TapCommerce Insights

In-app retargeting provides a seamless channel for marketers to stay top of mind with users, whereas emails or push notifications have the potential to reach users at a time when they’re not as able to finish the purchase, book the flight, or continue playing the game.

“What we’ve found is that mobile app re-engagement delivers such strong performance because you’re engaging those users in those mobile moments,” said Lapcevic from TapCommerce.

“We’ve already seen rapid growth from some of our clients who are spending upwards of 25% of their overall mobile marketing spend now in retargeting campaigns,” said Fetch’s Tim Villanueva. “They are seeing the return on investment.”

As the technology behind retargeting on mobile devices has matured, so has the approach of marketers.

“We’re seeing rapidly increasing levels of sophistication in how people think about re-engagement and setting up their ads,” said TUNE’s Kelly Mullins (Tweet this). “We’ve seen marketers go from just looking at installs to tracking many more events because they want to use those events in subsequent ad campaigns.”

Lapcevic added that the most successful campaigns engage app users across the entire conversion funnel, and that the marketers running these campaigns understand the impact of continually communicating with users in the right moment to and remind them of the value your app delivers.

“Knowing what all those key touchpoints are along the conversion funnel until they ultimately get to that purchase is key to determining not only what events you’re tracking, but more importantly how you’re going to measure the success of the campaign,” she said.

If you’re looking for more mobile app retargeting tips, the panel shared these best practices:

Know the value of bringing a lapsed user back in your app. Establishing the value of re-engaging a lapsed user not only increases the efficiency of your retargeting programs, but ultimately delivers more value back to your business. For example, a user installs your app but doesn’t register. How valuable is that registration to you? Perhaps once a user registers you get their email address, and that becomes even more effective because you can then link it to your internal CRM data.

Use frequency capping. Layer frequency capping into your campaign to ensure you’re not bombarding users with ads, but rather timing them in a way that leads to engagement. Frequency capping also allows you to stop serving ads once the user has reached a certain identified conversion point.

Test. Learn. Optimize. Repeat. (Tweet this) The most successful campaigns are constantly evolving as deeper insights surface from the performance data. Starting out, you may want to test simple segments throughout the entire conversion funnel to better understand your users’ behavior. From there, you can refine your approach to segmentation, creative and messaging as your understanding of user behavior becomes more sophisticated.

There’s a reason increasingly more digital ad dollars are being allocated to mobile—it’s where consumers are spending the most time, and the channel is providing high return on ad spend for advertisers due to advanced targeting opportunities and the ability to connect with consumers in real-time.

3. Showdown: Mobile Apps vs. Mobile Web US smartphone users ages 18 and over spend 88% of time on mobile in apps, versus just 12% of time spent in mobile web browsers, according to comScore (Tweet this) [Source].

It’s clear that consumers love apps, so not only should apps be a high priority for your business, but you should consider how apps can be used to meet the unique needs of your customers and enrich their interactions with your brand. Define your strategy for your app and decide which key performance indicators you will use to measure success. Consider what channels you will use to advertise your apps to drive user acquisition and re-engagement, given the demographics, interests, and digital behavior of your target audience.

4. Mobile App Install Revenue to Soar to $6.8 billion by 2019 Research from BI Intelligence projects that US mobile app install ad revenue will top $4.6 billion this year, and will grow to $6.8 billion by the end of 2019 (Tweet this) [Source].

As mobile app install ad revenue continues to soar, marketers are focusing on building a long-term mobile strategy that maximizes user engagement beyond the install to make the most of acquisition efforts. Helping consumers discover and install your app is just the first step. Marketers need to consider how re-engagement tactics, like app-to-app retargeting, can ensure that the effort and budget spent on acquisition has a direct impact on achieving the defined goals for your app, while strengthening app user retention.

5. Mobile App Inventory Is Increasingly Valuable to Advertisers Advertisers are finding increasing value in mobile app ad inventory, indicated by a year-over-year 14% rise in eCPM prices per MoPub’s Q4 2014 Marketplace report [Source]. Additionally, eMarketer reports that spending on in-app ads will beat mobile web browser ad spending by almost 3-to-1 in 2015 (Tweet this) [Source].

