Apple iPad WIFI 16GB

Mobile Ad Budgets On the Rise

According to a study by MediaPost’s Center For Media Research and digital research firm Insight Express, 82% of brands and agencies have plans to boost their mobile ad budgets in the next year.

The planned increases are significant, with 3 in 10 planning to increase spending by 31% or more.

In addition, 4 in 10 planned to increase their budget by up to 31% and 15% expected no change. Only 3% planned to cut their mobile advertising budget.

The figures also showed that half of current budget comes from Online, 35% from cross-platform, 27% from a “mobile specific budget” and 8% from TV.

With the current hype surrounding apps it is not surprising that branded applications are showing the most interest from advertisers (47%), followed by mobile video (44%) and coupons (39%).

Interestingly when it came to ROI, it was the less fashionable formats that had the advertisers favor with mobile coupons (36%) followed by text links and banners (26%).

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Mobile Gaining Traction With Ad Agencies!

A recent survey by media buying software company STRATA has shown that the growing popularity of smartphones is leading to an increased interest in mobile advertising from Advertising Agencies.

According to the survey, nearly one-third of advertisers say that mobile advertising is the focus of their interactive spend, up 107% compared to the first quarter of 2010.

It is clear that this is largely due to the increased uptake of smartphones, as when asked what types of devices most intrigued them, iPhone was the clear leader with 87% followed by Blackberry and the Motorola Droid nearly 30 points behind.

“High profile campaigns from Apple and Google seem to be the reason for the interest for the iPhone and Droid,” said John Shelton, STRATA President/CEO. “Advertising on mobile devices is a new frontier that people are rushing to explore. Whether it will provide the necessary ROI for the early advertisers is yet to be seen, but one thing is for sure - many advertisers feel the gamble is worth it.”

Interestingly the iPad ranked much lower with only 26% interested in using the device for their advertising.

The overall trend points towards digital advertising continuing to gain ground on TV. However television remains a viable option for many advertisers, with 35% saying that they are mainly focussed on TV, which is still significant but represents a 16% reduction on last quarter and a 22% reduction on last year.

This trend is accelerating and at present only 6 percentage points separate TV and digital as the primary medium for advertising. And this trend should continue with 72.5% of agencies saying that they are more focussed on digital than they were a year ago.

Finally, the news continues to be bleak for print advertising, with 58% of the respondents saying that they are less focused on print than a year ago.

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Effective media planning and buying is about reaching the target consumer with a relevant and consistent message at a time when they are most likely to pay attention to or interact with a brand.

Such interactions could occur anywhere......online, watching television, listening to the radio, in print and now, more often than ever ...... on the mobile phone.

A growing population of all ages are using their mobile devices for many different activities including going on the internet on their phones to surf the web.  Alongside that, there is a steep decline in traditional print and broadcast viewers.

Advertisers should be more focused on extending their brands to mobile. Rather than treating mobile advertising as an “add on” to other media channels like print or television, mobile advertising needs to be treated as a separate advertising media with its own key advantages.

Advertising agencies usually specialize in a handful of mediums however most do not have the in-house expertise to leverage new media like mobile which  requires a different skill-set as well as a thorough understanding of this advertising platform for optimal results.

Some realize the value that iWord can bring to the table in terms of reach and technology and are working closely with iWord to deliver better integrated campaigns for their clients.

• iWord create and manage engaging campaigns from the beginning to end giving agencies the flexibility of a hands-off management of the campaigns if they chose.
• iWord bring niche skills to agencies to provide advertisers with creative optimization.
• The iWord system provides affordable and accountable solutions for advertisers.... agencies are able to measure the brand engagement thus being able to showcase better return on ad spend from the media mix invested on mobile advertising.

This ensures customer satisfaction and also paves the way for agencies to gain further confidence with the medium for their advertisers.

Well known Brands like Kia Motors, Toyota, Fiat, Londis, Kingspan, Keelings amongst many others are aware of the advantages that keywords to standard rate text numbers, mobile websites, texting, mobile databases bring to their companies.

As advertising budgets become tighter, accountability and affordability HAVE to go into advertisres minds more and there is no better advertising medium that provides this than mobile.

iWord invites advertising agencies around the world to come and talk to us!