Mobile marketing levels are breaking records in the UK

Research conducted by the IAB has shown that advertising over smartphones and tablets is rising fast.

The latest data released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has revealed that mobile marketing is exploding in the United Kingdom, and that it has now reached levels that have never before been achieved.

Last year, the United Kingdom saw a tripling in the amount of money spent to advertise to smartphone users.

That number had already gone well beyond the previous record levels in this rapidly accelerating advertising channel. Now, mobile marketing has continued to take off and the growth doesn’t appear to be stopping any time soon. The spending over this channel has continued to grow in 2013, making it look as though last year’s record breaking numbers will be left in the dust.

In the data report, the massive use of smartphones and tablets were credited with the rise in mobile marketing.

The report showed that because of the penetration of smartphones and tablets in such an enormous amount of the British population, mobile marketing had increased by a huge 148 percent year over year in 2012.

The IAB’s data has shown that the growth in mobile marketing increased the most significantly within the second half of 2012 – possibly due to the approach of the holiday shopping season. The report indicated that mobile video and display advertising increased by 121 percent last year. At the same time, search over smartphones and tablets increased by 164 percent.

At the moment, search campaigns geared toward these devices make up 69 percent of the total mobile marketing ad spending. According to the Internet Advertising Bureau’s director of research and strategy, Tim Elkington “There is simply so much buzz around mobile.” He went on to explain that “Marketers are becoming more attune to the ‘always on’ nature of consumers who expect to engage with content wherever they are.”

In 2009, out of the entire U.K. digital advertising market, smartphones and tablets represented only 1 percent. The data shows that the mobile marketing sector has since gone through a remarkable growth period in the United Kingdom. As the penetration of these devices continues, so could the spending on advertising over this channel.