Mobile devices have been mooted as the future gateway of marketing for quite some time.
The proliferation of smartphones and tablets has allowed brands to target and track customers in ways they could only imagine pre-Millennium, enabling the delivery of communications through a multitude of methods. But last year saw mobile marketing succeed on one of the most basic levels around, according to Marin Software, in CPC for digital display campaigns.
Readings from Q4 show smartphones demanding a much lower cost-per click than desktops and tablets (100% for both vs 76% on smartphones) in the area of display.
With mobile devices now accounting for 44.8% of all ad impressions online, Marin Software VP & MD EMEA Jon Myers has stated that it will be up to marketers to capitalise on the growth in mobile ad views sooner, rather than later.
Mobile plays catch-up
Despite welcoming an increase in ad views, mobile devices remain behind the pace set by desktop in terms of conversions. Desktops are still driving 57% of transactions compared to levels of 8.1% and 25% by smartphones and tablets respectively.
However, mobile conversions are climbing year on year, the difference between those seen in Q4 2013 and Q4 2014 being an increase of 8.9%. Conversions on desktop dropping 8.3% in the same period will have added more substance to Myers’ end-of-report comments about mobile ad spend and why it’s likely to grow.
Touching on the lift in conversions and ad views on tablet, he added: “It’s interesting to see Brits forging ahead of the rest of Europe and the US in terms of tablet usage. However, the cost of clicks on these devices is still relatively high.
“The smart choice for advertisers in 2015 will be to optimise their spend toward smartphone devices – the rate of clicks goes up significantly every quarter but the cost has remained low compared to both desktop and tablets.”
Marin’s figures are based on insights gleaned from the cross-channel performance marketing group’s search and display platforms.