New Delhi: Video is the most popular ad format in India with the country being the sixth largest market in the consumption of video ads, said a report by Mobile Marketing Association and GroupM.
The number of smartphone users in India is expected to reach around 700 million by 2023, making mobile advertising led by video relevant and crucial for brands.
Native video ads have already found themselves layered within different social media apps, engaging users in non-intrusive, short video formats. The Mobile Marketing Ecosystem report 2020 further said investing in new types of video formats such as vertical videos, 360-degree immersive videos (YouTube, Facebook and Twitter) and virtual reality enabled videos will result in higher revenue and engagement from users.
As of first quarter of 2019, India had an active user base of 451 million, while the internet penetration hovers over 36%. The internet user base is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10% from 2019 to 2023.
Social media platforms have been launching new features to keep their users engaged. Stories, ephemeral video content which disappear after 24 hours, have proven to be a perfect format for brands to communicate their message.
The interactive avenues provided by stories like quizzes, polls, etc help in understanding consumer behaviour and need of the hour. Millennials prefer snackable content which doesn’t require much effort and allows them to share updates instantly.
The report said one in three of the highest viewed stories are from brands and businesses and sponsored videos receive three times more comments than sponsored photos. Not only is Instagram a choice place for marketers and advertisers, Instagram videos are the go-to format.
Noting that regional languages will drive growth online, the findings said content needs to be customised accordingly for easy understanding and access in multiple different languages. With the rise of local influencers on platforms like Instagram and Tiktok, their impact and potential needs to be taken into consideration as well.
Apart from video and local language, voice emerged as the big trend on mobile, growing on the back of voice assistants available such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana and Google Assistant.
Indian users in particular have taken a special interest in this comfortable medium of communication as India is one of the fastest-growing markets in this area with 52% of Indian smartphone users making use of these voice assistants every single day. 38% of consumers, who have engaged with voice ads, find it less interfering compared with other forms of advertising.
“India is a diverse and mobile-first country, and this will further boost the growth of mobile advertising compared to digital. The availability of content in regional Indian languages is driving consumption of the mobile internet in India. We have also witnessed the use of e-commerce apps on mobile phones growing in the last few years. With a mix of utilities, mobile is going to be bigger and better in the country," said Prasanth Kumar, chief executive, GroupM South Asia.
