How Mobile Ad Formats Will Shift and Grow in 2016
Mobile native ads and video ads have been growing in use by marketers. A recent survey* from Trusted Media Brands Inc. (TMBI) uncovers the primary benefits of each and predicts likely growth based on intent to use by clients and agencies across 2016. Native ads utilize content that bears a similarity to the news, feature articles, product reviews, entertainment and other materials that surround them online. TMBI surveyed just under 300 marketers/agency executives to better understand where mobile advertising is headed.
The survey arose from TMBI’s belief that “native ads are perfectly suited for mobile. They are organic to the user experience. When you see a message you like, you ask for more information. They are less likely to be accidently clicked.” The survey’s top line results include:
Native ads
- Marketers identified the top three benefits of native ads: less intrusive, greater brand awareness and better engagement/interaction.
- Native ads are currently used by 50% of respondents but will decline to 45%. (TMBI expected native ads on mobile to have “real staying power,” but the survey results for 2016 indicate otherwise.)
Video ads
- Marketers identified the top three benefits of video ads: brand awareness, better engagement/interaction and suited to mobile consumption behavior. (An aside: When it comes to lead generation, marketers ranked video in 5th place on the list of leading benefits while agencies ranked it 7th.)
- Video ads appear to be an area of growth. Almost half of respondents (45%) plan to use video in 2016, replacing display banner ads as the top mobile format. Pre- and mid-roll video is the top ad format planned for use in 2016.
Not surprisingly, given the above results, display ads on mobile (currently used by 63% of respondents) will significantly decline. Rich Sutton, chief revenue officer for TMBI states, “With video on mobile commanding better CPMs than desktop for many publishers and native CPMs four to five times that of banner monetization, the advantages for these two formats are clear.”
*Trusted Media Brands Inc.’s “Can Video & Native Formats Rule Mobile Advertising?” (January 2016)
