• by Mark Walsh , October 17, 2014

Marketers plan to increase mobile ad spending this year at the expense of print, television and digital display media, according to new findings by research firm Advertiser Perceptions. 

Among the 300 agency and marketing “decision makers” interviewed online in July, findings revealed that print will suffer the most from growing mobile ad budgets, with 41% citing that category as a source for mobile ad dollars. Another 34% indicated they would shift money from TV advertising to mobile, while 32% will tap digital display budgets. Nearly four in 10 (38%) said an overall expansion in ad budgets would fund more mobile ad spending.

What objectives are advertisers turning to mobile for? Connecting with buyers on multiple platforms, building awareness for new brands, service and events and driving engagement with customers were cited as the most important factors by more than three quarters of executives.

When it comes to mobile devices, smartphones were favored over tablets for ad results. “Smartphones are seen as the platform that delivers such benefits as impressions, conversion, sales, awareness and ROI. Tablets, meanwhile, are valued mostly for attributes like engagement and user experience,” stated the report.

As a “platform for my advertising,” smartphones and tablets came out even, with 25% each citing smartphones and tablets, and 49% saying the two are the same. The two device types were also viewed about equal when it came to brand safety.

In terms of mobile buys, Google and Facebook were the top media brands, cited by 25% and 21% of agency clients, respectively. That’s not surprising, given that together they accounted for the majority (67%) of U.S. mobile ad spending last year, according to eMarketer. Others mentioned included Yahoo (14%), YouTube and Apple’s iAd (9% each), Millennial Media (8%), Twitter (7%) and Pandora (5%).

For a social network like Facebook to be considered a top mobile buy underscores how the company has benefited from the mobile shift. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of its ad sales revenue in the second quarter came from mobile, with that proportion likely to increase again when it announces third-quarter results this month. Twitter, similarly, gets about three-quarters of its ad revenue from mobile.

Survey participants attributed Google’s predominance to its massive reach and ability to mirror the desktop experience in mobile with device-specific improvements, such as location. 

Among executives surveyed by Advertiser Perceptions for the study,  59% were from ad agencies and 41% from brand marketers. Overall, 45% of respondents were at the vice president level or higher. Their purview spans mobile, digital, print and television.