Advertising on Smartwatches to Near $70m by 2019

moto-360-smartwatch blackberryWith the first wave of Apple Watch buyers awaiting the shipment of their devices, marketers are starting to ask how smartwatches will fit into the marketing ecosystem that other mobile devices have created.

A new study from Juniper Research suggests they need not be worried, with advertising spend on smartwatches expected to reach $68.6m (£46.9m) by 2019, up from an estimated $1.5m this year.

The research suggests that growth will be fuelled by brands like Apple entering the smartwatch market, increasing public awareness of and interest in the wearable sector, and increasing consumer affinity with the devices.

The emergence of an additional consumer screen is likely to stimulate interest amongst advertisers, providing them with a new way to engage with consumers that forms a natural part of their everyday life, but until a critical mass of users is built up, most campaigns will likely be ad hoc and targeted at hi-end audiences.

However, the research noted the need for brands to being working now on devising and implementing new formats that will cater for the smaller screen size of the smartwatch, echoing the transition from desktop to mobile advertising.

The rise of programmatic will also be a driver of smartwatch ad spending, as the wider digital advertising sphere becomes more and more essential to marketing efforts and central in advertising strategies.