The beginning of a new year is traditionally a time to reflect on the past 12 months and set challenging but achievable, personal, and professional goals for the year ahead. It’s also when my colleagues and I offer our industry predictions for the year ahead. With the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of changes to the IDFA with iOS 14 earlier this year, the previous two years have seen profound changes for mobile marketing (and the world as a whole).
And with the effects of these events still lingering, 2022 is shaping up to be another transformative year for mobile marketing. Let’s look at some of our top predictions and trends for 2022.
See More: Why Advanced TV and Streaming Is Becoming a Strong Focus for Marketing Industry
1. Podcasts Will See an Increasing Share of Mobile Ad Spend
While podcasts are not new in the digital media space, recent years have seen them really hit their stride in terms of listener growth, and advertisers have taken notice. According to eMarketerOpens a new window , podcast ad spends surpassed $1 billion in 2021 and is projected to exceed $2 billion by 2023. The growth and conversion activity happening in podcast advertising presents huge opportunities for advertisers, especially in the U.S. and Southeast Asia.
Podcasts are closely tied into the development of influencer marketing, with implicit trust in the host or content creator playing a key role in buying decisions. This is particularly true for younger buyers, with 70% of millennials and Generation Z consumersOpens a new window reporting they’ve purchased items on the recommendation of a social influencer.
Ad buyers are responding, with nearly half planning to increase their spending on podcasts and 71% planning to increase their spending on branded content by influencers, according to KantarOpens a new window . Over the next few years, we expect podcasts, particularly their hosts, to play a critical role in targeting younger listeners.
2.‘Subscription Fatigue’ Will Lead To More Ad-supported Channels and Advertising Inventory for CTV/OTT
The past decade has seen a steady shift in television viewing habits from linear TV to streaming and Over The Top (OTT) services, and the COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated this trend. Connected TV (CTV) growth exploded in 2020 and 2021, and an influx of new streaming services have entered the market, including HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV+, Peacock, and Discovery+. With 15% of US households canceling their cable subscriptionOpens a new window last year (a figure expected to almost doubleOpens a new window this year), the move towards CTV and OTT streaming is clear.
However, the influx of these services has also created ‘subscription fatigue,’ as the increase in streaming services also means more monthly fees for users to access content. Ultimately, there is a limit to the number of subscriptions most people are willing to take on for these services, and a recent Hub Research surveyOpens a new window already shows that 41% of respondents prefer to watch free content with ads.
In 2022, we expect to see a lot more options for free, ad-supported streaming channels, opening up a new advertising inventory on CTV. This will give advertisers new opportunities to advertise on CTV, which is rapidly evolving as a marketing channel. While linear TV ads functioned primarily as a brand awareness channel, CTV capabilities allow TV to become more of a performance marketing channel, with new options for analytics, tracking, refining, targeting, cross-device promotion, and more.
3. Ecommerce Will Increasingly Prioritize Mobile
The effects of the pandemic have led to lasting changes across many industries, and one of the most notable is the acceleration of ecommerce over brick and mortar in retail. According to a report by AdobeOpens a new window earlier this year, Americans are on track to spend a record $1 trillion online in 2022. And the majority of this will be driven by mobile, which has gradually grown as an overall percentage of ecommerce spending, up to 72.9% in 2021 from 58.9% in 2017Opens a new window , according to Statista.
As a result of this change, a number of large retailers, such as Sephora, have shifted their internal budgeting to focus more on mobile over brick and mortar. To navigate this increasingly competitive space, app marketers and developers will need to focus on creating convenient and seamless cross-device experiences and successfully incentivizing and retaining their users.
See More: Ad Spending in 2022: Things To Consider Before Your Next Campaign
4. More Banking Apps Become Financial Lifestyle “Super Appsâ€
Popular in Asia, “super apps†are mobile apps that provide multiple services within one app to become an all-encompassing commerce and communication platform. Apps such as WeChat integrate a large number of “mini-programs†that allow users to order a taxi, apply for a loan, or buy from a local business all in the same place.
Following this trend, banking apps in other regions, with PayPal a notable example in the U.S., are now increasingly expanding outside of banking services to become general financial lifestyle apps. Many banks are building features such as financial planning directly into their apps, creating an opportunity for their apps to service consumer financial services beyond that of a regular bank. The apps that make it easiest to transfer information across systems will become the most successful modern banks.
What trends do you expect in mobile marketing this year? Let us know on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window . We’d love to hear from you!