Last week, the IAB has today announced the findings of its third annual mobile ad spend study. Conducted in conjunction with PWC, the study revealed phenomenal year on year growth of 116% with over £83 million spent on mobile advertising in 2010. In this article, Paul Childs, COO at Adfonic, explains why most brands, ad agencies and content owners are yet to fully exploit this opportunity and tap into the full advertising potential of mobile.
The mobile advertising industry celebrated another milestone this week with the release of the IAB / PWC 2010 mobile ad spend figures. With year on year growth up 116% to £83 million, mobile has well and truly made its mark on the UK advertising landscape.
But whilst growth figures like these should definitely be applauded, mobile advertising still offers huge untapped potential – as both an engagement and acquisition channel – that most brands, ad agencies and content owners are yet to fully exploit.
Increasing adoption of Smartphones was identified as a key driver behind the growth in ad spend. As people switch off from TV advertising and spend less time surfing the web on a PC, smartphones and tablets are becoming the devices of choice for constant and spontaneous internet access.
They also open up new opportunities to integrate TV and online campaigns with mobile devices and content, and the possibility to engage more effectively with consumers through richer mobile ad units.
As smartphone and tablet adoption approaches critical mass in countries like the US and UK, we’ll undoubtedly see the disparity between mobile media consumption and mobile ad spend closing as brands get to grips with their mobile strategies and follow their audiences onto mobile.
Greater transparency, enabling advertisers to measure post-click activity and determine the true value of their campaigns from impression to click and through to conversion, will also convince more and more brands to invest in the channel.
By Paul Childs
COO
Adfonicwww.adfonic.com