Posts Tagged ‘Mobile Advertising’

What Performance Should You Expect from In App Ads?

Mobile is on everyone’s minds these days. Whether you are talking about iOS v. Android devices or wondering just how many people have smartphones these days, there is plenty to discuss.

As marketers we are most interested in who has them and if they respond well to advertising. eMarketer points out some data around the performance of in app ads that is, well, not exactly awe-inspiring. First, there is a look at some data from a Lab42 study about just how many in app ads users click on.

Of course, I can only speak from a personal perspective but I don’t know if I have clicked on more than 10 ads anywhere in my life so to see that even some 30% have clicked on 6 or more in app ads is interesting to me. Of course, the other 70 percent is at 5 or less clicks with 20% of those surveyed never clicking on an in app ad.

The article then looks at another angle of the mobile advertising space which is the in app ad that asks the user to get another app so they can receive an incentive. People like incentives but the apps they download to get them don’t get the same love as this chart from a Pontiflex study shows.

With only 3% of the respondents using the new app often and 37% uninstalling the app and the rest of the respondents being pretty indifferent to the app this makes for an interesting discussion. If someone has downloaded your app for an incentive, received the incentive then ditched the app is that a success? What we need to know is if those incentives are redeemed and turn into business. The staying power of this method of advertising is questionable, though, at least based on these findings.

Part of the problem is that there is simply too much noise. The winners in anything in the Internet space will be those that are able to keep it simple while cutting through the excess crap that clutters up the Internet like a side street bazaar.

In 2012 how do you plan to fight the noise in the online space? Is there a way to get it done consistently or is this simply an exercise in hoping you can do enough that some messages rise above the din to be a success?

MillennialMedia Q3 Shows Rise in App Downloads and Video Ads

2011 is headed into the home stretch, so it’s time to look back at what the third quarter had to offer. Yes, it’s time for another look at a MillennialMedia SMART report.

Overall, the report shows that mobile advertising is still on an upswing which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. What might surprise you are the stats themselves. Like this: Watch Video as a post-click campaign action rose 78% over last quarter. It jumped from 18% to 32% making it one of the top 3 trends of Q3.

Video is everywhere. More advertisers are using video to show off features and benefits of their products. Others use video as a source of entertainment creating a positive (and hopefully viral) experience that shoppers will learn to associate with a brand.

Application downloads as a campaign destination grew 22% quarter over quarter. Games continue to be the number one download. News applications grew 36% while Smartphone usage popped up 7%.

Where do we go from here? Millennial Media says our mobile ad campaigns will be getting more sophisticated. Behavioral targeting combined with mobile device demographics will help companies reach a specific audience with customized ads. Also, the line between brick and online will become even more blurred.

The reality is, at least a quarter of all consumers are never really offline and that’s something retailers need to think about if they want to succeed in business.

Mobile Evolving as After Click Actions Increase

The mobile Internet continues to grow which means that marketers are going to have more and more to keep pace with on a daily basis. It’s not as if there wasn’t enough already for marketers to pay attention to, learn and apply but if you are not used to this pace by now you never will be.

Millennial Media has published their 2nd quarter S.M.A.R.T. report which is made more interesting by the fact that this is their 50th edition which implies some chance for depth regarding this evolving space.

Now keep in mind, Millennial is a mobile advertising platform. Their customers are the basis of these results. Just keep this all in mind. First they look at mobile by region.

No surprise that Asia leads the way. They have been ahead of the rest of the world with mobile device use for quite some time.
The next bit of data from the report shows just how people are using smartphones both on the go and around the house.

I find that I use my Android device around the house more and more because it’s convenient. Notice I didn’t say easier. Sometimes my frustration with not being able to easily do something on the small screen makes me go to the laptop but, for the most part, that phone is on my person and being used.

Lastly, and for marketers most important, is a look at what people do after they click on a mobile ad.

Compare these numbers to what happened just 2 short years ago and one can see the evolution of the space.

But is it evolving quick enough? While getting someone to click on an ad is a victory of sorts it’s simply the first step toward what everyone is looking for; the conversion. When the clickthrough doesn’t result in a sale of some sort marketers then go into the branding, exposure, “there really is value there, honest!” defense which is fun to watch. The end game is sales and anything else is seen as a hollow victory.

So where are you with mobile as a marketer? What are the most important areas you are discovering as places for success and those with difficulties? How much time, effort and your resources are you putting toward this growing space?

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Last FM Mobile Switches from Ad-Supported to Subscriber Based

Starting on February 15, mobile Last FM listeners will have to pay $3.00 a month to continue their service. That’s less than most people spend on coffee or soda in a day so no big deal, right? Wrong. As expected, the response to the company’s blog post announcement has been mostly about people ready to jump to a competitor rather than pony up the bucks.

The refusal to pay for what they once got free is pretty common in the internet space and it’s becoming more and more of an issue as news outlets and video sites switch over to the paid subscription model. But what’s really interesting here is a line from Last FM’s post:

“On emerging mobile and home entertainment devices, it is not practical for us to deliver an ad supported radio experience, but instead, we will migrate to what we believe is the highest quality, lowest cost ad-free music service in the world.”

The subscription fee is only being required for those who use Last FM on Android, iPhone, or home receivers. X-Box users will still get it free as part of their monthly X-Box Live subscription and Microsoft Windows Mobile 7 users will also get a free pass. Why? Because according to a response to comments in the forum, “Windows is subsidizing that feature for the WinMob7 launch.”

When asked to clarify “not practical,” the same spokesperson noted:

Essentially because some of the devices that are part of this change just can’t support advertising, and streaming isn’t without cost.

Can’t support advertising? iPhone can’t support advertising? Granted, I’m not a Last FM user, so maybe I’m missing some fine detail here. Perhaps it’s not so much “can’t support” in the technical sense, but “can’t support” in the “there’s not enough return on investment way.” That, I understand. Mobile advertising may be growing but that doesn’t mean it’s a slam dunk. Still, $3 per person hardly seems like it will pay the bill even if all of their current users choose to pay up, which they won’t.

Oh, and if you do pay, don’t think that buys you a completely ad free experience. According to the FAQ, Last FM has a deal with video supplier VEVO that allows them to place ads on their content and they can’t be removed without removing the content, too.

It’s hard to say if Last FM can survive as a subscription service. At a quick glance, it doesn’t seem that they have anything special enough or a loyal enough audience to make it so. But is this the trend of the future? Certainly a subscription model is easier to manage than an ad-supported model but can it be just as, or even more effective?