As the world turns to mobile for social interaction, research, entertainment, shopping and more, the market for app advertising continues to rise across the globe. Increased demand means a saturated marketplace, so brands are getting creative with how they present in-app advertising to consumers.

In-app advertising is set to triple from $72 billion in 2016 to $201 billion in 2021, according to new forecasts by App Annie. The company expects this growth to be fueled by continued innovation in areas such as augmented reality, mobile payments and artificial intelligence. The global app economy will be worth $6.3 trillion by 2021.

Heinz and Facebook Creative launched an experimental campaign called “Irresistible posts” that used Instagram Stories ads to give away burgers. The two-hour campaign partnered with local restaurants in Sao Paulo, Brazil. When a user saw one of the local-sponsored stories, they could swipe up and claim the photo. Gourmet burgers were then delivered in special, Instagram-post-inspired packaging.

“We decided to turn people’s craving into reality,” Isabella Rizzo, Heinz’ marketing director, explained in a statement. “Irresistible Posts innovate in the way people consume content—by eating it with Heinz.”

Mobile accounts for 51 percent of digital ad spend, according to IAB—a figure that App Annie predicts will increase over the next four years. Global advertiser spend will grow from $13 to $52 per user over the course of the forecast period. This growth is being driven by broad ad monetization in non-game apps, which is set to outperform the overall advertising market with a nearly 21 percent CAGR.

Pinterest is also taking drool-worthy posts and turning them into real-life purchases with buyable pins and native video ads. Buyable pins are free for businesses, who have the option of paying for promotion. More than 75 percent of pins saved to Pinterest come from businesses, according to the site.

For Kong: Skull Island, Legendary Pictures used Promoted Videos on Pinterest. According to a case study, the video ads made men 15 percent more likely to watch the movie in theaters.

“Pinterest is a great place to reach a receptive audience with video,” said Matt Marolda, chief analytics officer for Legendary Entertainment. “The fact that our video ads were the only motion in people’s feeds really provided us with the opportunity to make a major impact.”

Rewarded ads are popular in the world of mobile games, but a recent partnership between Tapjoy and the Line messenger app illustrates the potential of interactive marketing. Tapjoy offers thousands of opt-in, rewarded ads from hundreds of brands and partners such as LEGO, Starbucks, Clorox and Google.

“Video ads have performed exceptionally well on our platform and we foresee them working just as well in a messenger environment,” Shannon Jessup, chief revenue officer of Tapjoy, told AListDaily. “Videos provide a great user experience because they’re simple to engage with and they provide strong entertainment value. Those same characteristics carry over into any app type.”
The Line messaging app is especially popular in Asia-Pactific countries—where mobile apps are being used far more than mobile web. Research from mobile advertising data company Vpon found that 77 percent of mobile ads served during the first half of 2017 in the region were delivered via mobile apps, as opposed to the mobile web. According to estimates from eMarketer, mobile ad spending in the region will total $53.21 billion this year and will grow to $115.82 billion by 2021, when it will account for 77.5 percent of all digital ad spending there.

Asia-Pacific is set to outpace other regions in terms of in-app ad spend, growing at a rate of 25 percent CAGR, App Annie predicts. By 2021, ad spend there will total over $77 billion—roughly tripling from 2016.

At 15 percent Europe, the Middle East and Africa are behind in terms of mobile ad spend CAGR. App Annie attributes this to a less robust mobile advertising infrastructure in the Middle East and Africa, specifically, that counterbalances growth in Europe.