Mobile Advertising Startups Attract VCs Despite Rough Economy

We already saw how bad economy has managed to make a lot of companies interested in mobile advertising. It does not stop there. It keeps getting better and better. According to the latest reports, a lot of VCs (venture capitalists) are interested to invest in mobile advertising start ups as they show a lot of promise despite the rough economy.

Two examples come to my mind right now.

1. Blyk, one of the most popular companies in the market right now, recently managed to raise more than $50 million in private investments in its third round of funding. Considering the growth it has had so far, I would have to say that the investors have made the right choice.

2. AdMob, yet another famous U.S. based company, managed to raise around $16 million a few months back. Again, considering the numbers we have seen so far, this does not sound surprising at all.

If you notice carefully, you can see that there has been a paradigm shift in the advertising industry lately. The money spent on traditional advertising methods like TV ads, radio ads, and print ads has come down significantly. At the same time, mobile advertising is slowly becoming a lot more affordable than it used to be in the past. And thanks to the state our economy is in right now, businesses cannot afford to spend money on ads that don’t deliver results.

The biggest advantage with mobile phone advertising is that it delivers terrific results. The average CTR (click through rate) of a mobile advertising campaign is in the range of 1.5% to 2%. In some cases, it has been unbelievably high thanks to specific, targeted advertising campaigns. For example, the average response rate of Blyk’s mobile ad campaigns is a whopping 29%. So, even if you spend a little more money than what you usually spend, you are bound to get very good results. This is what makes mobile advertising so good.

Research firm eMarketer says that mobile advertising market will grow significantly in the next few years. It says that the proliferation of high end phones has made things easier for mobile advertisers as these smartphones open a lot of possibilities for ads.

In summary – I just have to say what I always say. Mobile advertising is here to stay. Don’t you guys think so too?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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M:Ad - Mobile advertising tracking service from M:Metrics

Some time back, in this blog, I had discussed the need for mobile analytic tools. And now, we have a solution. M:Metrics, the mobile media authority, has come up with M:Ad, a tracking service for mobile advertising in the U.K. From now on, mobile advertisers can track their mobile ad campaigns and get critical data with pinpoint accuracy.

M:Ad will track mobile advertisements and classify them for ease of use. With this, mobile advertisers can get data on what kind of mobile ads are served, when are these ads served, the company behind those ads, and their market penetration. This will bring greater clarity to the mobile advertising industry and help mobile advertisers target potential customers more easily.

First it was the U.S., now it’s the U.K. M:Metrics is slowly expanding its network, which is a good thing for the mobile advertising industry as a whole. Considering that M:Ad was a huge success in the United States, I have no doubt that it will be a success in the U.K. too. The sooner M:Ad goes international, the better it will be for the mobile advertising industry.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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