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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Mobile TV to become a $15 billion market in 2012

It seems mobile TV has caught the attention of market analysts big time. A lot of experts are touting mobile TV as the next big thing and here’s yet another report which has come up with quite an optimistic prediction, I should say.

A new research report from Multimedia Intelligence predicts that mobile TV market will be worth a whopping $15 billion in 2012. The report says that customers now demand personalized entertainment from their mobile phones more than ever before, as there is a huge influx of high-end mobile phones in the market these days. This has led to the belief that mobile TV will play a huge role in the future of mobile entertainment.

Also, mobile TV is considered the perfect medium for advertising by many as it has a huge advantage over other forms of mobile ads such as text message ads, banner ads, and WAP links. Ads in TV are something we’ve all got used to. So, when you’re watching your favorite show on mobile TV, an ad break won’t look too strange to you. On the other hand, a mobile banner ad can easily be considered intrusive by many. Also, the recall rates for mobile TV ads will be extremely high, as the ads are highly engaging. This is something I’ve already discussed in detail here.

However, there is one missing link here. While mobile TV could provide some good on-the-go entertainment for users and some good ad revenue for advertisers and operators, it will happen only if it’s offered free of cost. A paid mobile TV service, no matter how good it is, will not find a lot of takers in this era of freebies. We already have an example for this in the form of AT&T and Verizon’s mobile TV service - both got a lukewarm response from users. So, like I already said, ad-funded mobile TV could be the future. What do you think folks?

Categories: Mobile TV.

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