One of the most important aspects of successful mobile marketing is keeping it well targeted, and integrating into something the targeted audience actually wants to use. By incorporating subtle mobile advertising into mobile applications, the user gets what they want while the advertiser gets an opportunity to monetize without upsetting the end-user.
This type of mobile marketing is very apparent in social media through the likes of in-app advertising on Facebook, and the plethora of advertising-laced iPhone apps that are being added everyday. With the addition of the Android OS with its similar application deployment, as well as others who are attempting to copy the ease of use of Apple’s App Store, in-app advertising should grow exponentially.
A recent forecast by Magna Global predicts that mobile media will be one of the fastest growing of the emerging media channels, estimating it to grow by 43% to approximately $300 million in 2009. While this really isn’t surprising, it re-affirms the importance of the mobile channel given that Online display advertising is quickly loosing its momentum.
So why not just mobile advertising? Why mobile application advertising? Krishna Subramanian at Mashable said it best: by integrating into an application, you have much more control over the type of advertisement and the level of interaction available with users, as opposed to the mobile Web where ads are generally static banners. This mobile application platform provides an infinitely engaging and accessible device for targeted advertising, but if social networks are still untested waters, advertisers are still wary of this new environment. And just like social media, when you get past the education, advertisers really just want to know – “How can we make money there and how much is it costing me for a new customer?”
Another key benefit to in-app mobile advertising is the built-in analytics. Application developers can quickly understand what people are using to access their applications as well as what they’re using it for, etc. This insight can immediately help tweak the app to be most effective for its targeted audience.
