Mobile phone penetration rate in UK households has grown to 95% over the last couple of years. Out of these, 78% of adults use their mobile phones to connect to the internet. In addition, 58% of UK households own a tablet, while 42% own Smart TVs. Last but not least, around 20% of households own smartphones. And the figures for the UK aren’t unique – they are in line with other developed countries.
With so much exposure to mobile devices, it only makes sense for marketers to tap into this captive digital market. So it should come as no surprise then to learn that mobile ads makes up the second largest ad channel in 2018, accounting for 21.9% of the total $616 billion global advertising expenditure.
The term mobile advertising has changed a lot since the 1980s. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
What is mobile advertising?
Mobile advertising is a form of digital marketing which is delivered via mobile devices. It provides an opportunity for marketers and companies to deliver ads and messages to consumers on the go – well beyond the reach of traditional advertising.
Since mobile devices are typically used by a single user, advertisements served can be tailored specifically to their interests and needs – with a little help from the heaps of search and browsing data mined by search engines and social media companies. These ads tend to be highly relevant and topical, and as a result, the conversion rates are quite high.
How are mobile ads served?
With the rapid pace of technological advancements, smartphones today are as powerful as computers from as late as eight years ago. This offers marketers with a wealth of options to deliver their ads, ranging from text to banners and videos.
Moreover, since mobile users use multiple apps on their devices, these ads can be delivered while playing games, watching movies or even reading e-books!
Is your site mobile friendly?
Making your site readable and well designed on mobile is just as if not more important than for desktop. This is for many reasons including user experience, conversion rate optimisation, SEO etc.