It can be difficult to know where to start with mobile advertising and marketing. One way to go is to turn to the knowledge of literature and to consult our great writers. As Jane Austen wrote, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a business in possession of a good fortune and a savvy marketing department must be in want of a customer.”
OK, so Austen didn’t say that verbatim – but you get the drift, right?
Yet time spent on mobile does not even closely correlate to the advertising cash that should follow exposure and, more importantly, human interaction.
Mobile advertising can at times be intrusive, unhelpful and a pain in the patella for the consumer – and if this were not the case then we wouldn’t have witnessed last week’s announcement that Three’s Network has signed an ad blocking deal with Shine Technologies. With the 02 deal also on the table, this has significant ramifications downstream.
How the future is still bright for mobile advertising
In-app messaging offers a brand, product or service the opportunity for a more meaningful value exchange that in turn brings a deeper level of engagement and enriches the consumer journey. There are some compelling stats to support this. Witness Facebook’s recent revenue financials predominantly generated from mobile advertising. AOL last year acquired the mobile ad network Millennial Media for $238 million, bringing with it more than 65,000 apps. Jupiter estimates in-app mobile advertising spend will reach $16.9 billion by 2018, compared to $3.5 billion in 2013.
Building a great app that intuitively fulfils what your focus group research insights tell you is only half the job. How will you market the app in the Android and iOS space? Content is king, but how much in-app messaging is too much? Knowing the geo location and previous purchasing habits of your audience isn’t always a predictor of future activity.
Where to start with mobile advertising
Firstly, the engineering teams creating the app should not be working in silos. After all you’d wouldn’t expect the mobile marketing team to write elegant code as part of their job description, would you?
Secondly, there needs to be a clear rationale for the creation and integration of an app that not only enhances the consumer experience but also offers a value exchange on a symbiotic basis. Consumer insights aligned with future trend analysis is the starting point for mobile advertising.
Finally, the app and any future iteration should, in part, be inspired by customer behaviour: Track, test and re-test advertising formats such as video that promote a more profound user experience.
What next? Let’s refer back to Jane Austen: “What is right to be done cannot be done too soon.”
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by Jack Manzoor