In-app advertising offers marketers a channel to connect with mobile users in the apps they love and use every day. In-app advertising is especially impactful for re-engaging your existing user base since marketers are able to reach users when they are in a mobile mindset, and seamlessly redirect them from another app back into yours. If you’re measuring in-app events and have deeplinking in place, you can even dynamically serve ads that are customized to each user, and redirect to page within your app that’s most relevant to their past browsing behavior. (Need tips on how to get started with mobile app analytics? Read our recent post, 5 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Mobile Measurement Partner.)

Andy Katzman (@andykatzman), Head of Gaming Customer Success at TapCommerce, sat down with Adam Jaffe (@social_adam), VP of Marketing at Social Point, at Casual Connect Europe to discuss how Social Point reaches players at each stage of the lifecycle to keep them engaged beyond the install.

Social Point uses mobile app retargeting for its games, like Dragon City, to keep players returning to the app, ultimately strengthening the lifetime value of those players. Today’s consumers, Adam noted, have a low barrier of entry to install and become engaged with other apps. Given the intense competition in this space, how can marketers maintain the valuable attention and loyalty of existing app users?

“From day one, you should be thinking about app retargeting and incorporating it into your user acquisition strategy,” Adam said. [Tweet this.]

Adam discussed how marketers need to expand their focus from solely acquiring new users, to include a more holistic, long-term approach on strengthening the lifetime value of each player. Re-engagement strategies, like mobile app retargeting, help marketers combat retention challenges, and also allow for highly targeted communications. For example, mobile games marketers can target the last in-app action of the user to tailor messaging and try to engage that user back to take the next step in the game, or keep them informed of new updates since the last time they played. (See Dragon City interstitial ad to the left).

“The idea is to incorporate the entire funnel,” Adam said. “As a marketer, your job doesn’t stop once you acquire a new user. That’s the easy part—getting someone into your game—but the real magic is how you keep them engaged and coming back day after day.”

Of course, no two MMPs are exactly alike-- they differ in pricing, features, and attribution models. If you’re interested in measuring the lifetime value of your app users and thinking about launching a retargeting campaign, it’s important to consider the full suite of capabilities that a mobile measurement solution offers around re-engagement.

Below are a few questions to ask, and why they’re important:

Do you support full event postbacks to other vendors, or only attributed events?  Support of full event postbacks is needed to segment and retarget users in real time based on their in-app behavior. If the MMP is only able to send events generated after a user clicks on a retargeted ad (versus before), real-time segmentation is not possible.

Do you support last-click attribution for re-engagement?  Last-click attribution is key for measuring retargeting performance, as often these downstream users have previously been targeted in an install campaign. A last-click attribution model will provide 100% credit to the campaign that drove the last click prior to conversion (for example, a purchase).

Is it possible to configure attribution windows for each vendor?  It is important that your MMP offers flexible attribution windows (the time period between ad click and conversion) to align with your unique business goals. In general, advertisers have longer windows for re-engagement versus install campaigns depending upon the complexity of the path to conversion. Common attribution windows for retargeting campaigns include 4 days, 7 days, 14 days, or 28 days.

Do you show re-engagement campaigns in your UI? Performance marketers rely on MMP dashboards to view campaign activity across all vendors. For re-engagement campaigns, the marketer should be able to determine attribution based on what they see in the MMP dashboard without having to access that data elsewhere.

Do you make historic data available for export? If so, does that include organic and paid installs as well as downstream events, such as purchases? Are there any lookback restrictions?  Marketers aiming to quickly scale a campaign out of the gate can export historic install and downstream event data for segmentation. Historic data on downstream events is particularly important for targeting lapsed users and bringing them back into the app to convert.

Keep in mind that it’s not required to work with an MMP in order to get started with TapCommerce -- there are other implementation methods available to you, such as our SDK. However, if you do have a mobile measurement solution already in place, it’s easy to kick-off a retargeting campaign since we partner with a number of popular providers.

Mobile marketers should develop an “always on” retention strategy to keep users engaged. With new apps launching daily and competing for the valuable real estate on your customer’s device, it’s critical to think long-term about how you can retain your existing user base, especially those acquired during the peak holiday season.

