A new study of 300 top-level brand marketing executives found that mobile advertising budgets are clearly on the rise, with nearly three-quarters (74%) of brand marketers expecting their companies’ mobile ad spend to increase in the next two years. In addition, almost one in five respondents (19%) predict that their mobile budgets will increase by more than 50% in the next two years.
The IAB’s “Marketer Perceptions of Mobile Advertising” study reveals that brand marketers’ mobile budgets grew 142% over the last two years (between 2011 and 2013), and the number of marketers with annual mobile budgets of $300,000 or greater more than quadrupled in that same timeframe, from 7% to 32%.
What were the top developments in mobile advertising? The respondents – all of whom are currently using mobile – named responsive design, HTML5 and mobile native advertising.
The study also showed progress in dealing with challenges around mobile advertising:
- only 22% named privacy issues as a challenge, vs. 40% of marketers in 2011
- 23% of respondents said that device/operating system fragmentation was of high concern, vs. 39% in 2011
- just 13% listed standard mobile metrics as a challenge, vs. 31% in 2011
The 2013 study also compared B2C and B2B marketers’ perceptions about mobile:
- 41% of B2B marketers rate mobile as still “experimental” compared to only 27% of B2C
- 45% of B2B marketers say feature phones are “not a priority” compared to 19% of B2C marketers
- B2C marketers are generally more satisfied with their mobile efforts than their B2B counterparts (70% vs. 50%)
The 2013 “Marketer Perspectives on Mobile Advertising” survey was released on September 24. To review the entire 2013 study, visit iab.net/ovumstudy. The 2011 survey is also available (for comparison) at iab.net/CMO_Mobile.
