Marketing Pilgrim

Good news from many quarters for mobile marketing. Not only are Yahoo and Microsoft announcing enhanced mobile features, but mobile advertising response rates are up.

In a survey conducted last quarter, Nielsen reports that mobile advertising exposure and response rates are up in the US. Fifty-eight million mobile subscribers reported seeing ads on their mobile phones in the month before the survey—that’s 23% of all mobile subscribers. Of those 58M, over half of them (51%, 28M) responded to the ads in some way during that period.

The survey of 22,000 “active mobile data users” in the US monitors the recall and response of all types of mobile ads, including “banner ads on mobile web pages, SMS text-message advertising, sponsored applications, [and] video advertising.”

The survey showed that the most popular response to mobile ads was sending a text message (SMS, 26%). Nine percent said they used a click-to-call feature to respond to a mobile ad. Other interesting findings: Twenty-three percent expected to see more advertising in the future (one has to wonder if it’s just a coincidence that 23% saw ads and 23% expect more ads ). Ten percent think that advertising on mobile devices is acceptable.

Teenagers (46%), African Americans (40%) and Asians Americans (42%) were the demographics most likely to recall seeing mobile advertisements. Mobile subscribers were more likely to be open to receiving future advertisements if:

• “it lowers their overall bill” (32%)
• “it is relevant to their interests” (14%)
• “it improves the media and content currently available” (13%, but 18% of males)

While obviously we’re far from that “watershed moment” for mobile, most of these stats are encouraging for (potential) mobile marketers.

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