One way to do this is through app-to-app retargeting, which enables you to segment your app users in real-time, reach them across the rest of the mobile app ecosystem, and redirect them straight back into your app. Whether your plan is to engage with new users who downloaded your app for holiday shopping deals, or bring a lapsed user back into a dating app to find the match of their dreams in 2015, mobile app retargeting is a scalable way to drive engagement.

The appetite for mobile apps has never been stronger, and isn’t about to wane anytime soon. Consider the following:

In 2014, Apple reports that App Store billings rose 50% and more than $10 billion in revenue was generated for developers. [Tweet this]

In 2015, IDC projects that 1.4 billion new smartphones will be shipped worldwide. [Tweet this]

By 2017, Gartner projects 268 billion apps will be downloaded annually, totaling $77 billion in revenue. [Tweet this]

#2 - Utilize Forrester’s “IDEA cycle” to win, serve and retain mobile customers.

Knowing that consumer expectations are constantly in flux, how can companies win, serve and retain customers throughout the mobile journey? To answer this question, Julie explained the IDEA cycle— the central premise of The Mobile Mind Shift, a new Forrester book she co-authored— which encourages businesses to:

Identify the mobile moments and context. When is your target customer turning to mobile, and what’s the context in those moments?

Design the mobile engagement. Determine which of the mobile moments are the best opportunities for re-engagement, for both your business and your users. [Tweet this]

Engineer your platforms, processes and people for mobile. Think through how increased mobile use will affect your teams and systems, and make necessary adjustments to support long-term scalability. 

Analyze results to monitor performance and continually optimize outcomes. If you are unaware of how well your app and related marketing campaigns are performing, you’re likely missing key opportunities to meet consumers’ needs. Julie noted, “If you’re not tracking which messages are driving engagement, you can’t get better and move the needle forward to win, serve, and retain customers like your competition is doing.”

#3 - In-app retargeted ads drive incremental mobile revenue.

In-app mobile retargeting has rapidly emerged as one of the most effective ways to drive incremental mobile revenue by connecting with users post-install [Tweet this]. Previously, marketers relied on email or push notifications as the only available channels to reach existing app users. Driven by powerful, real-time contextual data, in-app retargeting offers a scalable new way to reach your mobile audiences and easily bring them back into your app.

Brian Long, co-founder of TapCommerce and Head of App Re-Engagement at Twitter, discussed how although specific KPIs can vary by industry, the overarching goal of any mobile retargeting campaign is to drive a certain in-app action. For example, an e-commerce app might aim to convert recent cart abandoners to complete the check-out, while achieving a defined ROAS goal. Whereas for a subscription-based music app, the goal could take the form of achieving a certain “cost per subscription” in order to convert free users into premium, paid users.

#4 - Identify which behavioral events are most impactful to your bottom line.

Take time to understand your user base and how different segments engage with your app, as that knowledge will build the foundation of your re-engagement strategy.

Marketers should track as many in-app events as possible to enable segmentation and targeting of different subsets of users [Tweet this]. Some core events are common across verticals, such as measuring installs, opens, and purchases. At a minimum, it’s recommended to be tracking an event that correlates with how you measure the success of your app (for example: purchase, booking, upgrade, etc.) so you can prove the efficacy of your mobile marketing campaigns.

In order to take advantage of the granularity retargeting offers, you’ll need to dive in deeper and take a look at the downstream events that lead to revenue and ROI. Examples of commonly tracked events by vertical are below:

#5 - Choose the proper attribution model for your business.

Ryan Grenier, vice president of product at Apsalar, a provider of mobile app analytics, discussed the two different approaches that exist for mobile app attribution: linear and lifecycle.

The linear model attributes conversions to the original acquisition source. For some businesses, this simplistic attribution model is sufficient— particularly those concerned with just tracking installs. But for those concerned with properly attributing more “bottom-of-the-funnel” downstream events, this model does not easily enable you to connect conversions to numerous marketing efforts that ultimately led a user to take action.

TapCommerce is teaming up with Apsalar and Forrester to host a webinar on mobile retargeting on December 10 at 11:00 am PT/2:00 pm ET. Register today to reserve your spot.

Guest presenter Julie Ask, VP at Forrester Research and co-author of “The Mobile Mind Shift,” will share the latest data and trends on the mobile market.

