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Posts Tagged ‘mobile marketing’

Google Mobile: Location Extensions with Map Features

29
July
2010

Today Google annoucned a new feature with AdWords location extensions, allowing business to run expandable map advertisements that can appear on sites and applications in the Google Display Network.

 
Keith Vera
Sr. Manager

Today, Google annoucned a new feature with AdWords location extensions, allowing business to run expandable map advertisements that can appear on sites and applications in the Google Display Network. According to the new Google Mobile Ads Blog:

“The ad appears as a banner text ad with a business icon that expands to show your business location on a Google map along with your ad creative, click-to-call phone number and option to get directions. Since ads can be served based on the user’s location, a potential customer will see the phone number and map of the store location that’s nearest to them.  By providing mobile consumers more options to connect with your business you can drive more traffic to your store, visits to your website or calls to your business.”

image Google Mobile: Location Extensions with Map Features

Advertisers are only charged when a user clicks through to the website or to call and of course, this format is only available to users with phones that have full web browser functionality.  Personally, I find advertisments that display within applications intrusive however like many mobile users, I also utilize map search features to find business addresses and contact information.  I also search for businesses based on keywords not just a business name within those same map search features, and can easily see how this type of targeted advertising can bring brick and mortar businesses more visibility, inbound calls and ultimately, more revenue.

Will you be testing this new ad format?  Comment below and let us know your initial thoughts and success stories.

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Google Officially Acquires AdMob

1
June
2010

As the adoption of smart phones continues to grow, all major advertising players are looking to expand their capabilities and move into emerging markets

Keith Vera

Client Services Manager

On Friday, Google announced that it had made another giant step towards growing its mobile internet advertising options by officially acquiring AdMob.  According to Google and as seen on the AdWords Blog on Friday:

“It’s clear that mobile advertising is becoming a much larger part of our clients’ and partners’ strategies and with this acquisition, it’s now a central part of our own business. In continuing to invest in this highly competitive area, we’ll be bringing together our technology, resources and expertise in search advertising with AdMob’s innovative solutions for advertising on mobile websites and in mobile applications.”

As the adoption of smart phones continues to grow, all major advertising players are looking to expand their capabilities and move into emerging markets.  Google’s mobile search volume alone has grown exponentially in just the past two years, and smart phone searches through WebKit browsers are up over 62 percent from the previous quarter. With the addition of AdMob’s capabilities to the growing variety of mobile advertising options, marketers will be able to take advantage of the extensive reach and timely value of reaching consumers directly on their mobile devices like never before.  Let us know your thoughts on Google’s AdMob acquisition by commenting below…

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IAB Releases a Buyer’s Guide for the Mobile Beginner

13
July
2009

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) publishes a comprehensive guide for marketers and agencies with information on how to get started in mobile marketing.

Christine Pepin
Media Coordinator

The same statistics about the mobile marketing landscape continue to surface:

“Approximately 23% of all new mobile phones will be smartphones by 2013, up from 13% in 2008.”

“Over the last three years, mobile phone usage has grown approximately 25% per year.”

“Ad revenue for mobile in the US and Canada is expected to hit $1.5 billion in 2013 from a projected $208 million in 2009.

As more research is done about the potential growth in the mobile market and the increasing volume of smart phone subscribers, it is ever more important for us marketing folk to start getting our hands dirty in the mobile stew.  But, where do we even begin to capitalize on the market potential for our clients?

IAB has helped to provide a starting-ground for those eager to delve into this opportunity.  The Mobile Buyer’s Guide, just released this month, gives a comprehensive but easy-to-understand look into how to get started on a mobile campaign.  It features:

-  An overview of the US mobile market, including advertising options and inventory types within this space

-  How to measure a mobile program and definitions of campaign metrics

-  A macro-level view of how to create a mobile messaging campaign

Another valuable resource that it provides is a list of the IAB Mobile Committee Members.  Many of these companies have websites that can also steer us in the right direction and which vendors are out there that can execute these programs.  EyeTraffic Media has built its own set of relationships among mobile vendors and we continue to foster these contacts on behalf of our clients.  Mobile Marketer also provides daily content that has been vital in keeping us in the know of how other companies are leveraging this emerging form of media.

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Twitter Becomes the Fastest Growing Member Community Site This Month

25
March
2009

Year-over-year growth in February 2009 hits 1,382% for Twitter.com

Christine Pepin
Media Coordinator

Although Facebook has over 20 million members, it has not experienced nearly the same amount of year-over-year growth as Twitter.  Last month, there were seven million unique visitors to the site, a remarkable 1,382% increase from 475,000 in February 2008, according to Nielsen Online. 

As Twitter continues to grow in popularity, its impact will be tremendous for both the consumer and for organizations hoping to promote their brands on a large scale.  The most popular Tweeting age group are adults ages 35-49, who primarily access the site from their workplace.  The nearly three million people that make up this age group account for 42% of the site’s audience.

As we begin to recognize the mobile marketing opportunity that Twitter presents, the issue over how we may track tweets becomes important.  If Twitter does become a mobile phenomenon, many more users will flood the site to tweet due to this added on-the-go convenience.  Already, various firms have anticipated this growing success by addressing how to make Twittering more convenient.  Not only will consumers enjoy the added accessibility to their extended communities, but marketers receive the bonus of more content to identify how people are viewing their brands.

