Reaching Communities Through Mobile Advertising

The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity had the who’s who in advertising and communications flocking to France last week. The festival presented an opportunity for marketers to share insights and new innovations as participants waited to hear who would be awarded a prestigious Lion award.

Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg, and Airbnb’s CMO, Jonathan Mildenhall, presented on the growth of global communities and how marketers can reach them through mobile advertising.

The trend in marketing has been to move away from selling a product or service and instead connect the consumer with a community. Airbnb especially relies on the idea of community as it utilizes technology to connect people in real life. “Without our community there is no Airbnb, there is no brand,” says Mildenhall.

To effectively reach these communities, Sandberg says brands need to create attention-grabbing native mobile ads with “thumb-stopping creative”. With Facebook and Instagram, advertisers are able to test an ad’s performance while maintaining the ability to change out creative if the desired results are not achieved.

Noteworthy campaigns often combine multiple mobile elements. The “New Year, New Roads” campaign for Chevy used video and chatbot among other platforms to connect with consumers.  

Airbnb has seen significant benefits to investing in its own community with user-generated content receiving six times more engagement than advertising video on social media.

“At the end of the day,” says Sandberg, “this (ad) community’s job is to drive our businesses. Explain our purpose, but also drive sales.”  

Key Takeaways from the Internet Trends Report

From YouTube’s decreasing share of mobile traffic to the personalization of voice-activated devices, the newly released Internet Trends report offers unique insight into the digital advertising industry. Thanks to Adweek, marketers do not need to read through the 355-page report for the key takeaways.

1)    Dip in Smartphone Sales

In 2016, smartphones saw not only a decrease in sales but also in user-base growth. Globally 2.8 billion people own smartphones. While they remain extremely popular, the user-base only grew by 12 percent in 2016 compared to 25 percent in 2015.

2)    Increased Time Spent on Mobile

Adults spend an average of 5.6 hours per day consuming digital media. The majority of that time (3.1 hours) is spent on mobile devices while desktops account for 2.2 hours. The remaining 0.4 hours come from other devices.

3)    Internet vs. TV Ad Spend

The total Internet ad spend is growing faster than television ad spend, and 85 percent of Internet ad spend is through Google and Facebook. Compared to its 2015 ad revenue, Facebook experienced a 62 percent growth in 2016.

4)    Voice is the Next Frontier

Between the fourth quarter of 2016 and the first of 2017, Amazon’s voice-enabled assistant, Echo, gained 3 million users. With its increasing personalization, voice and visual recognition are considered to be the “next frontiers in search and discovery” by Photon’s VP of marketing, Michael Levine.

5)    Ad Blocking on the Rise

With about 640 million devices utilizing ad blockers in 2016, marketers have the right to remain wary of the software.

Software Updates Shine New Light for Mobile Video

Recently, iPhone and Android users have been able to update their smartphones to the newest software iOS10 and Chrome 53. Typically, these updates simply improve user experience and keep customers interested. However, this recent update might be a huge step for advertisers as well.

iOS10 and Chrome 53 lift strict guidelines that restricted auto play and inline video on their devices. Now, video can play automatically on a mobile web browser without any interaction by the user. The only catch is that video cannot have sound that plays unless the user interacts.

Video can also be “inline” or weaved throughout content. Formerly, video had to be played with the software’s native video player whereas now, video can stream seamlessly wherever it is placed.

Facebook and Snapchat have already benefitted from these changes as they continue to explore options with full screen vertical video and automatically played content.

Previously, advertisers aimed to get around the restrictions by creating GIFs with heavy movement to resemble a video ad. With a substantial amount of animation, the GIF files were huge and ultimately, slow to load. Now, heavy GIFs can be replaced with light video and run automatically and quickly without slow load times.

Thanks to iOS10 and Chrome 53, vendors will surely begin to fiddle with new ad sizes, elements, and varieties to excite their advertisers. 

The "Cans" and "Can'ts" of Google Mobile Ads to Look for in 2017

Google has made quite the headlines lately with their new page layout excluding right column ads, their new ad format allowing for more text space, and now their restrictions on landing page ads for mobile coming in 2017.

