Digital Turbine, in collaboration with Qrious Insight has released a report series on social media advertising performance. The report explores social media in light of the rising tide of mobile game playing. The first in the “Game”-Changing shift series focuses on Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) brands. It urges advertisers to look at their media mix to determine if they can better reach audiences that spend more time in media channels they aren’t currently buying. The report concludes that if QSR brands had reached the Mobile Gaming-First segment as effectively as social audiences, they would have boosted reach by 18%.
The reports’ insights draw from consumer behavioural data passively collected from over twenty thousand consumers during 2023. Through their opted-in consumer panel, Qrious Insight, the research partner for the study, tracked overall mobile use, social and YouTube app usage, website usage, restaurant visits, and detailed info on QSR advertising exposure within Social Media and YouTube. Detailed behavioural data of leading QSR brands, including McDonald’s, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Dunkin Donuts, and Burger King, were analysed.
By segmenting consumers based on their actual media channel consumption – primarily whether they used mobile games or social/YouTube more dominantly. Then analysing social media and YouTube ad exposures, the report indicated a paradigm shift in advertising strategies. Key findings included:
QSR Brands not reaching the mobile gaming-first segment
The “Mobile Gaming-First” segment spent 2.5x times more time playing games than on social media. This created an inequity in ad exposures across the two segments. For every ad that a “Mobile Gaming-First” was exposed to, the “Social/YouTube-First” audience was exposed to 2.6 ads. Social/YouTube ad campaigns also reached only 47% of the “Mobile Gaming-First” audience, compared to 77% of the “Social/YouTube-First” audience. The net result is that If the reach of Social/YouTube campaigns within the “Mobile Gaming-First” QSR segment had been in line with their reach within the “Social/YouTube-First” QSR segment, overall reach across the entire QSR audience would have increased by 18%.
All leading QSR brands found to under-deliver
Leading brands with large marketing resources and budgets could not reach the “Mobile Gaming-First” audience as efficiently as “Social/YouTube-First” segment. Chick-fil-A was the most efficient. However, still exposed one ad to the “Mobile Gaming-First” audience for every 1.3 ads the “Social/YouTube-First” audience was exposed to.
The mobile gaming-first segment is massive
Mobile gaming has emerged as a formidable media contender. It is the most-used mobile channel for approximately 4 in 10 QSR brands’ customers.
Andrew Moffatt, Qrious Insight’s CEO, suggests: “Media measurement for advertising must go beyond understanding how many people use different platforms. They must dig deeper into what they are doing and why. This report dissects how different types of media engagement can deeply impact the effective reach of your advertising. While you might think you are reaching a large audience, you are only effectively reaching a fraction of that. This true and impactful insight cannot be gained by survey recall but be uncovered using passively tracked behavioural data. “
Jon Hudson, VP of Global Sales at Digital Turbine, remarked, “Brand advertisers have blind spots in their media mix. They can evolve by better understanding consumers’ actual mobile behaviours. Brands are not advertising in the dominant media channel of a major segment of their customers. The campaign’s overall impact is sub-optimised. Brands must adapt by embracing mobile gaming as a pivotal component of their media mix.”
The report emphasises the importance of dynamic and comprehensive advertising strategies as consumer habits evolve. Digital Turbine and Qrious Insight remain at the forefront, empowering brands to navigate the ever-changing digital landscape with precision and innovation.
Enterprise Times: What this means for businesses
What happens to campaigns when consumers spend most of their time on another mobile medium? Digital Turbine and Qrious Insight’s new report series looks at behavioural data of consumers behaviour. The data digs deep to see how time spent in mobile games versus social media or YouTube affects the impact of advertisers’ mobile campaigns.
The key headline from this interesting report is that 38% of Consumers spend more time on mobile games than social media and YouTube. A saturated media sector provides consumers with endless new options to select from. Combined with the challenging economic conditions, requires brands to differentiate themselves while finding ways to reduce costs.
The main lesson learned for all brands from this report is the need to review and explore their media mix. Brands have to learn the techniques and use the tools to ensure they are reaching the Mobile Gaming-First segment. This segment may not be the core target audience for many brands. Nonetheless businesses need to understand the need for dynamic and comprehensive advertising strategies utilising mobile gaming as a component of the mix.
