Which advancements, standards, and industry trends have influenced the progression of mobile advertising over the years? What can marketers take away from key moments in the history of mobile advertising to benefit their future? Ken Harlan, founder and CEO, MobileFuse, has the answers.
Every few years there are notable innovations within advertising, helping brands and advertisers connect with new and existing audiences in increasingly unique ways. It seems the most impactful digital advertising capabilities over the last few years stem from the advancement of mobile technologies.
What’s interesting about the evolution of mobile is that it’s largely consumer-driven – meaning peoples’ interest and reliance on their mobile devices help cement phone manufacturers’ and developers’ dedication to innovating the technology. And this makes sense – average smartphone users used their phones for more than 4 hours a day and the number of smartphone users is projected to reach 2.87 billion in 2020. With all that consumer attention, advertisers are quick to follow. Statista foundOpens a new window that global mobile ad spend amounted to $190 billion in 2019 and is predicted to reach $280 billion by 2022.
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However, have advancements, standards, and industry trends influenced the progression of mobile advertising over the years? What can marketers take away from key moments in the history of mobile advertising?
A Walk Through Time
The modern era of mobile advertising kicked off in earnest with Apple’s 2007 release of the first iPhone. Unlike most mobile phones before this, the iPhone’s functionality was determined by software, not hardware. With better mobile devices and OSs emerging, the mobile web became easily accessible and appreciated by consumers.
However, from an advertising perspective, it struggled. Mobile web ads of that time were essentially resized desktop ads that simply met the criteria of mobile environments. Additionally, there were no formal standards or approval processes in place for the advertisement. This made for clunky experiences that often negatively impacted a consumer’s ability to use the web – for example, think about the iconic pop-up ads littering your screen. With creative accounting for the largest portion of what causes a consumer to convert (47%), advertisers were dead-set on refining their approach to mobile.
Tools for a Better Experience
Tangentially, the App Store and Google Play Store (originally named Android Market) launched in 2008. App stores formed a new bridge for brands to reach consumers, and developers shifted focus accordingly. However, before the IAB created the “Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions,†or MRAID, in 2011, there were a variety of competing standards. MRAID delivered a standardized set of commands that allow rich media ads to communicate with their host apps. MRAID also gave an entirely new set of capabilities to advertisers, essentially opening up the app ecosystem. From that point on, marketers could leverage location data and Device IDs consistently and predictably, ushering in our current era of hyper-personalization and localization.
The popularity of apps rose immensely since their introduction, and they continue being the main ways consumers interact with their devices. A recent eMarketer reportOpens a new window found 90% of smartphone usage is actually from apps. One key reason for this is the user experience is heavily vetted before an app or ad experience can be published into an app store. This ensures the environments are cleaner, crisper, and faster. Consumers largely understand what app ads are going to be, and what the experience is.
Where Do We Go from Here?
As consumers became increasingly reachable via mobile, their tastes and preferences associated with advertising changed. So much so, 66% of consumersOpens a new window claim non-personalized content would stop them from making a purchase; and 70% of people leave an app experience because it takes too long to load. The overall ad/app experience plays a critical role in retention and conversions. With consumers being hit with multiple ads in general, it’s important for brands to differentiate themselves through their creative executions.
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In addition to a solid user experience, brands and advertisers need to ensure their engagement opportunities are streamlined. With this in mind, new ad formats are presenting themselves – 3D offerings, quizzes, branded custom games, customization of an ad to mimic social media posts, AR/MR, and more. Brands that adapt their approach to fully utilize the mobile opportunities available, while showcasing how their products are necessary and not just a ‘nice-to-have,’ are poised to cut through the noise.
Seeing how standards and consumer preferences have changed over time, marketers can better understand how to thrive during times of change, and how to better plan future initiatives. As the world becomes increasingly dependent on, and preferential of, mobile devices, it’s critical advertisers and marketers adjust their efforts accordingly and push to differentiate themselves.