At this point in 2014 most of us can’t imagine conducting our lives without our mobile phone in hand. We use it for everything – banking, shopping, reading, watching videos, responding to emails, keeping connected with our friends and family through social media. And that’s all by noon! So it’s only natural that advertisers are figuring out innovative ways to capitalize on this platform and advertise where their consumers spend most of their time.
In a new report on the mobile ad market, analyst Gartner projects that global mobile advertising spending will reach $18 billion this year, up from $13.1 billion in 2013. If things continue with this steady growth the market has the potential to grow to a whopping $41.9 billion by 2017.
The problem is that most companies are totally behind the eight ball and have no idea how to incorporate a mobile plan into their marketing. Barry Levine wrote last September in an article for CMS Wire “nearly 40 percent of marketers have not even defined their mobile objectives, much less developed measurements for determining effectiveness.”
So what are some examples of the most common types of mobile advertising?
1. Google – As the biggest player in the mobile game Google’s various mobile ad programs control just under half (49%) of the total mobile ad market. You can look into tactics like getting ads placed in the search results of users placing relevant queries or even by physical proximity. Make sure you educate yourself on keywords and PPC (pay per click) before you dive head first into the Google ad game.
2. Facebook – Controlling about 17% of the market, Facebook offers a variety of ways to spend your ad dollars including pages, promoted posts and straight up ads. Just make sure that all of your advertising is built specifically for mobile usage because a good number of FB users view their page on their devices.
3. Mobile Apps – This unique way to market yourself is by creating a truly useful app that people want that at the same time promotes your brand or product. There is a common misconception that creating an app is cost-prohibitive. That is not necessarily true and depending on the complexity of the app you can get it done quite affordably.
4. Text Messaging – There are 2 types of text tactics – SMS (text-only) and MMS (multi-media). This type of marketing can be an extremely effective promotional tool when done correctly. When you are considering this type of advertising though make sure – and then make sure again – that you are only communicating with people that have opted in to receive messages from you.