iMedia Connection - ad:tech blog

This is a question we get very often. A client wants to get their business involved in mobile marketing, but they don't have a mobile site, also known as a site optimized for mobile devices. They ask: Won't my current website work just fine? Can't we just make a "smaller" version of the website?
Although desktop and mobile sites use the same Internet, there are three basic differences in technology, aesthetics, and purpose that make them each a different battle for businesses.
Different Devices Have Different Capabilities
We have quickly become accustomed to recognizing the cell phone as a “device,” but the desktop computer is a device too. The desktop computer, like any device, has specific technology behind it. From that technology stems all the capabilities of the desktop computer we enjoy daily.
The mobile phone is the same in that its technological capabilities allow us to do all the things we love, on or offline. Knowing this, it's easier to understand why mobile websites can't do some of the things desktop sites can and vice versa. It's not the Internet that's different, but the machine you're using to access it.
For example, on a desktop site you can include multiple videos, large images, and... Read more

As a mobile marketing company, businesses regularly ask us what exactly we're selling via mobile. It’s a simple question, but one of the most important ones to ask if you’re thinking about bringing your business into the mobile industry. No matter how you do it, you have to first be selling something consumers would purchase in order for your business to succeed.  My current work in mobile marketing has given me the experience first-hand, and below is some of my insight into what products and services are selling best via the mobile channel. 
App Downloads
Not surprisingly, app downloads are very hot right now. The market is growing exponentially with mobile consumers downloading over two billion apps each month. With more than 500,000 apps in the Apple App Store alone, app developers have been looking at various mobile marketing methods to generate downloads and increase revenues. Cost-Per-Install models, such as those CornerBlue provides, allow these companies to only pay for legitimate downloads.
Consumers love free apps, which is why the “freemium” payment model is working so well. The apps themselves are free to download, increasing downloads substantially. Once inside the app, there are additional features or content that can be unlocked for a... Read more

Imagine that you're the head of marketing for the latest 3D kids' flick. Doesn't it make sense to market to kids directly via their mobile devices? How does the mobile strategy change when you’re promoting an action thriller or a Rom-Com?
By now you should know that mobile is the latest and most powerful tool in marketing. It is beginning to make its way to the big screen with plenty of innovative advertising techniques that connect the advertiser directly to each consumer. Mobile marketing campaigns specifically tailored to the movie's demographic are a sure way to build audiences, so below are just a few of the ways a creative mobile campaign can be seamlessly integrated into a movie's promotion plan.
There are two basic goals when promoting a movie:

Get as many people as possible to become aware of the movie.
Get those people to actually go and see it.

Using a clever banner ad with a clear message is a good way to start.  Then, partnering with the right mobile marketing company will ensure those ads are promoted to kids of the appropriate age for the movie, and also their parents through ad placements within mobile apps and games also for the same demographic.... Read more

To date there are over 5.3 billion mobile phones being used worldwide, and every single one of them has text messaging capabilities. Only recently has SMS marketing become a major and effective form of direct marketing, but there are already major shifts on the way.
About half of the mobile phones in the US are “feature phones,” which means their text messaging technology is limited to only sending and receiving text. The other half are smartphones that can send and receive text, images, videos and links.
With close to a million smartphones being activated daily, SMS marketers are realizing that it's time to upgrade their marketing strategy to include more interactive campaigns and really utilize the capabilities of the smartphone.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words. . . and the Increased ROI
In a text message there's only room for 160 characters, which includes necessary verbiage about opting out and getting help. When it comes to including an image, a picture is really worth the increased ROI, not just a thousand words. It has been confirmed time and time again that our brains are wired to retain and recall visuals better than written content, making an SMS campaign with images significantly more effective.
Additionally,... Read more

On an average night, you see 15 minutes of commercials for every hour of TV you watch. In those 15 minutes you see about 30 commercials, half of which are actually relevant to you. Currently, businesses spend an average of $100,000 to produce just one commercial, which they then have to pay to broadcast at specific timeslots.
After all the time, money and manpower it takes to get those 15 minutes of advertising to consumers, a large portion of those commercials don't even reach the right audience. While the only current solutions are expensive market research and guesstimations, there is one solution people rarely think of: mobile video advertising. From more accurate and detailed targeting to direct and real-time feedback from the consumer, mobile video ads or “mobile commercials” have the technology, data and edge to put the right ads in front of you.
Targeting Consumers with New Tools
Broadcast television has led the way in video advertising for the last 50 plus years. However, the last five decades of commercials have been based on “Nielson” ratings gathered from the viewing habits of 25,000 households, while there are more than 114 million TV-watching households in the US alone. With the limited data on... Read more