Light Reaction: 2016 Asia Pacific Mobile Trend-Spotting

(Marketingmagazine.com.my) -As global PC/desktop sales have taken its worst beating in 7 years according to a recent research study* done by Gartner, mobile device usage has only been increasing.

With the population becoming more mobile (constantly on the go and consuming digital content on their devices), Light Reaction forsees some of the top 12 APAC mobile trends to come.

1. Mobile app engagement and re-engagement will be more important than app downloads in a bid to increase spend on retaining existing users instead of acquiring new ones at a higher cost per download

2. Innovative, engaging creative formats will be the primary driver of ROI for cross-device performance in a bid for brands to stand out

3. Clients who can understand how users perceive ads, thus making advertising welcome, will be able to optimize both user experience and campaign ROI.

4. Mobile will only continue to outpace desktop; continued surge in M-commerce as shown by big players such as Alibaba whose 2015 Singles Day takings of USD$14.3b saw 73% of purchases in the first hour made via mobile phone

5. APAC will continue to stay on course in overtaking all other regions in mobile usage and ad spend

6. While smartphone adoption continues to grow, there is still market and ad opportunities for feature phones in developing countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines

7. Mobile (Performance) metrics / KPIs will be more defined: click vs engagement, CPA vs ARPU, Impressions vs In-target audience, App downloads vs App retention.

8. There will also be new performance KPIs set: For e.g Click-To-Call buttons in the new Light Reaction Call Performance product would make it possible to measure how users directly engage with the advertisers’ salespeople. Clients will also include phone calls as part of their mobile performance strategy.

9. Tech and media companies will be pushed by market demands to develop more sophisticated mobile and cross device attribution capabilities. Innovators will be in a great position to pick up more marketing dollars.

10. Mobile usage and importance will continue to grow and therefore play an increasingly important part in media strategies. This will result in a surge in demand for the necessary skillsets, knowledge and expertise which will be limited, until the sector/market matures and produces more of such talent.

11. More companies will offer cross device solutions. These will be thoroughly tested and in the end we will see which cross device approaches really work so that we can reach users across mobile and desktop with one advertising message.

12. Successful advertising tactics such as mobile video and mobile re-targeting on desktop will become standard in mobile. Additionally new tactics that are mobile-only will appear (couponing, apple passbook, beacons etc).