• by Steve Smith  @popeyesm, October 22, 2013

Nothing succeeds like success. Facebook's rapid implementation of an effective mobile marketing model helped infuse at least one global ad forecaster to go bullish. Juniper Research expects spending on smartphone and tablet advertising and marketing programs worldwide to escalate rapidly from $13.1 billion this year to 39.3 billion in 2018. The compound annual growth rate will be 24.6% for the forecast period.

Citing Facebook's rapid pivot from a Web-based company to a model that already sees 41% of its income from mobile advertising, Juniper says the social network's success points to larger trends. The recent announcement that Facebook will be incorporating video in its mobile advertising indicates a trend toward rich media in device-based advertising and a move away from “underperforming mobile banner ads.”

Juniper also points to the rise of real-time bidding (RTB ) platforms as integral to growth in the mobile economy. Publishers will find it easier to sell their ad inventory as marketers invest more budgets in buying well-targeted impressions in real-time.

Despite a forecast for strong growth in mobile advertising, Juniper notes the continued low spend for the channel relative to the medium's high engagement levels. That may change as targeting improves and consumer interaction with marketers via devices deepens. Report author Sian Rowlands states in the report: “We are witnessing a change in consumer perceptions of mobile advertising as advertisers begin to use opt-in or reward style advertising: by harnessing Big Data and location information, mobile ads are being better targeted to users.”

Juniper expects in-app advertising to be a key driver as people spend ever more time within that part of the mobile ecosystem. The greatest area of growth with be the Indian subcontinent, where Juniper forecasts a fourfold increase in mobile ad spend between 2013 and 2018.