Primary Impact

The following is an excerpt from The State of Mobile Marketing:

Mobile Marketing Comes into Its Own

Smartphones, the rise of 3G connections and unlimited data plans are the tipping points for both marketers and consumers in terms of mobile as a medium.  With consumer penetration now higher than that of the Internet and a diverse advertiser base, mobile marketing has become mainstream rather than experimental.

Mobile marketing excels at reaching consumer groups tough to reach through other media:  teens, moms, affluents and urban audiences. Due to its personal nature, mobile can be a highly engaging medium for marketers looking to reach consumers in a focused mindset.

In an era of economic instability, the mobile device has become the one must-have product. Marketers must now work to connect with consumers through a device that offers not only communication but always-with-them entertainment and information.

Smartphones – especially iPhones – are not the whole picture:  Smartphones accounted for 13% of the mobile device market in the US in July ’09 according to comScore. Of that number, 21% are iPhones – a market share matched by Microsoft and dwarfed by the RIM BlackBerry (41%).  For marketers, permission-based SMS (the mobile equivalent of email marketing) can be a more efficient way to reach a broad spectrum of the mobile population.

Mobile advertiser mix has become more like that of any other media:  Advertising on mobile phones is being embraced by traditional brand marketers – not just marketers of cell phone applications like ringtones and games.  Broadcast & Cable is currently the top category in mobile advertising according to comScore.  Among the top 20 advertisers in June ’09 as captured by Nielsen, half are Fortune 500 companies.  The mobile ad market is extremely dynamic, with 30% of comScore’s top advertiser list in June ‘09 not appearing on the list during the same period in ’08.

Mobile is being used for both awareness and direct response:  Advertisers are using the medium not only for direct response, but especially in the case of entertainment, personal care, technology-related products and health, as an awareness driver and a way to appeal to elusive audiences.

Mobile has high performance rates relative to other interactive media:  At this stage in the evolution of mobile marketing, its relative lack of clutter and low cost makes it greatly appealing for marketers troubled by the increasing  CPCs of search and the jumble of ads on web pages. Click-through rates vary by category and by creative type and intent, but are typically at least four times that of online display.  Branding studies from both Dynamic Logic and InsightExpress show that mobile ads achieve higher aided and unaided awareness, brand favorability and purchase intent than online display – even as compared to early online display or video norms.

Devices impact consumer behavior – and advertiser response:  Device functionality – especially the interface and the web browsing experience – changes the way consumers use and interact with marketing on their phones. The iPhone, and its companion non-phone wireless device the iTouch, generate the highest number of ad impressions – which equates to media consumption – even though the iPhone is NOT the top-selling phone in the US.  Apple devices also generate the highest direct response rates (a 35 point lift over average click rates), according to Quattro Wireless.

At this stage in the evolution of mobile marketing, marketers should pay close attention to the demographics of various handsets.  Device  targeting is an efficient way to reach specific audiences: Sidekicks are popular with teens, the BlackBerry Curve is the hot device among women 35 – 44, while the iPhone rules with men 25-34.

Ad types also impact response – but should be measured appropriately: According to Quattro Wireless Q2 ’09 impression data, animated ads (sequential GIFs) offer on average a 61 point click-through rate lift over static banners.  Expanding ads, which are designed to engage the consumer within the unit, have less than average click rates (index of 98) and should be measured by time spent and number of pageviews consumed.

Mobile Apps are hot – but increasingly complex for marketers:  Now that Apple has competition in the app market – and the Apple app store is overwhelmed with titles, a branded app strategy can be a costly and complex process. Apps now have to be developed separately for Apple, RIM, Android and Palm platforms. There are also so many apps that if a marketer chooses to develop their own, they need to market that app to ensure usage. A simpler app strategy can be to advertise within or sponsor existing ad-supported apps based on audience and content synergy to the brand.

“Mobility” offers greatest marketing potential:  Mobile, the only medium where the advertising travels and typically stays with the consumer, offers unique opportunities for geo-targeted and point-of-sale promotions and marketing. Accordingly, some of the most innovative approaches to mobile are coming from packaged goods marketers who are transitioning couponing business to mobile from print and are experimenting with apps (and their geo-location abilities) as a way of increasing consumer engagement.