She’ll be joined by panelists Ryan Grenier, VP of Product at Apsalar, and Brian Long, co-founder of TapCommerce and Head of App Re-Engagement at Twitter, who will explore topics including:

Different strategies for retargeting based on in-app behavioral data

Tracking methods for different industries and goals

How to segment and retarget users in real-time with precision and relevance

Best practices for designing mobile ad creative that drives conversions

We’ll be taking questions during the webinar, and you can follow along and submit your questions using the hashtag #retarget.

The Essentials

Date & Time: December 10 at 11:00 am PT/2:00 pm ET

Guest presenter: Julie Ask, VP at Forrester Research (@Forrester)

Panelists: Ryan Grenier, VP of Product at Apsalar (@ApsalarInc) and Brian Long, Co-founder of TapCommerce and Head of App Re-engagement at Twitter (@BrianCLong @tap)

The chart below shows how the conversion rates for e-commerce in-app retargeted ads spiked above-average throughout the course of the 2013 holiday season. (Click image to enlarge full-size)

KEY DATES

On Black Friday last year, advertisers saw an 8x increase in conversion rates. [Click to tweet]

Similarly, conversion rates spiked 2.5x on Cyber Monday. [Click to tweet]

Conversion rates surpassed the pre-holiday average for the majority of December, spiking again leading up to Christmas Day.

Many advertisers also experienced an additional uptick in conversion rates the week following Christmas when retailers are offloading excess year-end inventory.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Allocate additional budget for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when both conversion rates and ad inventory competition are substantially higher.

Planning a post-Christmas sale? Set extra budget aside for this crucial shopping period leading up to New Year’s Day.

Refresh mobile ad creative to tie into your broader holiday campaigns.

Brian Long, Co-Founder of TapCommerce and Head of App Re-Engagement at Twitter

David Llewellyn, Head of Mobile Marketing for Europe at Skyscanner

Fabio Esposti, Innovation Manager for Europe at eBay

Barbara Horak, Head of B2C Marketing for Northern Europe at Funstage

Left to Right: Alex Kozloff of IAB UK, Barbara Horak of Funstage, David Llewellyn of Skyscanner, Fabio Esposti of eBay, Brian Long of TapCommerce/Twitter

The group discussed how mobile marketers across all industry sectors are turning to app retargeting to maximize the ROI of mobile campaigns and strengthen user engagement. Read below for a quick look back at the main takeaways from the panel:

Think about long-term app engagement from the start. Your retention strategy should be considered even before your app is available for download in app stores [Click to tweet]. Before getting started with retargeting, establish a clear KPI of what success for a re-engagement campaign means for you, whether it is, for example, driving revenue or reactivating lapsed users.

The panelists agreed that in addition to defining a clear goal, it’s critical to have the right systems in place to be able to act on users’ real-time in-app behavioral data. Tracking key events (whether it’s an app open, search, browse, add to cart, etc.) makes it possible to effectively segment and target users, as well as to measure how well a re-engagement campaign is performing against established KPI goals.

Brian noted that TapCommerce clients frequently partner with mobile analytics providers such as MobileAppTracking by TUNE, adjust, Kochava, Apsalar and many others to track in-app events and measure user engagement.

“If you have the right analytics software, then you can see who has downloaded and gone on to use your app and how they’ve used it,” David from Skyscanner said. “After that, it’s up to us to know roughly when the right points are to talk to and engage with those customers.”

Share the right message, with the right person, at the right time. “If you’re connecting with the right people and sharing the right message, users will see it as a useful piece of communication,” Alex from IAB UK said.

At eBay, the goal of retargeting is to drive conversions by engaging users through every point of the buyer’s journey.

“From the browsing experience, to adding an item to a watch list, to losing an auction, every moment is an opportunity for us to deliver a specific message that is relevant to that user in that specific moment,” Fabio from eBay said. “For us, re-engagement works across all stages of the purchase funnel.”

Pairing in-app data with larger CRM data and is one way to ensure you show the most relevant message to each user.

“We look at users’ interests and behavioral data to build an ad that is relevant to them in that specific moment of their customer journey,” Fabio said.

Design mobile ad creative that converts. The panel discussed the importance of simplicity and relevancy when designing mobile re-engagement ads. Among the advice shared by the group: minimize the amount of artwork and text in the ad, and ensure the single call to action stands out visually and is easy to tap.

