Put Your Product in Their Pocket – Potential of Mobile Advertising

We look back 10 years ago and always wonder how people managed to survive without mobile phones, now as we venture into 2010, they are not just luxury items, they are a way of life.

Today’s generation take advantage of the endless number of applications available on the latest phones which can do anything from helping you find a local dry cleaners via a targeted PPC ad, to learning a whole new language using the latest mobile application.

As a new owner of the Google HTC Magic mobile phone myself, I struggled to grasp the massive capabilities this new android phone has. My current apps (yes I have already picked up on the lingo!) include BBC News, Facebook, Shop Savvy and my current favourite ‘PapiJump’, which a simple, yet highly addictive game application for the android. In fact, I probably use my phone more for browsing the internet and utilising applications that I do calling and texting people, something I could never have anticipated a few years ago.

The reach of mobile ads

It has been estimated that as we head into 2010, mobile phones will outnumber TV sets by over 3 to 1, PC based internet users by over 4 to 1 and laptop and desktop PC users by nearly 5 to 1.

In Spain, a massive 75% of mobile phone owners receive marketing ads, in France 62% and in Japan 54%. Interestingly as mobile advertising matures, it is likely that user involvement and engagement will mature. For example, in Japan today, 44% of mobile phone owners click on ads they receive on their phones.

It is therefore not surprising that advertisers in many markets have recently rushed to cash in on this new marketing medium. Interestingly, PPC mobile ads are being used more and more as consumers become savvy to the changing search landscape.

According to the research firm Berg Insight the global mobile advertising market was estimated to be £1 billion back in 2008 and the prediction is that this will grow at an annual growth rate of 43% to almost 9 billion by 2014.

Types of Mobile Ads

There are 4 main types of mobile advertising; SMS ads, Search ads, Web Display ads and App Display ads.

Most ads use the PPC model whereby the advertiser is charged when someone clicks on the advert via their mobile phone. Targeting the ads to the correct user demographic is the key to the success of mobile marketing. For example, someone using an application for finding out the weather abroad could be shown holiday offers for that specific country or city. Another example is demographic targeting where someone might be looking for a Chinese restaurant as they walk down a city high street. The perfect ad to show to the browser in this scenario would be that of a Chinese restaurant within 2 miles of their location.

What can we expect in 2010?

It is likely that advertisers and the media industry will increasingly take account of this large and fast-growing market, though it still only remains at around 1% of the total global advertising spend.

Many UK marketing agencies, like us, are already helping their clients to take advantage of this emerging technology. Specifically several of our clients are already using mobile PPC advertising to drive traffic and sales to their websites.
Please Contact Us for more information on Mobile PPC Marketing.