UK ad industry is working towards mobile, but do consumers share the same enthusiasm?

Mobile display ads in the UK are only marginally clicked on more frequently than display ads. It shows a 0.11% click-through rate (CTR) for mobile display ads in 2014, compared to 0.09% for digital display ads such as banners and video ads, according to the eMarketer report “UK Mobile Ad Effectiveness 2014: Questions on Mobile’s March to the Top.”

The UK is leading the way in global mobile adspend, and is one of the top three countries investing in mobile internet ad spending according to a separate recent report from eMarketer.

It may come as a shock that users are not as engaged with mobile ads as it is hoped. The UK came ninth when measuring the CTR of ads on mobile devices. The nation is surpassed by a range of European countries such as Denmark, Finland, Germany, Spain and Italy, according to eMarketer.

EMarketer said: “The UK is a sophisticated consumer digital market. Mobile consumers are often rather goal-driven, using their device for purposeful tasks in short moments of time. Successfully interrupting these usage windows is challenging,”

“However, UK consumers are willing to engage with interesting, interactive ad units within mobile if it is more natural than that seen on display, so it is not a lost cause to continue with mobile ad spend. If more marketers respond to this fact by communicating and using richer methods, the effectiveness of mobile ads may improve”, according to eMarketer.

It adds: “Brands should consider using mobile as a key distribution channel, but every brand should first examine whether the consumer conditions are in place on mobile to suit their own individual goals, according to the report.”