Mobile ad spend leapt 23% in 2021, on track to hit $350B this year
TLDR
- Mobile ad spending saw 23% yoy growth in 2021, reaching $295 billion
- Consumer spending across app stores grew 19% in 2021, hitting $170 billion and downloads grew 5% over 2020 levels
- TikTok ranked the No. 1 most-downloaded app globally, followed by Instagram and Facebook.
Brief
As consumers continue to migrate both their attention and wallets to mobile devices and platforms, a mobile-first strategy is vital for many marketers to thrive in a quickly changing society driven by pandemic-fueled transformation. Consumers are interacting with apps at a higher level than previous years, and even topping the time they spend watching TV in some cases. Buzzy social video platforms TikTok and Facebook led the pack in terms of average monthly hours per user, with each totalling 19.6 hours last year. The big screen is slowly dying as mobile continues to break records in virtually every category — time spent, downloads and revenue. In the U.S. and elsewhere, the enduring pandemic continues to force many people to shop, work, stream, game and connect from home, steering significant growth in downloads and mobile spending.
- Read the full article from MarketingDive
Spotify introduces a new ad format for podcasts that puts clickable cards inside shows
TLDR
- Spotify is today introducing a new ad format aimed at podcasters called “Call-to-Action Cards”. The feature will display a visual ad in the Spotify app when the audio ad begins to play.
Brief
Spotify sees the CTA cards as another step toward making podcast content more interactive. The cards can be customized by advertisers with their own images, text, and other clickable buttons that direct listeners to “shop now” or take some other action the advertiser is hoping to encourage. This allows the targeted listeners to interact with the ad at some later point when they’re browsing through the Spotify app, the company explains. These cards will remain available for up to seven days after the listener has heard the ad, or less if the campaign wraps before that.
- Read the full article from TechCrunch
Snap upgrades AR shopping with catalog-powered Lenses
TLDR
- Snap is bolstering its augmented reality (AR) commerce and shopping functionality with the introduction of catalog-powered Lenses.
- The upgrade focuses on the ability to try before you buy, with customers able to see how they look before sourcing product prices and descriptions and navigating to a unique purchase URL.
Brief
Snap has won over audiences to the wonders of AR shopping, with 200 million engaging with the technology every day for a range of experiences that span entertainment, education and the arts, as well as commerce. A streamlined Lens Web Builder will also permit beauty brands to rustle up a custom Shopping Lens in as little as two minutes. Snap promises real-time results for brands as a result of the changes, which will facilitate instantaneous feedback on what is catching the eye of gen Z and millennial audiences.
- Read the full article from The Drum
