New research suggests that Australian advertising marketers are moving their focus to mobile, and by 2018 tablets will make up more than 70 percent of the market.
According to Frost and Sullivan, the Australian market is predicting to grow strongly at a compounded annual growth rate of 39 per cent from 2013 to 2018, reaching an expenditure of $682 million.
The new report, Australian Online General and Mobile Advertising Market 2013, shows that by that time mobile advertising will be focused on tablets, accounting for 70 percent of the market, leaving smartphones with just 30 percent.
The change is occuring now, the report states that 50 percent of Australian businesses intend to increase their mobile advertising budget 'substantially' in the next year. 79 percent of Australian businesses surveyed stated that they would be increasing their ad spend by at least 10 percent.
Frost and Sullivan's ANZ Senior Research Manager, Phil Harpur, believes that the strong growth of media consumption, particularly on tablets is driving the change.
“In the last 12 months, the Australian mobile advertising market grew strongly across all industries. Banking & finance and automotive continue to lead the market, though retail is also seeing strong adoption," he said.
“Local mobile ad networks, such as Big Mobile, and global mobile ad networks such as InMobi and AdMob are expanding their business models within Australia. This momentum is expected to continue into 2014, assisted by the advancement of mobile-specific advertising campaigns, optimised for both smartphones and tablets.”
While mobile ad rates have remained steady over the last year, it is the growth of advertising through online video which Harpur believes is a huge untapped market, especially videos embedded in banner ads.
“Higher demand is now coming for premium mobile ad solutions, which are now seen as an essential part of an integrated advertising campaign covering both offline channels, such as TV and print, and online channels, both mobile and non-mobile," Harpur said.
Allan Swann is a Senior Editor at IDG Communications Australia. Follow Allan on Twitter at @allanswann.