Greg Sterling reports to Marketing Land regarding these Google changes. Google has chosen to penalize ad ranking if an ad’s landing page includes “intrusive interstitials”. 

These intrusions are anything that includes a pop-up which blocks the content of the page, a standalone interstitial that has to be dismissed before viewing content, or an above the fold layout for an ad with the content below the fold.

However, few intrusions will be allowed including those in responses to legal obligation like cookie usage, age verification, or those top banner ads requesting app downloads.

With all of Google’s changes regarding ad formatting, it’s important to not forget the importance of landing page user experience. In 2017, it’ll be more important than ever. 

Gone are the Days of Using Phones for Phone Calls

Remember when phones were used to simply call people? No? Me either. We live in a world where “phones” are rarely used to do the one thing that Alexander Graham Bell intended them to do back in the late 1800’s. If I think of all the things I’ve done on my phone in the past week the list would include things like, buying baseball tickets (which were never printed, but rather scanned at the gate), downloading coupons, streaming music and videos, storing flight itineraries and boarding passes straight to my calendar and “wallet”, editing pictures, browsing a plethora of social media platforms, and that’s just the beginning.

Gone are the days of using phones for phone calls. We’re immersed in a world of doing just about everything but making calls on our “smart” phones.

Ian Blair, cofounder of BuildFire, wrote an article published by Forbes regarding the importance of the ever-changing mobile world. Blair’s three key points are the mobile marketers should expect more mobile video, practical apps, and location based push notifications.

Mobile Video

While the idea of mobile video is no longer considered “new” and “trendy”, its ability to reach consumers is huge. Companies like Audi and AT&T have begun testing vertical videos and found an increase of 80% views to completion. Since consumers typically use their phone in a vertical setting, why not adapt advertisements to go hand in hand?

Practical Apps

Remember when the term “app” first started buzzing around? This new application was kind of unknown and people were pretty skeptic. I mean, why would you need an app for StubHub or American Airlines when you could simply go to the website? Well, users have embraced apps over the years and companies have made them incredibly practical and efficient. These “all in one” apps are sure to become the norm.

Location-based Push Notifications

Blair’s example puts it best:

It’s the weekend, you’re visiting a friend’s city, walking downtown, and your favorite travel app sends you a notification about all the great lunch deals going on in the area. You check your phone and see the small restaurant across the street, though tiny, has a 4.5-star rating and is offering a buy-one-get-one 50% off on all lunch plates. The photos of the food look delicious, and you are getting hungry. So who gets your lunch dollars? That tiny restaurant you otherwise wouldn’t have noticed.

While many users choose to opt out of said notifications, the ones who don’t might score big time with coupons, deals, and exclusives based on their location.

It’s pretty clear that phones have adapted in ways never imagined. If you told Bell that one day his invention would be able to work cord-free and with a touch screen, he might laugh at you… before even mentioning the laundry list of other possibilities. 

The Unclear Yet Promising Future of Advertising on Snapchat

It is no real surprise that Snapchat is becoming increasingly popular in the social world. I can still remember when I first downloaded the app and saw no point in sending a picture that my friend could only view for ten seconds or less. A few years later and you can still send short pictures to your friends, but you can also send videos, make stories, follow celebrities, watch clips from live events, read Wall Street Journal articles, and much more. The Snapchat world has taken off and advertising with the growing network is ready for launch.

Currently, you can watch paid videos from a select group of companies in the Discover tab where you see their stories and read their articles. Companies can also advertise with sponsored geo-filters that users can use for 24 hours. The rest of the advertising possibilities are still in the preparation phase.

Snapchat has tossed around the idea of improving ad targeting in the Discover portal to track the content that each user is specifically viewing and then following their off-site browsing and searching activity. This is an upgrade from Snapchat’s current strategy of targeting ads based on what channels people are checking out.

