75% marketers expecting an increase in mobile budgets: MMA WARC report

MMA has collaborated with WARC to release a new report, titled ‘The Use of Mobile in Digital Marketing Mix’, which analyses mobile marketing capabilities, growth in m-commerce and social marketing, and impact of technologies such as AI, IoT, ML and Voice on improving marketing efficiency.

According to the report, TV is the most effective media channel when used with mobile. Overall TV and desktop search and display are considered nearly equally effective (79% for TV and 80% for desktop), but respondents rank TV as very effective. Notably, print (15%), radio (9%) and out of home (13%) were considered ineffective by around one-tenth of the respondents.

The report found that over one-third of the marketers (36%) are allocating 0-15% of their budgets to digital/ mobile. Just over one-tenth (14%) of respondents are spending more than 45%. This is the opposite pattern to what can be seen in the APAC version of this report, where 36% are allocating more than 45% and 20% are allocating 015%. For three out of five marketers (60%), mobile is not treated as a separate entity within the digital budget, reflecting the integration of mobile into marketing plans across digital platforms. The remaining two in five (40%) view the mobile marketing budget as separate to the digital marketing budget.

In 2020, just over one-quarter (27%) of marketers in India were expecting a budget decrease. This year, a mere 2% are expecting the same. This clearly illustrates the strong recovery mobile has had following the initial uncertainty of COVID-19.

Furthermore, marketing professionals are hopeful of growth in the next 12 months. Three-fifths (59%) of those expecting an increase are also expecting double-digit growth. In 2021, mobile advertising spend in India is predicted to be worth over $1.9 billion, according to WARC Data.

Social media is the most used marketing and advertising type, with nearly 9 in 10 (86%) respondents using social media within their strategy. Mobile web display (50%) and in-app display (47%) are second and third most used in 2021 and play a significant role in mobile marketing.

Social media is the most important marketing activity for mobile, both in terms of how many marketers are using it and its priority compared to other advertising types. Of the respondents who said they use social in their marketing, 51% of them said it was their biggest priority.

YouTube is the most used platform for display advertising, surprisingly followed by LinkedIn (46%), ahead of Facebook (44%). Twitter (33%) and Instagram (32%) are the most used platforms for partnerships, sponsorships and influencers.

Two in three respondents (67%) say YouTube and WhatsApp are very effective, closely followed by Instagram (66%) and Facebook (54%). While LinkedIn was the second most used platform for display it drops down the list when it comes to effectiveness.

Key highlights:

Two-third (69%) marketers in India have adopted mobile-first approach – a 10% increase since 2020 demonstrating mobile marketing’s growing position in the greater modern marketing picture
55% marketers use engagement metrics followed by business metrics (51%) to measure mobile effectiveness in 2021
75% marketers are expecting an increase in mobile budgets in 2021 – a 20% increase since 2020 led by social media and m-commerce technologies
Social media leads in marketers’ (86%) strategy, followed by mobile web display (50%) and in-app display (47%). 56% Indian consumers engage with social media ads – highest amongst any country.
89% respondents agree that mobile plays a significant role in purchase journey. With e-commerce boom, 82% marketers have accelerated their m-commerce capabilities and 81% are embarking on shoppable media which is becoming a business avenue
62% marketers believe that ‘death of cookie’ will significantly impact marketing strategies. Furthermore, ad fraud continues to hinder mobile growth for 33% marketers followed by consumer privacy concerns and metrics (25%)
Nearly 37% marketers are spending more than a quarter of their budget in martech, while 35% are spending less than 10%
With 37% marketers using AI & ML capabilities in 2021 – 42% expect these to be the top technologies over the next two years, followed by IoT (25%) and voice (24%)