In-app advertising draws more brands as mobile engagement grows manifold

The generation now is very hungry and wants to make most of the available time. They need more information in quick time and so mobile has become the most powerful and preferred vehicle for brands to engage with their audiences. The ease of operation with a mobile is so easy that one has to simply tap and make their purchases on the go. Today, there is an app for everything and it has become an integral part of a consumer and is part of his routine. According to GroupM and MMA’s ‘Mobile Marketing Ecosystem Report 2020’, in both rural and urban India, 99% of users are using the Internet on their mobile phones and time spent on the mobile has grown to 3.7 hours a day. Therefore, a marketer looking to engage with the consumer does not have to look much further than that app that comfortably sits on the smartphone.

The India mobile app economy witnessed a significant evolution in 2020. Several new categories of apps such as Health & Fitness, Gaming, Entertainment, Long-form & Short-form video content, Hyperlocal delivery and Learning & Education gained prominence following the unprecedented developments during the year. From January to April 2020 alone, Indians’ spends on entertainment apps grew by over 22%, resulting in a growth of around 47% in OTT subscriptions and over 26% growth in revenues, as per the InMobi Annual Mobile Marketing Handbook. Interestingly, from the first wave of lockdown between March and mid-April, digital payment apps saw a surge of over 42% in usage as compared to the pre-lockdown period.

If we look at the following statistics, it is interesting to note all these are clear indicators that investment in in-app advertising by brands is likely to grow.

• 321 million new internet users added globally in 2020
• $143 billion spends in the worldwide app store in 2020
• 2 hours of daily time spent on mobile by the average user in April 2020
• 37% spike in average daily hours spent per device between 2019 and Q2 of 2020; Second globally in terms of time spent on mobile
• India leads the world in app installs, accounting for 14% of global app installs
• 1 out of 10 gamers across the globe is Indian
• 368% growth in Arcade games; 198% growth in Casual games and 160% growth in Casino games since pandemic
• Indians spent 40 minutes daily on short video content formats

Digital Marketing Maturity has evolved into Mobile Marketing Maturity (3M) in 2021 as consumers have clearly taken to mobile as the centrepiece for their daily actions. This has also resulted in a new strategy playbook for marketers as they look to drive measurable outcomes in 2021. As brands continue to traverse different stages of digital marketing maturity, building the 3M would be extremely critical for brands to meet the consumers where they are, and continue to stay relevant.

Also, according to an InMobi survey, e-commerce and BFSI segments lead the way when it comes to Digital Marketing Maturity, emerging as the more connected and multi-moment sectors. The pandemic has resulted in marketers having to pivot their plans to be more digitally focused. 69% marketers have increased their spends in digital channels in 2020, with 87% of them planning to increase their investments in in-app advertising by up to 40%.

Marketeers do believe that apps are one of the most effective channels for advertisers to capture and draw consumer attention. With so much of development happening in technology and availability of real time data, contextual targeting opportunities in app advertising can help you reach audiences with sharp targeting. With several new categories emerging, the canvas has widened for brands to explore and leverage in-app advertising in the near future with well-drawn out parameters for evaluating the performance.