Mobile advertising budgets, just like all other advertising subcategories, have taken a hit due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, mobile continues to be the fastest growing channel – with 94 per cent of marketing professionals feeling mobile advertising is effective.

49 per cent of marketing professionals, up from 40 per cent in 2019, are allocating more than 25 per cent of their budget to mobile, according to a survey of 596 EMEA marketing professionals conducted by Warc and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).

Despite more marketers using more of their budgets on mobile, Covid-19 has made a significant dent in the amount of mobile budget available. Before the outbreak, 66 per cent of marketers were expecting their mobile budgets to rise over the next year. Now, just 39 per cent can say the same.

“The findings of this years survey reveal that despite reduced budgets bought on by Covid-19, mobile marketing remains the fastest growing channel providing opportunities, such as mobile video, e-commerce and gaming, for brands to effectively engage with consumers,” said Amy Rodgers, Managing Editor Research & Ranking at Warc.

These reduced budgets will, for the most part, be focused toward mobile video – where 50 per cent of mobile budgets, on average, will be allocated by marketers this year. With this focus, 75 per cent of marketers are paying significant attention to ad length and design for mobile-specific content. At the same time, mobile game advertising is predicted to grow alongside 5G advances and, by 2025, 48 per cent of marketers feel mobile-based branded content will be their main focus.

When it comes to types of advertising, mobile display is used in 25 per cent of ad campaigns and is the biggest focus of 2020 for 47 per cent of marketers. Paid search and mobile display now account for almost all of global mobile ad spend.