In the latest indication of the rise in mobile Internet use and the growing potential there for marketers, a new survey finds there's been a jump in how many users click on ads while using their mobile phone.
In its most recent consumer survey, ABI Research said 27 percent of mobile phone users accessing Web site using mobile phones have clicked on a mobile banner ad or text link. A thousand U.S. consumers participated in the survey.
While the new results represent a bump from the 21 percent of mobile users who said they clicked on an ad or text link in a survey ABI conducted 14 months earlier, it still means the bigger number is the majority of mobile users who said they aren't clicking on ads on their mobile devices. Still, Neil Strother, ABI Research's practice director for mobile marketing strategies, said the latest results are encouraging.
"More people are accessing Web sites through their mobile phones today than 14 months ago, and clicking on ads is becoming more commonplace," Strother said in a statement. "This trend is a positive one for marketers and advertisers, and should give them greater confidence in their mobile efforts, knowing that well-targeted offerings can find traction among consumers.”
To get better response, Strother said mobile marketers should purchase inventory on mobile Web sites that have the most relevant audience profile for the products or services they're advertising. Another key, he said, is to present creative elements that meet the needs of those mobile consumers.
Beyond ads, the Mobile Marketing Consumer Survey includes some other interesting metrics related to mobile use. For example, the number of mobile users accessing the Internet on a daily basis is up. ABI said 28 percent of mobile phone users said they access Internet sites at least once a day from their phones, a jump from 16 percent in the earlier survey.
Companies looking to send promotions to mobile would find some measure of good news in the latest survey. About 45 percent of the respondents said they were willing to accept promotions like coupons and discounts if they have control over the process. In the earlier survey, only 36 percent said they would accept mobile promotions. However, ABI noted that even the consumers who said they were willing to accept promotions were "not enthusiastic" about the prospect of receiving them.
There was also some bad news in the findings for e-commerce marketers looking for signs of growth in mobile purchasing. Asked about using their mobile phone to make purchases, 76 percent of survey respondents said security related to such transactions is a major concern. That number is up from the earlier survey when 71 percent said security was a major concern.
The ABI Research survey was completed in February; meanwhile, mobile ad providers continue to push the envelope with new technology designed to get users to be more engaged with ads. Just this week iVdopia, which has rolled out ad formats for the Apple iPhone and Android mobile OSes, introduced a new "Viper" ad format for the iPhone. With the new iVdopia-powered ads, a simple fingertip swipe on an ad reveals a menu of interactive options to get more information and play multimedia content.
Google also previewed a similar kind of swipe-to-see-more in-depth ad feature for Android devices at its recent Google I/O developer conference.
David Needle is the West Coast bureau chief at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.
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