getting mobile marketing moving

Mobile is growing fast, but it’s still underutilized. So how can advertisers and publishers make the most of this exciting and highly effective channel

“Mobile first” is the buzz phrase that is driving advertising strategy around the world as brands and advertisers look to make this rapidly growing channel central to their marketing programmes.

“The appeal of mobile is obvious,” says Richard Nunn, chief revenue officer at RhythmOne, an online advertising company that connects digital audiences with brands through premium content across devices. He cites a recent report by Deloitte that revealed Americans checked their phones on average 48 times a day last year, up from 33 times, while those in the 18 to 24 age bracket did so on 74 occasions daily.

“Mobile first” is the buzz phrase that is driving advertising strategy around the world as brands and advertisers look to make this rapidly growing channel central to their marketing programmes.

“The appeal of mobile is obvious,” says Richard Nunn, chief revenue officer at RhythmOne, an online advertising company that connects digital audiences with brands through premium content across devices. He cites a recent report by Deloitte that revealed Americans checked their phones on average 48 times a day last year, up from 33 times, while those in the 18 to 24 age bracket did so on 74 occasions daily.

Advertisers are just beginning to grasp the full potential of mobile

“It’s largely about scale,” he says. “There are around two billion devices globally and so mobile is the best way for advertisers to reach eyeballs. Improved targeting is also positioning mobile as the most powerful of all advertising channels.

“You can target by device, by operating system and by time of day, as well as a variety of audience demographics and purchase behaviours. Couple this with the location-based targeting unique to mobile and you have a powerful combination.”

“However, advertisers are just beginning to grasp the full potential of mobile,” Mr Nunn argues. He points to research from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), which shows that while consumers spend about around 25 per cent of their screen time on mobile media, advertisers are only allocating around 12 per cent of their advertising budget to this channel.

Compare this with print, which represents a mere 4 per cent of media consumption time, but swallows up 16 per cent of advertising spend. KPCB calculates this gap represents a $22-billion opportunity for advertisers to align better with consumer consumption habits.

So what should advertisers be doing to make the most of mobile’s vast power to reach consumers? Firstly, they have to think creatively. “It’s about using various mobile ad formats including video and leveraging the native features of the device, like the accelerometer, to create entertaining and informative advertising experiences that will appeal to audiences and make them want to engage with it,” says Mr Nunn.

The most effective mobile advertising, he explains, is a fusion of art and science. “The art is the creativity – the best creative advertising ideas really resonate. The science is the data – the ability to precisely segment and target your audience,” he says.

Secondly, brands need to exploit the full potential of mobile data to create more dynamic ad experiences. A campaign could, for instance, not only hone in on the appropriate demographic, but also take into account the time of day to serve a consumer an ad that features the sun setting out the window. It could also leverage weather inputs. When weather forecasts predict rain, a brand could use this to serve an ad that, for example, encourages consumers to snuggle up indoors with a new down comforter.

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