We will continue to see emerging markets outshine developed markets when it comes to growth in smartphone and mobile internet penetration. While mobile and PC have often been treated alike by marketers, there is a radical difference in the way that consumers interact with these two media. Marketers need to adapt to this evolving consumer behaviour with a mobile-only strategy. Marketers can leverage user data to create customized mobile ad campaigns that serve ads that are contextually relevant and target the right user. 

Here are some key trends we expect to see in the mobile marketing ecosystem in 2015:

Shift in e-commerce spends from App installs to SKU-based re-targeting

The future of e-commerce is m-commerce. When m-commerce was in its nascent stages, e-commerce players majorly ran app install mobile advertising campaigns. We now expect to see e-commerce spends shift from attracting new app users to SKU-based re-targeting, where users are targeted with specific product ads based on their intent. These re-targeted campaigns will provide a contextually relevant experience and redefine the way consumers discover, shop and pay.

Conventional brands will start leveraging native ads

Native ads, currently a niche advertising format, will soon see widespread adoption by conventional brands. In 2014, we saw a near 100% dominance of App Install ads. However, in 2015, conventional brands will engage with their audience for various marketing objectives like branding affinity, lead generation, purchase intent etc. Marketers will closely emulate and leverage the characteristics of the mobile environment to deliver mobile ads that blend seamlessly with the mobile app and site experience. 

Smart data driven media buys – online / mobile-first will scale up

Today, market segmentation has changed and marketers cannot target customers based on just demographics. Mobile phones have become the center of the consumer’s universe and his interaction with mobile is generating petabytes of data. This data needs to be analysed and transformed into actionable user personas and intent signals that can help marketers deliver the most relevant ads to consumers. Businesses of tomorrow will run on the simple premise of data, the smarter the data is, the sharper the results will be.

Marketers will see mobile display as the new CRM

Brands will move beyond traditional methods of CRM on mobile such as the SMS or email to meaningfully engage with their customer base. Marketers will see mobile display ads as the new CRM. This will help marketers make better, smarter decisions in real-time, taking relevant mobile messaging to the next level. This will also offer marketers the ability to connect and communicate with mobile customers throughout the purchase process and across channels.

Emergence of the new mobile media currency – video ads, rewards and re-targeting

Brands can reap the benefits of successfully implementing integrated mobile experiences as they combine a variety of marketing formats such as video advertising, reward formats and ad re-targeting. Advertisers across industries will be able to re-target consumers based on their historical usage patterns. By incentivising consumers for engaging with a brand campaign, consumers are encouraged to interact with the ads. This integrated approach will emerge as the new mobile media currency for mobile games.