Last year most sites saw that mobile usage topped that of desktop. A lot of smart advertisers have already started increasing their mobile spend on mobile, but still many marketers don't understand how big mobile really is. As a result, the marketers that do not shift spending from desktop towards smartphones/tablets are missing out on a lot of consumers. Mobile is already huge for consumers and if you don't act now your brand will really miss out.

How huge is mobile really?

Today there are around 3.4 billion smartphone subscriptions globally according to the Ericsson Mobility Report. In the same study we find out that a huge number of them have access to a really fast LTE connection around 1 billion. The smartphone penetration is slightly lower in developing countries but most people in developed countries own a smartphone, particularly in the Nordics.

In the Nordic countries over 95% of internet users have a smartphone, with Norway leading the way with 97% smartphone penetration among internet users. Not only are most people using smartphones, but they spend massive amounts of time there. In the UK, Ofcom's report found that 16% of UK adults now exclusively use smartphones or tablets to access the internet.

More and more people are so called “cordcutters” and are switching away from traditional TV watching and favouring smart devices to view shows when and if they want. All this means that the smartphone is actually the best place to have your advertisements!

Is it a great place to advertise?

Mobile allows advertisers to really engage with the consumer. What’s the point of having a huge outdoor billboard when most people will likely not see it? You can pour huge amounts of money into developing video ads for billboards, vast 6x3 posters. But you have no way of knowing if anyone has seen it, let alone whether it’s actually generated a return.

The mobile screen is right in front of the consumer, they are literally holding it to their face so other people won't see what they are doing. How much more attention can you get? And what’s more; it’s all trackable, measurable and can be optimized on the fly.

The main things people are using these devices for is to connect with their friends, stream music, watch clips or visit new websites. Most of these are rather entertaining activities, when a person is more likely to spend time engaging with your brand. Rather than running for a bus or being late for work while stuck in traffic. So even when a phone’s screen might seem to be small, next time think how small a 6x3 seems next to the road and how huge a mobile screen right in front of your face is.

If we look at things from the numbers side we know that increasing the percentage of mobile, for an awareness campaign, from 16% to 20% we can increase the overall campaign performance by 6%. For an image campaign if we raise the percentage from 8% to 12%, we can increase the overall campaign performance by 10%. These are just a few examples taken out from the latest SMoX study. But they show that marketers should embrace mobile advertising

So why are so many marketers still afraid?

Most marketers are not aware of all the possibilities that are available to them on mobile. For instance, there are great platforms which can produce far more engaging ads that just still images. But as more and more marketers are getting burned by HTML5 ads not working correctly or at all on mobile, they stay back.

Video is also being used a lot on mobile devices, but I believe that it's not the greatest solution. It's a start, but we will have to think more on the core smartphone features. We cannot just adapt TV into mobile and think that it's the best solution! That’s what happened when the first digital ads started appearing and creative agencies started adopting print to digital. To this day, that is a problem for a lot of creative agencies.

We should actually harness the power of the smartphone and use features that are only available on these devices. With the Adcanvas platform advertisers can create truly mobile worthy advertisements without adding painful steps to the whole process. The platform works with all publishers and networks, so there really are no good reasons why you shouldn't have creatives that are built for mobile and that will provide emotional engagement for the user.

To get more information about Adcanvas visit www.adcanvas.com

A lot of advertisers believe mobile will not convert for them and this is half true. Although Desktops are still the main conversion devices, conversion rates have been growing on mobile devices yearly. Most people still are using their mobile devices to do research or other upper-funnel activities. This is changing however, as mobile evolves with better formats and more marketers understand the desired outcome of mobile ads.

Conclusion:

• Mobile is one of the best places to advertise. It's still not overcrowded and most brands have not yet owned the platform.
• The users are already there and now you just have to create great advertisements for them.
• There are a lot of possibilities, but you should always think of the platform rather than adopting something to that platform.
• Video advertisements are a start into mobile, but platforms like AdCanvas can really make a difference in your mobile strategy.

So step up your game and harness the true power of your mobile device.

Studies used in making this article:

1.Ericsson Mobility Report – Mobile World Congress edition, February 2016

2.EMarketer http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Smartphone-Ownership-Almost-Universal-N...

3.Adults’ media use and attitudes http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/media-literacy/adults...

4.SMoX Study http://www.mmaglobal.com/smox