Last week, Tweetdeck, the desktop client used by about 13% of Twitter members, has launched an update that has integrated two social networks together.  With this application, users can now incorporate their Facebook status updates into their Tweets.  In addition, users can even initiate a chat through Tweetdeck.  By integrating with Twitter, Facebook now takes on a more real-time live feel.

The missing link in identifying the true viability for Twitter is the ability to track its value.  Omniture has already begun tackling that challenge through a SiteCatalyst API, which it will soon be releasing.  This feature will enable firms to measure how their brand is being spoken about on Twitter.  Data such as the number of times a particular term is being mentioned will be collected.  Marketers can also elect to receive tweet alerts when a post about a specific brand name has been mentioned repeatedly.  For a more granular assessment, brand names can also be paired with other keywords or phrases.

We’ll stay tuned to see when Twitter finds a viable business model to capitalize on its growing success.

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Are US Consumers Ready for Mobile Marketing?

11
September
2008

How to get consumers to respond to mobile phone advertising and offers.

Stefanie Berliant
Media Coordinator

The technological advances of online marketing have expanded to mobile marketing with the aid of Bluetooth, mobile websites, and devices such as the Blackberry and iPhone. However, are the people who use these mobile tools ready for online marketing tactics on their mobile phones?

Mobile marketing can range from text messages, to coupons, to web offers on mobile sites.  As this emerging technology becomes mainstream, it is important for advertisers to market their products, offerings or services in the most efficient manner possible.  Companies ensure their ad provides value to recipients, which can be done through demographically, geographically and behaviorally targeted ads.  Of the types of mobile marketing forms, studies have varied as to what consumers will respond to best. 

According to the September 2008 study by ABI Research, people will respond to mobile marketing ads if incentives are offered.  Of the people who have received mobile advertisements, 37% indicated they are more likely to respond if incentives like coupons or discounts were presented. Only 11% said that these incentives would not have any impact.  Additionally, over 60% of those who were either neutral or open to potential mobile ads selected a discount coupon as the incentive they would most likely respond to.

However, a survey conducted by the Direct Marketing Association in March and April 2008 showed that of those who respond to mobile offers, 70% prefer text messages for products and services, while 18% would prefer coupons. Additionally, Harris Interactive conducted a study in February 2008 and found nearly 31% of all teen and adult Internet users in the US prefer to get coupons for products and services, as seen in the charts below.

As the results of these several studies show, there is no best mobile marketing tactic to which audiences will respond to the most. The best way to know how your audience will react to this new media program is to target and test different forms of your ads, then trend & compare results. Only then will you be able to choose which mobile marketing campaign to launch that will deliver the best results.

US Mobile Phone Users Who Have Responded to Mobile Phone Offers

Types of Mobile Phone Advertising

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Mobile Advertising Obstacles

17
December
2007

US wireless carriers are presenting a significant obstacle for Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, as they try to tap into the growing mobile advertising market.

Keith Vera
Account Manager

Mobile advertising is the next generation of online advertising that will eventually rival the search advertising market. According to EMarketer Inc., the mobile advertising market is predicted to reach $16.2 billion globally by 2011. However unlike current online advertising and unfortunately for the search giants, there are a few hurdles that may keep mobile advertising from the mainstream in the US for quite some time.

US wireless carriers are presenting a significant obstacle for Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, as they try to tap into the growing mobile advertising market. Currently, mobile web access is very restricted in the US due to high subscription costs from service providers. Wireless carriers are wary to give up any control over their mobile phone users, and are approaching this emerging market very carefully as to not lose out on new revenue streams. The main concern for US wireless carriers is that inexpensive web access would allow mobile search users to go directly to Google or Yahoo mobile, avoiding their own revenue-generating mobile services.

Of course there are other small obstacles, such as a clumsy mobile experience from most presently available mobile-ready phones; however the main mobile advertising barrier remains between US wireless carriers and the search engines.

So what’s your opinion? Will the search giants come to an agreement with wireless carries to bring mobile advertising to the mainstream US in the near future, or will the two groups have a much longer wait to capitalize on this up-and-coming revenue stream?

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When Is It Okay To BlueCast Audiences?

3
September
2007

Determining the opt-in standards for a mobile marketing campaign could mean the difference between success and being in violation of privacy standards to mobile device users. Fortunately, the DMA has published guidleines to follow.

George Assimakopoulos

Principal

Bluecasting seeks the signal of open Bluetooth devices set to the "discoverable" settings in order to cast an invitation to opt-in and receive content from advertisers. Marketers are already beginning to cast content from outdoor advertisements on buses, bus stops, posters, shops – the list is endless. Yet, does this mean that consumers with bluetooth-enabled phones that are visible can be bombarded with transmissions?

BlueCasting must follow standards for mobile marketing in order to be accepted as part of the digital mix. Today’s challenge for marketers is that there are a number of hurdles to this happening – chiefly legislation.  Bluecasting needs to be careful not to breech the Privacy Directive that states that people walking within 8 meters of the poster can receive messages with the option of blocking them. This means that the invite to the person’s device needs to ask the user to “pair” to the advertisement before any messaging is received. Some critics believe that a consumer having Bluetooth enabled on their phone does not equate to them giving their permission to receive marketing messages. But for now…this is the adaptable standard.

The Direct Marketing Association has published guidelines on marketing via Bluetooth and raises the issue of acceptable initial opt-in procedures. To view these guidelines – click here. Pay close attention to sections 2.5.2 and 3.9.3.

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