[RELATED POST: 5 Tips for Effective Mobile Engagement Ads]

Using dynamic creative based on in-app behavior (such as browsing a certain product, or searching for a certain keyword) is a highly effective way to show a relevant message that resonates with each user.

“The most important thing when creating a mobile ad is to understand the user and what the user wants,” Barbara from Funstage said [Click to tweet]. “And be sure to bring user to the point in the app where they expect to be.”

And remember that your mobile re-engagement ads are just one piece of your company’s overall communications with each customer.

Before you even open Photoshop, first spend some time thinking about your audience and what is most likely to bring them back into your app. Because mobile re-engagement campaigns target different groups of users at various stages of the buyer lifecycle, what appeals to one segment might not have quite the same impact on another group.

“Always keep the target audience in mind when you’re designing an ad,” Andrew says. “For example, a group of users with items in their shopping carts might be more attracted to an ad offering them a discount or free shipping, whereas lapsed users with empty shopping carts may be more interested in seeing new, featured products.”

2. Get personal.

Using dynamic ad creative helps improve click-through rates and conversions. Showing a user an item they recently considered purchasing, alongside copy that now offers a “percentage off” discount on that item, just might be the push needed to complete the order.

“Dynamic ads are highly effective, but it’s important to balance out user-specific content  with more generic, branded visuals,” Andrew says. “Placing frequency caps on your ads can also help you prevent showing a user the same product multiple times.”

3. Keep it simple.

When designing for mobile screens, you need to make the most of your real estate — but that doesn’t mean including as much information as you can fit. This ad, produced by Spotify’s creative team, is a perfect example of how to avoid clutter and focus on conveying a straightforward message, while still giving the user enough context to motivate them to click-through and visit your app.

“Identify your key selling points, and hone in on making them stand out,” Andrew says. “Decide on a hierarchy of information and use high-quality images, easy-to-read fonts, and contrasting colors.”

4. Make your CTA pop.

Your call-to-action (“CTA”) is the part of your ad that clearly describes the next step you want the user to take next — Open App, View Item, Play Now, etc. What you say in your CTA is just as important as how you say it, so be thoughtful not only in the words you choose, but in the overall layout and design.

“Bright, contrasting colors will help your CTA stand out from the rest of the ad,” Andrew says. “Most importantly for mobile screens, make sure your CTA is easy to tap. For smartphones, that means making the tappable element at least 44 pixels by 44 pixels, and generally placing it in the lower right area of the ad so it is easily accessible by thumbs.”

5. Always be testing.

The ad you designed might look amazing on your 27-inch Mac Thunderbolt Display computer monitor, but that’s not how your mobile audience will see it. Once you finish creating your ad, test it out on the various devices it will actually appear so you can adapt your design as needed.

The first panel, moderated by Phil Gontier, App Engagement - EMEA Sales at Twitter, united a group of performance marketers from leading apps across the e-commerce, travel, lifestyle, and gaming verticals to discuss how to guide mobile users further down the funnel toward conversion. Panelists included David Llewellyn, Head of Mobile Marketing - Europe, Skyscanner; Robert Lamvik, Growth Manager, Spotify; Fabio Esposti, Innovation Manager - Europe, eBay; and Adir Ron, Head of Marketing, Win.

Although the exact approach varied by industry, all panelists agreed that end goal of mobile engagement is to strengthen retention and grow the lifetime value of each customer. Advanced segmentation (made possible by measuring in-app behavior) and retargeting allow marketers to stay connected with those who have already downloaded their app to keep users informed of new products, content, and special offers.

App Optimization: Strategies for Measurement & Monetization

The second panel, moderated by Shelley Lapcevic, Head of App Engagement - Customer Success at Twitter, gave attendees a chance to hear from mobile measurement providers and agencies on best practices for optimizing and monetizing mobile apps. Panelists included Peter Hamilton, CEO, TUNE; Stephanie Emmanouel, General Manager - Connected Customer Marketing, Somo; Christian Henschel, CEO and Co-Founder, adjust; and Shumel Lais, Account Director, M&C Saatchi Mobile.

