Sales of smartphones have been soaring over recent years. Two of the reasons for this surge are the iPhone and the Android operating system. Both the iPhone and Android have an amazing number of applications available in their stores (over 300,000 and 200,000 apps respectively); these apps can be anything from simple games to productivity applications for business. Both of these systems are used in both phones and tablet-style computers, giving them even wider appeal. Other smartphone systems include the ever-popular Blackberry OS and Windows Mobile, both with rapidly growing app stores of their own.
As these systems have developed, so has the concept of mobile advertising. The idea is simple but effective: A customer downloads the desired application from the app store, they access the app, and an ad designed to appeal to users of that app comes across their screen. Ads of this sort can be a simple bar across the bottom of the screen as the person uses their newly-downloaded application or it can be a full-page ad that occasionally appears during use.
Mobile advertising can benefit both the advertiser and the publisher of the application. It benefits the advertiser in the obvious way: word of their product or service is delivered directly to the correct demographic. It’s simple and eye-catching. Advertisers can choose their target audiences by many different criteria and can control their entire ad campaign in real time.
For the publisher of the app, allowing ads to be displayed will often help pay for the application’s development. A better application means more downloads; more downloads means more eyes to see the ads, which means more ability to develop new and better apps. The publisher has the ability to set the demographics information for their app, control the ads shown and monitor their earnings.
Mobile advertising is both simple and smart. Most people that own a smartphone will generally not be caught without their device, and most of these people depend on them for many of their daily tasks. In fact it is widely noted that there will be more people accessing the internet via their mobile device than their desktop computer by 2013. With this in mind companies would do well to get on board now and build up their capacity for and understanding of mobile marketing and it’s place within the business. It’s a beneficial arrangement for the advertiser and the publisher; even the audience can benefit from the relevant targeted ads that they see.
