Mobile advertising should account for about two-thirds (67%) of total US digital ad spend this year, per recent data from eMarketer. The analysis also reveals that the largest portion of mobile’s estimated $87.1 billion ad spend is from retail advertisers.
A separate study from PwC, which not only examined current online and offline advertising but also contained projections into the future, concurs with eMarketer’s predictions regarding mobile ad spend. It reports that mobile is expected to account for 70% of the total US online advertising spend this year. It also projects that mobile could account for 81% of all digital advertising by 2023.
According to eMarketer’s forecast, retail industry advertisers will account for 22.3% share of mobile ad spend (which includes classified, display, email, lead generation, messaging-based and search advertising for mobile devices, including tablets), making Retail even more dominant in mobile advertising than in digital advertising overall (21.9% share).
While accounting for considerably less than Retail, the Financial Services industry will account for 1 in every 8 (12.5% share) mobile ad dollars spent this year. Indeed, according to eMarketer, more than two-thirds (69.4%) of digital ad spend in the financial sector is on mobile. The Auto industry follows close behind, responsible for 11.9% of mobile ad spend.
Travel Expected to Surpass CPG
Total digital ad spend, which includes all the various forms of advertising that appear on computers, mobile phones, tablets and other internet-connected devices, is expected to reach $123.4 billion in 2019. While retail accounts for the lion’s share (21.9%) of the total US digital ad spend, eMarketer notes the fluctuation in other industries, especially when it comes to CPG ad spend.
At $11.1 billion, CPG is currently ranked 5th in US digital ad spend (8.6% share). eMarketer forecasts that by next year, the Travel industry, which accounts for 8.4% share of digital ad spend, will surpass CPG spending.
This is in contrast to just one year ago when eMarketer found that the travel industry was experiencing slower-than-average compound growth in ad spend.
Auto Industry Not Far Behind Retail In Digital Video
Recent data from Standard Media Index found that in the first 4 months of 2019, video accounted for more than half (58%) of ad spend for major national marketers across all platforms (including non-digital). Additionally, the IAB revealed that major advertisers across various industries said they plan to spend 25% more on digital video this year than they did in 2018. The eMarketer report shows that currently digital video accounts for almost one-third (29%) of US digital ad spend.
Retail, as with overall digital ad spend and mobile ad spend, accounts for the largest portion (19.2% share) of digital video ad spend. However, Retail’s portion of digital video ad spend isn’t quite as pronounced as it is with mobile and total digital ad spend. The Auto industry (which is ranked 2nd) accounts for 14.4% of digital video ad spend.
For more stats, see eMarketer’s analysis here.
