Mobile App Marketing Statistics

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Mobile app marketing has become an unstoppable force, much like TikTok dances or the realization that you now need reading glasses. In 2022, mobile advertising spending hit a staggering $327 billion, and by 2024, it’s expected to barrel past $400 billion—because, evidently, there is no upper limit to how much money can be thrown at getting people to download an app they’ll forget about in a week. With mobile now claiming 64% of all digital ad spending, businesses are going all in, desperate to reach audiences who, statistically speaking, are already staring at their phones anyway.

And who can blame them? There are 5.56 billion unique mobile phone subscribers worldwide, which means more people own a phone than have access to clean drinking water—an unsettling fact that marketers would probably turn into an ad campaign if given the chance. Meanwhile, 87% of U.S. consumers use mobile devices, and 46% research products and services through apps, proving that we’ve officially reached the point where reading a cereal box feels like too much effort.

Social media and mobile commerce are also fueling this digital dependence, with mobile ad spending on social media projected to hit $205.4 billion by 2027, and mobile commerce sales expected to reach $710 billion by 2025. And if that weren’t enough, mobile users are a full 40% more likely to make impulse purchases than their desktop-using counterparts, meaning that a well-placed ad at just the right moment could be the difference between someone buying a practical household item or a $300 robot vacuum named Kevin that will mostly just get stuck under the couch.

In this article, we’ll dive into key mobile app marketing statistics, covering everything from app store optimization to the ever-expanding world of eCommerce. Because if one thing is clear, it’s that mobile isn’t just the future of digital marketing—it’s already here, quietly draining our bank accounts one perfectly targeted ad at a time.

