Mobile Monetization – Difficulties & Opportunities

Smartphone took over PC sales and tablets will also take over in 2015 is a forward looking data. Time spent on phones with/without apps is rising fast each day. 50% mobile usage for twitter or pandora (music). Mobile internet is growing faster than other mediums. Smartphone users are potential buyers.

Perception about mobile advertising, people concerned about paid apps, ads in content is an issue. Gartner’s research says 46 millioin mobile apps downloaded this year and 90% apps are priced under $3. Mobile advertising revenue of $6 billion is established in 2012.

Andriod is winning in numbers and coming close in monetization while iOS still leads in revenues. India has 0.5 million smartphone market (2012).

Mobile is considered as New Media, 10 years back internet was the New Media. So media planners and marketers are reluctant to advertise. Casual users go the freemium route and use apps to entertain themselves for short stints.Monetization strategies need to be conceived and pursued. A great app in design, usability in logic and design can really work well.

The mobile screen is very small:

Compared to laptops and tablets, yes it is. A lot of concern about ad visibility and position. Ad tracking challenges have been closed by google for android.

Mobile CPMs are lower:

A lot of inventory is now available.

Mobile Click Frauds is a big challenge, 15 – 20% clicks are still suspicious.

What if mobile inventory is too big and it may not stand upto the revenue expectation is a worry for advertisers.

Another worry is does it only work for the Big Fish and Not for others which is not true.

Mobile reach, demographics, interactivity, local impact and purchase capability make mobile advertising is so effective.

Profiling, Targeting and Ecosystem matters for Mobile Advertising and its a bit complex in nature. Real time data helps better understanding and planning. Targeting and Re-targeting is possible for Mobile’s floating inventory. RTB (real time bidding) happens in milliseconds, the call is made exchanging data with the ad server. Innovative advertising is happening on the app front and CTRs are far better. In RTB (real time bidding or OpenRTB) bought at CPM level but sold at CPC level.

In ideal scenario the user should love your app and should be willing to buy. Mobile game developers are the leaders in app development. for ex. the game SIMS uses innovative advertising and proves a user don’t mind interacting with product placements.

Amazon is giving mobile developers the ability to sell physical items via simple one-click process with the mobile app store. Japanese company Metaps gives reward based on advertising.

60% people who read magazines on tablets and e-Readers think they will be spending more time with digital issues over the next year. 79% say they want to be able to purchase products.

Zappos now launched ‘Magalog’ app about style and fashion trends.

FANCY app asks people to upload what they like, can connect and making it a commerce piece with conversation, engagement and referrals.  $ 10 million sales in 12 months, $ 30/month subscription model.

One more popular App on android is Pose shows so many people interested in posing, option of shopping with what you love (even a cold drink or your pet).

Ask Your Friends:

Creates a lot of fulfills and needs. Ego massage is one need people may lookout for.

Local Mobile Advertising is the holy grail, real time highly relevant local advertising is not easy. Hyper local targeting may be the next big thing in Mobile Advertising in India.

Consumers and Offers need a match (discover – purchase – redeem), may be coupons to help as well.

ASO (Android Store Optimization) by Mobile Ranking Optimizers makes the user discover the other apps which may be of great utility a bit difficult