Moat, a third party measurement company, has become of interest to Snapchat who wishes to track the success of their advertisers better. Currently, there is no length tracking on “views” to see how long a user actually views an ad for. For example, one user could click on an ad and immediately click off while another user clicks on the ad and watches the whole thing. According to Snapchat’s current measurements, both are considered a “view”. By partnering with Moat (as Facebook and YouTube have already done) Snapchat will be able to assure their advertisers that they are getting the biggest bang for their buck, or at least let them know how long users are keeping with their ad.

Lastly, Snapchat is contemplating with the idea of a redesigned feed to combine personal stories, Discover, and Live and Local Stories. This redesigned feed would have a back-end algorithm to personalize each feed to each user.

While many of these advancements are still in the developmental stage, the future for Snapchat is promising with opportunities for growth and expansion through advertising. 

Mobile Advertisements Rely on Timing, Biometrics, and Consumer Interests

It seems like every time I use my smartphone, I see at least one advertisement. There is no doubt in my mind that mobile ads are on the rise and will be for quite some time. According to the International Data Corporation, the amount of money spent on mobile advertisements has skyrocketed from $7.7 billion in 2013 to $14 billion in 2014.

However, Christopher Heine discusses an incredible new form of mobile advertising in his article, “Big Brands Like CoverGirl and Coke Are Finding the Perfect Moment to Deliver Mobile Ads”. What are these perfect moments you might ask? Sit tight and I’ll tell you.

MediaBrix is a relatively new startup that is testing the waters of a new and interactive form of media advertising. MediaBrix uses hundreds of factors like biometric data and consumer interest to determine the precise time when their advertisement should be delivered.

Instead of your typical display ad popping up during a song, while scrolling through Facebook, or while reading an article, MediaBrix presents their ads at a prime time. They have the technology to showcase their advertisement when a viewer would be most likely to interact with said ad.

MediaBrix’ focus is on mobile and desktop gamers and app users. CoverGirl, a client of MediaBrix, interacts with app users and sends them a “congratulations” video advertisement when they complete a fitness goal.

Heine says, “Theoretically, such brands can target a Chicago Cubs fan with a celebratory offer minutes after the team wins a game (“since the Cubbies won, here’s 50 cents off your next soda”), or scrap the ad if the team loses”.

Well, I’m not sure about you, but I would be quite impressed with advertisements displayed on my smartphone/tablet/desktop at the perfect time rather than randomly. And luckily for me, that’s where the advertising world is headed.

Not only will this innovative advertising experience impress viewers, it will increase interest, click through rates, and interactions with consumers and the advertiser which poses as a win-win situation for all to enjoy!

Is "smartphone-dependent" the new norm?

As smartphones take the foothold of the mobile phone marketplace in the United States, a term has surfaced to describe those individuals who primarily utilize a smartphone to have access to the internet. These people are called “smartphone-dependent.” The Center for Media Research released details from a series of surveys orchestrated by Pew Research Center and Jon S. and James L. Knight Foundation about such mobile users.

Of the American smartphone owner population, the following statistics can be extracted:

·        10% of users do not have broadband internet in the home

·        7% of owners do not have broadband available in the home and do not have easy access to internet services on anything other than a smartphone

·        15% of smartphone users between the ages of 18 and 29 are deemed “smartphone-dependent”

·        About 13% of people who have an annual household income lower than $30,000 are “smartphone-dependent”

·        1% of people who have an annual household income above $75,000 are also “smartphone-dependent”

·        Demographic breakdown of the dependent population:

o   12% African Americans

o   13% Latinos

o   4% Caucasian

As more people utilize mobile phones as his/her internet access point, it will be necessary for advertisers to keep that into consideration when creating campaigns.

Which age bracket boasts the biggest user share of Snapchat?

It’s easy for marketers to assume that young adults are well-established with social media. While research may back that up, which social media is touting the highest share of 18 – 24 year-olds in the US? eMarketer recently reported on comScore Media Metrix research, which broke down the traffic by age group.

