Mobile Advertising Feeds the Funnel
In the advertising world, television is still the mass reach king. It has the ability to put an advertising message out to millions of eyeballs. This overarching mass-market approach can be very successful, but we cannot ignore the power of what a mobile ad can do to influence a consumer during those key moments of decision when they’re ‘on the ground’ — about to make a purchase decision. Once a potential customer leaves his home viewing environment, the impact of an advertiser’s message with a well-timed and well-placed mobile ad can lead to a sale. At Harmelin Media, we have been very successful in driving traffic through highly-targeted and localized mobile advertising. We’re able to reach consumers outside of the home and influence their path to purchase (literally).
In analyzing Nielsen’s latest Total Audience Report (4th Quarter 2016), we’ve found several key insights for advertising clients:
- Among Adults 18-49, smart phone penetration is higher than TV penetration.
- Mobile represents 75.1% of the average American’s time spent with digital, far exceeding desktop.
- The average mobile user spent 3 hour and forty-one minutes per day on their smartphone.
To effectively reach our advertisers’ target audiences, we have seen success in using a combination of mobile search, mobile display, mobile social and mobile navigation-based tactics to drive consumers’ local path to purchase.
One of the first things many people do when looking for a product or service is to Google it on their mobile device. During the search process, we serve our client’s creative to grab the searchers’ attention and give them a coupon or directions to a brick-and-mortar location. PlaceIQ is a mobile-location vendor specializing in location intelligence and location-based audience development that Harmelin partners with for mobile display ad targeting. PlaceIQ can deliver specialized creative units to potential customers on the ground through both mapping and location-based data. This allows us to reach our target audiences in or around specific locations such as a brick-and-mortar stores or restaurants.
Mobile social targeting allows us to use the power of Facebook and Instagram — both large reach social platforms with high user engagement. These platforms on mobile convert consumers while they’re on-the-go and drive traffic to physical locations. Mobile navigation, through apps such as Waze, allows us to utilize a one-of-a-kind platform mapping solution that integrates with a consumer’s daily routine and reaches them on-the-go to influence impulse purchasing or eating decisions.
The location-based technology allows us to report whether someone exposed to our client’s ad went on to visit a physical location within a specified time. Because of this feature, we can measure ROI almost immediately for our clients as well as gather specific channel insights into how consumers responded to different types of messaging. These insights allow us to fine-tune and design the messaging and delivery for each of these tactics to maximize impact and drive action on the ground.
We would never say to utilize mobile instead of TV, but used in conjunction with it increases the chances of impacting your target audience when they are actively looking for your product or service.