The Business Insider put together a great presentation about where we were in terms of mobile growth world wide and smart phone penetration globally.
It had some amazing insights which are summarized here, but I also wanted to provide a perspective on how this may affect online advertising.
- Currently 835 million smartphone users vs 5.6 billion feature phone users. (Keep in mind the number of phones is almost the same as the number of people in the world!)
- Smartphone sales exceeded PC sales.
- About 46% of US mobile users have a smart phone now. So we are only half way through the transition to everyone having a smart phone.
- SmartPhone Penetration is highest amongst the 18-34 group with income above 75k. Soon the trend will be everyone.
- Android and iOS are dominant. But developers prefer iOS due to Androids handset fragmentation
- Mobile ad revenue is estimated at $800 million currently. Google is dominant taking 64% of the market share.
- Only 1% of ad spending goes to mobile currently, however the consumer spends 23% of their available time on a mobile device.
- Apps can generate a ton of revenue on mobile platforms and spread very quickly. However, overall share of mind is limited. Each new app may take user time away from another app.
What does all of this mean for the future of online advertising?
Does Print Media have a future?
Will the desktop still matter?
As a media planner where should I start buying?
Secondly, start setting up test buys on mobile. Inventory is cheap now, you can afford to make mistakes. Focus on what happens from an operations perspective to make sure the customer’s experience is a high quality, and quick experience with your company. Focusing on your short term eCPM or eCPA will not give you the learnings you should be focusing on.
The key to a long term strategy is really designing a pleasurable customer experience on a small screen or via voice. That is what makes people buy, come back, and tell their friends. Creating an experience that mimics your web checkout or form flow will kill your campaign. No one wants to fill out 15-20 fields of info on a tiny screen. Time is crucial. Most people will have various push notifications, text messages, new emails and other distractions coming through during your checkout process. Making sure your flow is quick is not just important it is the cornerstone of your mobile strategy.
Sometimes as a media planner, it is important to know where not to buy. It is time to move away from print. Go up to any hipster and ask them the last time they bought a magazine or a newspaper. Most likely they will spend their $3 on a fair trade cup of coffee instead of a magazine they can get online for free. Print media has no reliable metrics. With so many tools available these days, why invest in something that can’t tell you if it was the right choice or not?
Mobile is just getting started. Start now, learn while it is cheap. It is our inevitable future.