American 18 – 24 year-old internet users have the following share percentages on these social media platforms:

·        45% Snapchat

·        28% Tumblr

·        28% Vine

·        23% Instagram

·        19% Twitter

·        16% Google+

·        16% Facebook

·        15% Pinterest

·        14% LinkedIn

With social vendors like Facebook and Google+, the share among the different age brackets was a little more even. Snapchat, Tumblr and Vine were the only media vendors that exceeded 50% share when combining the 18 - 24 and 25 - 34 age brackets together.

Overall, young adults are heavily involved in social media. As it was predicated when Facebook came out after MySpace, the younger generation tends to flock towards the newer platforms instead of established brands. 

How many households do not have landlines?

New research reports that US households without landlines are growing steadily. The Center for Media Research recapped the findings from GfK Mediamark Research’s recent interviews with US adults.

Approximately 44% of adults in the United States do not have landline telephones in the household but do have cell phones. By comparison, there were only 26% of households in 2010 that only had cell phones. That is a growth of about 70% over the last few years.

The research further broke down the percentages of cell-phone-only households by age groups.

·        64% of Millennials

·        45% of Generation Xers

·        32% of Baby Boomers

·        13% of Pre-Boomers

Overall, about 93% of all adults in the US have cell phones according to recent accounts. Time will tell in how the cell-phone-only households’ growth will trend.

Youth tablet and mobile phone usage

Generally speaking, there are many devices that a consumer can utilize to access media. In the digital realm, there tends to be three major players: mobile phone, desktop/laptop computer, and tablet. New research dissects the user age demographics of mobile phones and tablets.

In the study, “The Mobile Device Path to Purchase: Parents & Children,” conducted by Communicus, there was a breakdown on media usage between the age groups preschoolers 2-5, kids 6-9, tweens 10-12, and teenagers 13-17. eMarketer reports the general findings:

Preschoolers 2-5:

·        37% of those surveyed use a mobile phone

·        71% use a tablet

Kids 6-9:

·        47% of those surveyed use a mobile phone

·        83% use a tablet

Tweens 10-12:

·        71% of those surveyed use a mobile phone

·        80% use a tablet

Teenagers 13-17:

·        94% of those surveyed use a mobile phone

·        65% use a tablet

Important to note is the shift between mobile phone and tablet usage and age. As kids grow into teenagers, tablet usage decreases while mobile phone increases. Kids between the ages of 6 and 9 tend to use the tablet the most.

How Millennial Moms research and make purchases with digital devices

American consumers have a lot of choices on how to access the internet these days with desktops, mobile phones, and tablets. A new study focused on how Millennial Moms, women who are between the ages 18-34 and have at least one child, navigate their digital devices in regards to research and purchasing. For the study’s purposes, it focused on the four categories: retail, consumer electronics, consumer goods, and automotive.

MediaPost reports that the new study was conducted by Millennial Media and commissioned by the agency Ansible.

Details released include that roughly 30% of responders stated that smartphones were used in the “inspiration” and research phases of shopping. Twenty one percent used smartphones to make a purchase.

Looking at tablets, 25% used the device for research, and 18% used it for purchasing.

PCs seem to get the biggest research time when the consumer is looking for a high consideration purchase, like a car. A bigger screen and other available shopping tools give desktops the advantage.

It is suggested that advertisers focus on the context that each screen reaches the Millennial Mom. Meaning, if that consumer is using a certain device at home, at work, or in a store, it’s important to make the advertising messages relevant to each location and device.

Consumers have higher time spent on mobile apps vs. mobile browsers

Over the last year, researchers have chronicled consumers’ mobile use. Smartphone and tablet owners are continuing to use downloaded apps more often than browsers and those numbers are predicted to increase. For advertisers, this means that shifting focus to advertising within the apps is important in order to keep up with the digital world.

eMarketer reports on research conducted by Nielsen in fourth quarter 2013.  Smartphone users in the United States are spending 65% more time on mobile apps than they were two years ago.  However, the amount of apps the smartphone owners had only increased from 23 to 27 in the last two years.  This indicates that users are increasing their time spent on mobile apps that they had already downloaded vs. accruing more.

