The world changed drastically in 2020 and many of these changes are here to stay, including the increased use of mobile devices. With people staying at home, mobile devices have become the cement, the go-to tool for managing our daily lives. Transforming nearly every industry vertical in the process, from how we entertain ourselves to how we plan and organize our finances and everything in between, our world is increasingly defined by mobile.
To help marketers navigate the landscape and identify opportunities to succeed in mobile in 2021 and beyond, Annie apps presented the latest report on the state of mobile. The findings provide an important insight into key mobile app trends and changes over the past year and what they mean for the future, including:
- In 2020, mobile accounted for $143 billion in consumer spending, 3.5 trillion hours spent, and 218 billion downloads. Overall, adoption exploded by two to three years in a 12-month span.
- Mobile gaming is estimated to surpass $120 billion in consumer spending in 2021, capturing 1.5 times the market of all other gaming platforms combined.
- Mobile surpassed live TV for time spent in 2020 at 4 hours a day versus 3.7 hours. With this, mobile ad placements are on the rise (95% year over year) with this type of ad spend currently on track to surpass $290B in 2021.
Now let’s dive into some of the mobile themes to keep in mind as we begin to implement strategies for the new year.
Empower the daily trader and democratize investing
According to the report, time spent on financial apps during 2020 increased by nearly half (45%) worldwide outside of China in 2020 year-on-year. Despite a tumultuous economic year, mobile has been the common thread across the spectrum of tax management, including research, decision-making, valuation, and buying or investing. It is the mechanism for participation and not only for wealth creation, but more importantly for establishing financial literacy.
Currently, the fundamentals of personal finance and investing are generally not taught in schools, in some cases delaying when people decide to actively start investing. Looking into 2021, investment apps are stepping up, filling a major knowledge gap for inexperienced investors and making investing more accessible and empowering.
Gaming and streaming: the new frontier of influencer marketing
According to App Annie, “The average American watched 3.7 hours of live TV per day, while spending 4.0 hours on their mobile device in the second half of 2020.” Additionally, 40% more hours were streamed on mobile devices in 2020.
With more eyeballs in favor of mobile, marketers have been thinking hard and long about ad placements and their tactics. Specifically, 2020 saw mobile ad spend totaling $240 billion. This figure is expected to grow to $290 billion in 2021 fueled by celebrity partnerships, an approach that in 2020 proved effective in reducing the noise leading to 2.7x downloads.
It’s not just about churning out ads for mobile, it’s also about taking into consideration the unique demographic opportunities mobile offers across all age groups. In support of this, data showed that in the US, Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X/Baby Boomers spent 16%, 18%, and 30% more time, respectively, year-over-year in their apps. most used.
Unsurprisingly, casual gaming and entertainment apps including Twitch, TikTok and ROBLOX have dominated app downloads among Gen Zers as brands have become innovative and used these spaces as the new frontier for their influencer efforts. during the pandemic. The report further supported this theme by stating that mobile gaming is expected to surpass $120 billion in consumer spending in 2021, while TikTok is expected to reach 1.2 billion active users this year.
The future of social commerce and live shopping
Instead of delaying brands’ long-term strategies, the pandemic served as an accelerator for e-commerce, ensuring that three-year corporate growth plans became a reality in just six months. In 2021, these bold moves are expected to continue.
As evolving consumer habits fuel new channels of discovery and purchase, brands and retailers must seize the opportunity and position themselves to connect with this growing, engaged and ready-to-buy audience. Live shopping is one of the spaces to watch, the report notes that social commerce and live shopping represent a $2 trillion market globally by 2024.
With many people more accustomed to shopping online, many won’t go back to their pre-COVID habits, even when they can, which is a boon for many platforms, especially Pinterest and Instagram according to data from App Annie which found global downloads of Instagram and Pinterest worldwide grew 50% and 20% year-over-year, respectively.
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