Thinking of Using Mobile Ads for Your Show? Get a Mobile Destination First!

So you have been reading a lot about mobile advertising lately, and you are thinking 2011 may be the year you try it for your show. The best plan for your show will of course depend on your objectives and other show-specific variables.

However, seeing what others are doing on a macro level is a good starting point, so in this week’s post, I take a look at the Q3 2010 data released last week on Campaign Destination Mix, Campaign Targeting Mix and Campaign Engagement Mix by Millennial Media, a major third party U.S. mobile advertising network which delivers billions of ad impressions monthly. Due to Millennial’s volume, their traffic is a proxy on overall mobile Web traffic.

In terms of Campaign Destination Mix (the places where mobile ads are directing the traffic once an ad is clicked), according to the latest numbers from campaigns run on the Millennial networ:

– 46% of the traffic was directed to a Mobile Web Site
– 33% of the traffic was directed to a Custom Landing Page
– 21% of the traffic was directed to an Application Download

Mobile Web Site has consistently been the primary destination. While there are different potential destinations that you can leverage depending on your objectives, a key point here is that they are all mobile destinations. If you are going to run mobile ads, you should have a mobile destination for your show—don’t use your regular show Web site as the destination for mobile ad traffic.

Campaign Engagement Mix (which Millennial refers to as their MYDAS Portfolio Mix) shows post-click actions taken by people as a result of mobile ad campaigns on the Millennial network:

– 17% Site Search
– 8% Social Media
– 15% Store Locator/View Map
– 6% m-Commerce
– 25% Watch Video
– 20% Retail Promotion
– 28% Submit Form
– 18% Application Download
– 20% Join/Subscribe
– 30% Place Call

Keep in mind, campaigns can have multiple calls-to-action (CTA) so the above numbers will total to more than 100%. The key takeaway here for you should be the scope and diversity of CTAs that are possible with mobile advertising. There are other CTAs, but you get the idea. There is a lot you can do. Consider all potential CTAs as you develop your mobile ad strategy.

In terms of Campaign Targeting Mix:

– 44% were Targeted Audience Reach
– 56% were Broad Reach

The trend here over the past several months has been an increase in targeted campaigns—the June 2010 average for Targeted Audience Reach campaigns was 41 percent. Drilling further down into the Q3 2010 targeting data, Geo and Demographic targeting accounted for 79 percent of the Targeted Audience Reach campaigns run on the Millennial network. Which targeting strategy is right for you? That depends on your audience. Clearly define your target set. Understand the targeting parameters that are available for mobile ads. Then choose a strategy that best meets your needs.

As you think about mobile advertising for your show, consider each of these components, and how you can blend them all together to achieve your objectives.

Posted on November 4, 2010