Moreover, 44.8% of internet users use social media to search for information about the brand.
In a recent study by Accenture, social commerce is forecasted to reach $1.2 Trillion globally by 2025. That is how social commerce is supposed to overtake e-commerce
3 times faster. To further multiply the effect of social media channels on brand awareness, it’s highly recommended to develop a strong omnichannel marketing strategy.
The previous statements about the importance and inseparability of users from mobile devices naturally lead to mobile-first marketing. In fact, in order to keep up with mobile commerce growth, having mobile-first marketing is crucial.
What does mobile-first marketing mean? This approach is all about creating campaigns designed to be viewed from mobile devices. The mobile-first marketing concept includes several principles. That encompasses both technical and aesthetical parts.
The technical part ensures that website loading speed is optimal, all the functions work well, and others.
The aesthetic part includes the pleasant design that represents the brand. It is about fast navigation, easily clickable links, fluid & interactive user experience. Many large companies such as Google already consider mobile-first design as a part of their business. In addition, Google developed a Mobile-Friendly Test tool that can measure site performance.
Lately, 5G adoption created several discussions, conspiracy theories, and doubts. However, the stir dispelled, and people started accepting 5G as a regular part of their lives.
The mobile producers release the new devices supporting 5G. Hence more and more users will have faster internet. How will it affect mobile marketing?
Within 5D rapid adoption, marketers would have to exploit the capabilities of the faster internet to the fullest. 5G allows engaging data-heavy experiences that were unavailable in the past due to speed limitations. 5G Internet has increased bandwidth, that is enabling high-definition VR experiences and 4k streaming video, together with high-speed data delivery.
Video continues taking over social media platforms. Last year Instagram declared that they are no longer the photo-sharing social media and will primarily focus on video. It happened largely due to 2 factors: the rapidly gaining popularity of TikTok and strong user preference for video content. It is estimated that by 2022 videos will account for 82% of all consumer traffic on the internet.
Considering that the vast majority of the video content is consumed with mobile devices, that creates an excellent opportunity for marketers. The global digital video advertising market is forecasted to reach $185.6 billion by 2026.
As part of Apple’s iOS 14 update, it will provide users the choice to block the IDFA identifier at the app level. The apps would have to ask users for permission to collect and share their data within this update. The new realities are privacy-friendly, and we are stepping into the post-IDFA era. What will it look like?
Ad agencies would have to find other ways to collect user data harmlessly for their privacy. One of the ways is zero-party data, where the users are informed about the information they want to share with brands voluntarily.
As consumers spend more time on their mobile screens, marketers should focus on delivering the best possible mobile ad experience by offering creative formats that mobile users actually want to engage and interact with. From Facial Recognition to 360° Panoramas, VR, and 3D, Adello has developed and delivered outstanding rich-media creatives for years. You can check out Adello’s ad creatives here.
Some trends seem to be fresh and bold, others might plant a seed of doubt. In any case, it’s essential to use critical thinking when it comes to something new, but remember that fast adoption of innovations could be beneficial. And those who adopted it first became the winner.
Thus, if you are wondering how the word of advertisement will change very soon, observe the current trends and how the world changes around you 😉