The conversation focused on the importance of effectively using behavioral data to inform your mobile strategy. When it comes to analyzing app data, Stephanie Emmanouel of Somo expressed the need to “differentiate between the noise and the signal in order to better understand the mobile customer’s journey.” The panelists discussed how tracking more in-app events, enabling real-time data sharing, and optimizing deeplinking are all critical aspects of cultivating a successful mobile program.

Fireside Chat: The Next Phase of Programmatic

We wrapped up the day with a fireside chat between our Co-Founder, now Head of App Engagement at Twitter, Brian Long, and Co-Founder of MoPub now VP, Exchange at Twitter, Jim Payne. Brian and Jim discussed how the mobile advertising ecosystem has rapidly evolved over the past few years and what’s ahead for the future of programmatic. 

Networking Reception at the Century Club

After the panel sessions concluded, guests had the opportunity to catch up over cocktails and check out the London skyline from the rooftop terrace.

In addition to numerous other exchanges and networks, the TapCommerce platform is already deeply integrated with MoPub, Twitter’s mobile-focused RTB ad exchange. We look forward to growing our role as an integral part of the Twitter Publisher Network.

For our existing customers, your TapCommerce experience will not change. Being a part of the Twitter team will allow us to dedicate more resources to developing our product and expanding our services, so that you can continue to deliver even more value from your campaigns.

Thank you to all of the TapCommerce team, and our investors—Bain Capital Ventures, Eniac Ventures, Metamorphic Ventures, Nextview Ventures, and RRE Ventures.

We’re excited to #JoinTheFlock, and to continue to push mobile advertising forward!

The first panel session, moderated by Tim Geisenheimer, SVP of Sales at TapCommerce, brought together performance marketers from leading travel & e-commerce brands to discuss maximizing the ROI of user acquisition and strengthening retention. Panelists included Kevin Kwon, Mobile Marketing Manager at Hotel Tonight; Trang Vo, Mobile Marketing Manager at Groupon; and Tristan Krause, Senior Mobile Marketing Manager at Expedia.

The panel agreed that measuring in-app behavior is important for optimizing the mobile experience and being able to target different groups of users. Deep linking was brought up as a smart way to enhance the user experience—as Trang Vo from Groupon described, “deep linking is an app infrastructure investment, rather than solely a marketing investment.”

The main takeaway of the session? There is no one “golden ticket” in mobile marketing—you have to develop a culture of testing, define your goals, and figure out what works best for your own business.

Gaming Engagement: Maximizing the Value of Each Player

Next up, our Head of Games Customer Success, Andy Katzman, moderated a panel with a group of mobile gaming acquisition and retention specialists. Panelists included Chris Lin, Performance Marketing Manager at DeNA; A.J. Yeakel, Co-Founder and COO at Grow Mobile; and Tim McCloud, Director of User Acquisition at Playstudios.

The session explored the unique nature of the mobile games space, and panelists shared their perspectives on how to hold the invaluable attention of players and foster engagement over time to increase lifetime value. The group discussed how in-app mobile retargeting can be used to keep users informed, for example, by promoting a limited-time deal or new content releases within a game.

The Mobile Migration: Where Are We Headed Next?

Lastly, our CEO and Co-Founder, Brian Long, moderated a panel with a group of mobile industry experts. Speakers included Eran Metzer, Senior Director of Ad Platforms at Yahoo; André DeRussy, Executive Director of Performance Sales at Pandora; Kelton Lynn, Product Manager at Twitter; and Tim Villanueva, Account Director at Fetch.

The group discussed the course that the mobile advertising ecosystem has taken so far, and what challenges and opportunities marketers are likely to face in the years ahead. The panel felt that the rise of “mobile-first” consumers, along with continually evolving technology (such as programmatic buying, deep linking, native advertising, video, and dynamic creative), will continue to push mobile marketing forward.

Rooftop Networking Reception at The Battery

After the panel sessions concluded, the event moved upstairs to the rooftop for a networking reception. Guests had the opportunity to catch up with each other, enjoy incredible views of downtown San Francisco, and even a few “Tap & Tonics.” Click "play" below to see a few photos from the night.

