Marketing to a Mobile-First World
Historically, marketing departments & creative agencies have treated mobile as an afterthought. 30-second TV spots are awkwardly shortened into 15-second pre-roll, and 728×90 desktop display ads are repurposed into tiny 300×50 mobile banners.
If this is how things are done in your office, then you’re still practicing “Mobile-Last” thinking.
You know who isn’t putting mobile last? Everyone else.
It’s a Mobile-First world: Shopping, email, social media, and video viewing all happens predominantly on mobile
As of Q4, 2014, even television is seeing less attention than mobile devices, particularly amongst Millennials. Traditional TV usage (TV programs viewed on TV sets) amongst 18-34 year-olds tumbled 10.6 percent between September and January, according to recent Nielsen figures.
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“The change in behavior is stunning. The use of streaming and smartphones just year-on-year is double-digit increases,” Alan Wurtzel, NBC Universal’s audience research chief, said in a recent interview with the New York Post. “I’ve never seen that kind of change in behavior.”
Mobile-First: In Q4 2014, even television trailed mobile in terms of daily user attention
Fox six years running, consumer media attention has been shifting overwhelmingly towards mobile devices (up 50%, YOY).
Mobile-First Media Consumption (source: BI Intelligence, eMarketer)
As of 2015:
- Tablets are outselling PCs
- Print sees just 2% of consumer attention
- The majority of in-store purchase decisions are supported by research carried out on mobile devices
By next year, projected revenue from mobile ads will be enough to completely rebuild the international space station every year.
Global media spend on mobile has been racing to keep up with user adoption, and is expected to reach nearly $100 billion annually by 2016, according to eMarketer.
It’s blowing up faster than anyone could have predicted. To put things into perspective: just one year ago, eMarketer suggested that mobile ad revenue wouldn’t hit the $100 billion annual milestone until 2018.
What’s changed since then? In the past year:
- Annual mobile display revenue grew by 123%
- Annual mobile video ad revenue doubled
- Virtually 100% of Facebook’s revenue growth came from mobile ads
Mobile-First Advertising: Mobile ad revenue has grown 50% each year at the expense of nearly all other forms of advertising
(source: BI Intelligence, IAB)
Try this quick self-evaluation to see whether or not your approach to mobile is keeping up with the times:
Are you Mobile-First or Mobile-Last?
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The 2015 Marketer’s Guide to Mobile Engagement offers strategy, tactics, & best practices for boosting marketing ROI