  1. Global Mobile Advertising Spend: In 2022, mobile advertising spending reached a record $327 billion worldwide, with projections nearing $400 billion by 2024. statista.com
  2. Mobile’s Share of Digital Ad Spend: As of 2022, 64% of all digital advertising funds were devoted to mobile platforms. statista.com
  3. Consumer Mobile Usage in the U.S.: 87% of consumers in the U.S. use mobile devices. publift.com
  4. Product Research via Mobile Apps: 46% of Americans research products and services on a mobile app. publift.com
  5. Global Mobile Phone Subscribers: There are 5.56 billion unique mobile phone subscribers worldwide, accounting for 69.1% of the global population. publift.com
  6. Mobile’s Role in Social Media Ad Spending: Mobile is projected to account for $205.4 billion of all social media ad spending by 2027, up from $170.3 billion in 2023. publift.com
  7. Mobile Advertising Market Size: The mobile advertising market exceeds $100 billion annually, with growth forecasts and trends indicating continued expansion. emarketer.com
  8. Mobile Advertising Spending in 2023: Mobile advertising spending is projected to reach $216 billion in 2023. socalnewsgroup.com
  9. Mobile’s Share of Digital Ad Spend: 60% of digital ad spend is allocated to mobile platforms, totaling $327.1 billion. appmysite.com
  10. Mobile Ad Click Rates: 31% of users sometimes click on mobile ads, while 10% click on ads regularly. appmysite.com
  11. Mobile Website Traffic: 54% of all website traffic is generated from mobile phones. webfx.com
  12. Projected Mobile Advertising Revenue: Worldwide mobile advertising spending is projected to reach $402 billion in 2025, representing an 11% increase from the previous year. blog.udonis.co
  13. Social Media Ad Spending via Mobile: A mobile marketing report projects around $255.8 billion of ad spending in the social media advertising market, mostly generated via mobile. qrcode-tiger.com
  14. Mobile App Downloads: The annual number of mobile app downloads has exponentially grown, with hundreds of billions of downloads in 2018, and the number of downloads expected to climb by 2022. en.wikipedia.org
  15. Mobile App-Installed Ads Revenue: It is estimated that U.S. mobile app-installed ads accounted for 30% of all mobile advertising revenue in 2014, and will top $4.6 billion in 2016, and over $6.8 billion by the end of 2019. en.wikipedia.org
  16. Mobile Internet Usage Increase: Mobile internet usage increases with the rapidly developing distribution of smartphones. en.wikipedia.org
  17. Mobile Marketing Market Size Growth: The mobile marketing market size is expected to increase five-fold by 2030, highlighting the deep integration of mobile technologies into today’s digital infrastructure. statista.com
  18. Mobile’s Dominance in Digital Advertising: After overtaking desktop as the most invested-in global ad format in 2019, mobile now accounts for 64% of all digital ad funds. statista.com
  19. Mobile App Store Optimization (ASO): Marketers aim to optimize the visibility of an app in a store, which will maximize the number of downloads. This practice is called App Store Optimization (ASO). en.wikipedia.org
  20. Mobile Marketing Strategies: Mobile marketers have increasingly taken advantage of smartphone apps as a marketing resource, aiming to optimize app visibility and maximize downloads. en.wikipedia.org
  21. Mobile App Usage Growth: With the strong growth in the use of smartphones, app usage has also greatly increased. en.wikipedia.org
  22. Mobile Advertising Revenue Projections: According to a report, worldwide mobile digital advertising spend would reach $185 billion in 2018, $217 billion in 2019, and $247 billion in 2020. en.wikipedia.org
  23. Mobile Marketing Research Advantages: Statistical methods in mobile market research profit from the fact that they do not depend on place or time, allowing surveys via mobile phone to be conducted anywhere and at any time. en.wikipedia.org
  24. Mobile App Marketing Models: Several models for app marketing include content embedded mode, advertising model, user participation mode, and shopping website embedded mode. en.wikipedia.org
  25. Mobile App-Installed Ads Growth: It is estimated that U.S. mobile app-installed ads accounted for 30% of all mobile advertising revenue in 2014, and will top $4.6 billion in 2016, and over $6.8 billion by the end of 2019. en.wikipedia.org
  26. Mobile App Economy Growth: In 2023, the mobile app economy reached nearly $533 billion, encompassing both app store spending and mobile ad expenditures. publift.com
  27. Millennial Engagement: 21% of millennial smartphone users access their mobile apps at least 50 times daily. publift.com
  28. Average App Usage: In 2023, individuals utilized an average of 30 apps per month on their smartphones. publift.com
  29. Social App Growth: Time spent on social apps increased by 12% to 3 trillion hours in 2023, with user spending rising by 10% to $29 billion. publift.com
  30. App Store Revenue Surge: Every minute in 2021, app stores garnered over $320,000, marking a nearly 20% increase from 2020. publift.com
  31. Total App Usage Hours: In 2023, global hours spent on mobile apps peaked at 5.1 trillion, reflecting a 6% year-over-year growth. publift.com
  32. Mobile Ad Revenue Share: In 2022, mobile advertising revenues reached $154.1 billion, accounting for 73.5% of total internet ad revenues. publift.com
  33. Consumer Action Post-Search: 70% of mobile users who locate a business online take action within an hour. publift.com
  34. YouTube Mobile Ad Effectiveness: Paid mobile YouTube ads are 84% more likely to capture viewer attention compared to traditional TV commercials. publift.com
  35. Facebook Mobile Access: 96% of Facebook users access the platform via mobile devices. publift.com
  36. Mobile Commerce Sales Projection: By 2025, mobile commerce sales are expected to account for $710 billion in commerce sales. publift.com
  37. B2B Mobile Purchases: In 2023, 80% of B2B buyers utilized mobile phones for their purchases. publift.com
  38. Ad Spend Recovery: After a 6% decline in 2023, user acquisition ad spend rebounded by 5% in 2024, totaling $65 billion globally. appsflyer.com
  39. Non-Gaming App Investment: In 2024, non-gaming apps saw an 8% increase in ad spend, while gaming apps experienced a 7% decline. appsflyer.com
  40. Finance App Ad Spend Surge: Finance apps led with a 61% year-over-year increase in ad spend in 2024, driven by growth in crypto and fintech sectors. appsflyer.com
  41. Travel App Advertising: Travel apps experienced a 20% rise in ad spend in 2024, approaching pre-pandemic activity levels. appsflyer.com
  42. Shopping App Ad Spend Decline: In 2024, shopping apps faced a decrease in ad spend, returning to normalcy after a surge in 2023 led by Asian shopping giants. appsflyer.com
  43. Casual Gaming Ad Spend: Casual games achieved a modest 3% growth in ad spend in 2024, expanding their market share from 61% to 64%. appsflyer.com
  44. Mid-Core Gaming Ad Spend: Mid-core games saw a significant 21% decline in ad budgets in 2024. appsflyer.com
  45. Casino Gaming Ad Spend: Casino games experienced a 12% reduction in ad spend in 2024. appsflyer.com
  46. Geographical Ad Spend Trends: Non-gaming ad spend increased in developed markets like the UK, Germany, Canada, and the US, with notable growth in Brazil and India. appsflyer.com
  47. Mobile Ad Spend in the U.S.: In the United States, mobile advertising expenditure is expected to exceed $216 billion in 2025, up from $194.8 billion in 2024. blog.udonis.co
  48. Mobile Commerce Preference: Approximately 65% of online sales were made through mobile devices, indicating a strong consumer preference for shopping on-the-go. blog.udonis.co
  49. Impulse Purchases on Mobile: Mobile users are 40% more likely to make impulse purchases compared to desktop users, driven by the ease and personalized experiences on mobile platforms. blog.udonis.co
  50. Mobile Ad Spend Share: 60% of digital ad spend is allocated to mobile platforms, totaling $327.1 billion. appmysite.com

The mobile-first economy isn’t coming—it’s already here, quietly dictating how we shop, scroll, and impulsively buy things we didn’t know we needed. With 96% of Facebook users accessing the platform via mobile, 70% of mobile users taking action within an hour of finding a business online, and paid YouTube ads being 84% more likely to capture attention than traditional TV commercials, it’s clear that our phones are no longer just accessories; they’re tiny, all-knowing salespeople that fit in our pockets.

And the numbers keep climbing. Mobile commerce is expected to surpass $710 billion by 2025, and mobile ad spending in the U.S. alone is set to exceed $216 billion, which means that somewhere, right now, a marketing executive is presenting a PowerPoint slide titled “Mobile: The Money Machine.” Brands that embrace this reality—whether through social media ads, app store optimization, or hyper-personalized in-app experiences—will have the upper hand. The rest? Well, they’ll be left wondering why their customers have mysteriously disappeared, presumably off somewhere buying yet another phone case they absolutely did not need.

Ultimately, businesses that adapt to the ever-evolving world of mobile marketing will win. Because in this increasingly mobile-centric world, if your brand isn’t optimizing for mobile, you may as well be advertising via carrier pigeon—a charming idea, but not exactly scalable.

Tony Zayas, Author

Written by: Tony Zayas, Chief Revenue Officer

In my role as Chief Revenue Officer at Insivia, I am at the forefront of driving transformation and results for SaaS and technology companies. I lead strategic marketing and business development initiatives, helping businesses overcome plateaus and achieve significant growth. My journey has led me to collaborate with leading businesses and apply my knowledge to revolutionize industries.