Mobile advertising and marketing in the U.S. - statistics & facts

Mobile devices have become essential tools for communication, news, and entertainment. As mobile has overtaken desktop as the primary means of internet access in many parts of the world and the number of smartphone users keeps growing every day, it is no surprise that companies are vividly embracing this mobile revolution for marketing purposes. In 2020, the global mobile marketing market size was estimated at around 11 billion U.S. dollars, and by 2030, this figure is expected to surpass 55 billion. Mobile ad spend is increasing by double-digit rates each year, and nowhere is this leveraging of mobile technology for promotion more visible than in the United States, the leading mobile ad market in the world.

Mobile marketing usage

In 2020, mobile advertising spending in the U.S. stood at approximately 120 billion U.S. dollars, marking an annual boost of over 20 percent. As smartphones have become irreplaceable staples in the lives of millions of Americans, these devices also draw ever-increasing attention and advertising funds from marketers. When asked about the share of marketing budgets devoted to mobile marketing initiatives in a 2021 survey, U.S. marketing experts stated that they allocated around 18.5 percent of their budgets towards mobile. Interestingly, they also expressed plans to double this share within the next five years, highlighting the industry’s steady path towards a mobile-first future. Two industries that are already placing their bets on mobile are entertainment and telecommunications, with more than 75 percent of their digital ad budgets flowing towards mobile. Overall, retail is the industry that boasts the highest mobile ad spend in the United States in line with the mobile e-commerce boom of the recent past.

Most popular mobile ad formats

Marketers can choose from an ever-expanding list of mobile marketing activities. While digital banner advertising remains the format with the highest mobile ad spend, search, video, and social media also draw larger investments from U.S. marketers than ever. Spending on these formats has doubled or even tripled since 2017, showing just how rapidly mobile innovations have transformed the U.S. marketing world. Mobile users tend to enjoy video entertainment formats more than just written text on their small screens, and seeing that they primarily scroll through their favorite social apps on their smartphones, it makes sense that mobile social media ad spend in the U.S. has more than tripled in the last five years. In 2021, spending on mobile social media ad campaigns stood at over 48 billion U.S. dollars, and with more monetizable platforms popping up each year, this figure is set to surpass 71 billion by 2025. Meanwhile, marketers are also looking to tap into the vast potential of mobile audio promotion, with over 50 percent of surveyed U.S. industry experts planning to boost mobile ad investments in podcasts in the future.

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Mobile ad spend worldwide: 327.1bn USD

Mobile ad spend in the U.S.: 165bn USD

Share of mobile in digital ad spend in the U.S.: 64%

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Digital audio advertising spending in the United States from 2019 to 2021, by device (in million U.S. dollars)

Online Advertising

Digital audio ad spend in the U.S. 2019-2021, by device

Mobile advertising spending in the United States in 2021, by industry (in billion U.S. dollars)

Online Advertising

Mobile ad spend in the U.S. 2021, by industry

Smartphone ad block usage rate in the United States from 2017 to 2021

Online Advertising

Mobile ad block usage in the U.S. 2017-2021

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Overview

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Mobile formats

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Industry data

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Marketer perspective

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Mobile user behavior

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Ad blocking

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