Whether the ‘year of mobile’ has arrived in 2012 is the subject of much debate, but what cannot be argued with is that mobile is now more important than ever. The use of mobile in every facet of life and its rapid rise impacts the way business is done and ignites significant growth potential.
The adoption of mobile usage, and in particular mobile internet usage, has exploded. According to a KPCB report in June, 10% of global internet traffic now occurs via mobile. eMarketer predicts that global mobile ad spend will reach $6.4 billion in 2012. Mobile has quickly become a trusted consumer resource, as we can now see in terms of conversion, 11% of EU mobile owners use their phones to buy online and 9% buy online via an app.
As mobile becomes even more ubiquitous, these figures are only going to increase. So when we hear predictions that by the end of this year, the tablet market will have grown by over 90% and that by 2015 there will be 7.1 billion connected mobile devices worldwide, it’s a sure sign that mobile is leading the platform charge.
The latest figures for mobile growth are staggering, but what is perhaps even more surprising, given the evidence that mobile is increasingly important, is that so far adoption rates of mobile advertising have been slower than expected.
In today’s agile marketplace, advertisers and publishers alike need to build a consistent customer experience across all connected devices and platforms – including mobile. An effective mobile strategy is essential in order to reach out to new customers, appeal to brands and create new revenue streams.
Mobile devices – smartphones and tablets – offer real revenue benefits to those who can advertise effectively on them. Here are some insights to consider when developing a mobile strategy:
- Consider your platform: Whereas the desktop web is served via an internet browser, there are many ways of serving mobile websites and advertising. Ads can be served on WAP sites, on full websites via mobile devices and inside apps. Each requires a slightly different perspective. Before you commit to a mobile strategy, decide which of these platforms best suits your target audience.
- Know your audience: Evaluate how tech-savvy your audience is. What mobile devices do they use? Smartphones or tablets? Android or iOS? Would you need to target iPhone users with a different message than you would Android users? Answering these questions is the key to building a mobile strategy and user experience that will resonate with your digital audience. Ensure your technology partner can provide you with the tools to separate audience based on the type of device they use.
- Have your target in sight: For mobile to capture its fair share of ad spend it will need to easily enable the same level of targeting that we find on the web. Additionally, mobile campaigns must be easily integrated, measured, and managed holistically across platforms so that users are not overwhelmed with the same message again and again across both PC and mobile.
- Be relevant: Unlike traditional advertising, mobile allows the delivery of highly contextually relevant messages to users at the right place and time; use this to your advantage. Advertisers can take advantage of relevant mobile targeting; for example, GeoTargeting and GeoFencing allow targeting an audience based on its location (from country granularity to a specific address). This type of targeting is also used alongside other metrics including demographics, search history and so on, and can be combined to target ads dynamically to different mobile devices by carrier, manufacturer and device type.
- Pick a technology platform: It is essential to carefully consider the right technology provider to work with, in order to bridge the gap that has grown between mobile and online media. A few technology companies now offer a unified solution enabling advertisers to reach their target audience on both PC and mobile in a single buy, while also allowing all forms of targeting across both platforms.
- Analyse: It is important to analyse your results regularly so you can see what is working and what is not. By doing this, you will refine your mobile strategy into something that offers the best fit for your brand or client. First understand your mobile audiences by using comprehensive site analytics that highlight basic trends and identify which mobile devices are being used to access your content and at what frequency. With this in mind you will be able to determine the next steps for your mobile strategy and which audiences you need to target more effectively.
- Keep it simple: Most importantly, remember to keep your mobile site simple. Use analytics to identify which pages are most used and make sure to replicate them for mobile. Avoid heavy graphics and keep scrolling to a minimum.
Addressing all of these insights will help lead publishers and advertisers to the right technology partner or platform for their mobile strategy: one that allows delivery of a highly interactive and impactful creative execution, whilst improving brands’ value and heightening engagement with little to no impact on the consumer experience.
Mobile advertising is going to be big – and it will be very big very soon, significantly affecting how media is planned and bought. Now is the time to take a fresh and simple approach to introducing brands and content to mobile consumers.