Mobile Monday Tel Aviv, Israel, 6/9: Request a meeting

Israel Mobile Summit, Tel Aviv, 6/10: Request a meeting

IRCE: Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition, Chicago, 6/10 - 6/13: Request a meeting

Social Casino Gaming Summit, Las Vegas, 6/12 - 6/13: Request a meeting

Cannes Lions, France, 6/15 - 6/21: Request a meeting

Pocket Gamer Connects, Helsinki, Finland, 6/16 - 6/17: Request a meeting

What jumps out most here is the discrepancy between mobile advertising spend and the amount of time that consumers are spending with mobile devices. In the US alone, there is a $30B+ opportunity for mobile advertising spend to grow, just to keep pace with the massive amount of time spent on mobile. Tweet this

Mobile is the only media category here where spend increased from the prior year—advertising investments in all other media either decreased or stayed about the same.

Consumers are now spending more time with mobile than with print and radio combined, and nearly as much time with mobile as they do with the web. Tweet this

This chart is even more telling when it is compared to last year’s, which is based on 2012 data:

Time spent in mobile grew from 12% of total media consumption in 2012 up to 20% in 2013. Tweet this

2. Smartphones still only account for 30% of all mobile phones

Smartphone use is the main driver of the growth we’re seeing in mobile media. Yet, only 30% of the world’s 5.2 billion mobile phone users have smartphones according to this chart, although that number is rapidly accelerating. Tweet this

Marc Andreessen is known for saying that we’re heading toward 5 billion smartphones in the next five years. Pretty soon, vendors will stop making low-end feature phones due to the shifting demand.

We’re still in early earnings here, and are truly just beginning to see the implications of everyone having a computer in their pocket at all times.

3. Mobile monetization continues to be dominated by in-app purchases

This chart shows the growth of revenue from mobile apps, which has exploded from $6B to $38B over the last three years. Tweet this

It’s clear that in-app purchases have continued to outpace advertising (with 68% share) as the primary mobile monetization method for publishers.

It should be noted that the data here is comparing mobile apps revenue (comprised of “virtual goods, in-app advertising, subscription, and download revenue”) versus mobile advertising (comprised of “browser, search, and classified advertising revenue”). It does not appear to take into account revenue from other types of in-app mobile commerce transactions (such as consumer goods sold, flights/hotels booked, etc.). If it did, we imagine the share of mobile app revenue would be much higher.

4. The amount of global Internet traffic coming from mobile devices continues to accelerate

Mobile traffic as a percentage of total Internet traffic continues to grow at a pace of over 1.5x per year. Tweet this

As of May 2014, a quarter of Internet traffic was from mobile devices. The trendline suggests that number may reach 33%, or a third of all traffic, by the end of this year. This trend is driven in large part by more support of audio and video streaming capabilities on mobile devices.

5. Mobile ad spends still have a long way to go

Last but certainly not least, here’s a great one on mobile advertising as it relates to total Internet advertising. Internet advertising grew a strong 16% year-over-year globally, according to Meeker. However, mobile advertising on its own is up a staggering 47% year-over-year. Tweet this

And yet, mobile still only accounts for just 11% of total global Internet advertising. As you can see from the first chart covered earlier in this post, advertising will continue to shift toward where consumers are spending their time… and today, that’s on mobile.

Summary

The five charts above are powerful visualizations of the potential mobile has to change the course of the advertising ecosystem. As more consumers continue to purchase smartphones and use them to access the web, download mobile apps, and make transactions on-the-go, we’re excited to play a role in the evolution of mobile advertising.

If you’re interested, here’s the full deck in all its glory: 2014 Internet Trends.

AES: Ad Engineering Summit, Tokyo, 5/15 - 5/16: Request a meeting

Mobile Media Upfront, New York City, 5/19: Request a meeting

Mobile First Summit, New York City, 5/20: Request a meeting

Casual Connect Asia, Singapore, 5/20 - 5/22: Request a meeting, or visit us at Booth #503 in the “Casuarina” exhibit room

Digital Media Summit by LUMA Partners, New York City, 5/21: Request a meeting

Kochava Summit in Sand Point, Idaho, 2/5 and 2/6

We're hanging with our friends at Kochava in their home town. If you'll be attending their summit, let us know and we'll schedule time to meet up.

Casual Connect in Amsterdam, 2/11 - 2/13

We'll be hanging with the gamers for the largest European gaming conference of 2014. Swing by our booth or email [email protected] for an invite to our party co-hosted with HasOffers and Betable.

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, 2/24 - 2/27