Other research by comScore Media Metrix Multi-Platform proved that smartphone apps had the majority of time used with leading US digital media properties because of efficiency and mobile optimization. Media properties such as, Apple and Facebook, were mainly accessed through apps with 99% and 94%.  However, media properties such as Wikimedia Foundation sites and Glam Media were predominately accessed through their browsers with 88% and 84%.

Local search among smartphone users

Consumers, continually on the move, are typically using search engines to gather local information. In fact, a recent poll by Google shows that four in five of those seeking information use a search engine on a smartphone, computer or tablet.

Research demonstrates that the majority of users of smartphones typically seek out business hours, directions to a local store, local store address, and availability of a product. Although these smartphone users were more likely to search for local information at home as opposed to on-the-go, the difference in numbers was only slight. Fifty-three percent of those in the study searched while at home, and the other 47% were out and about.

In terms of actually following through from the search stage to a final sale, eMarketer reports that 18% of local searches via a smartphone led to a purchase, while only 7% of nonlocal searches led to a purchase.

When determining the effect these results will have on advertisers, the research company BIA/Kelsey estimates that US local media advertisement spending will be raised by 8.4% in 2014, from $50.2 billion in 2013 to $54.4 billion in 2014.

Hispanics spend less time on PCs and more time on mobile phones

A lot of advertisers have a very broad audience with secondary niche groups. It can be helpful for advertisers to keep track on how these communities of people grow and adapt in media consumption habits. For those advertisers who aggressively go after the Hispanic community, did you know that collectively Hispanics overindex for smartphone usage?

eMarketer recently reported Hispanic media consumption results from Experian Marketing Services. In general, the Hispanic and non-Hispanic spend within an hour the same amount of time with radio, magazines, and newspapers. TV was the dominant medium for both groups with Hispanics watching about 27 hours within the week and non-Hispanics watching approximately 28 hours and 11 minutes. These results came from a summer 2013 survey.

Where the research saw a difference was with time spent on PCs. Non-Hispanics spent approximately 11 hours and 50 minutes per week on a PC at work and 9 hours and 5 minutes on a PC at home. Hispanics spent considerably less time at work with 9 hours and 1 minute per week and at home with 6 hours and 26 minutes. A theory is that because the mobile usage is more for Hispanics at 8 hours and 41 minutes per week than non-Hispanics at 7 hours and 47 minutes, the Hispanic community is using mobile phones for internet access and other media.

Smartphone gamers play to unwind

For those of you who play games on your smartphone, what would you say is the biggest reason for doing so? If you are like half of the respondents from the study by Smashing Ideas, you play games to relieve stress. eMarketer recently reported on the highlights of the October 2013 study.

The top five reasons why people play smartphone games are:

·        To relieve stress at 50%

·        To fill time while traveling at 35%

·        They like these games better than watching TV at 20%

·        To procrastinate doing work at 17%

·        They like these games better than console games at 16%

The smallest percentage of responders at 3% reported they don’t like their jobs and would rather play games.

Interesting to note is that the majority of those polled do not play smartphone games longer than 60 minutes a day.

·        44% play between 0 – 30 minutes per day

·        20% play between 31 – 45 minutes per day

·        15% play between 46 – 60 minutes per day

Teenagers digital activities shift from 2012 to 2013

With the integration of mobile and tablet devices, US teenage usage has increased over the recent years. According to eMarketer, a new study was released by Family Online Safety Institute and Hart Research Associates.

From 2012 to 2013, Americans between the ages of 13 and 17 went from 43% of mobile users having smartphones to 64%. Tablet use also showed a steep increase from 45% in 2012 to 67% in 2013.

Of those teenagers polled, digital activities slightly changed from the previous year to today.

·        In 2012, 86% of teens sent or received text messages. In 2013, it increased to 87%.

·        About 90% of teens sent emails in 2012, and that number decreased in 2013 to 81%.

·        Online social networking saw a small dip from 88% to 81% of respondents in 2013.

·        Again online instant messaging saw a decrease like social networking. Approximately 78% of respondents utilized instant messaging in 2012; this decreased to 71% in 2013.

·        In 2012, 0% of teens polled posted video or posted/received comments on Vine. Activity increased to 23% in 2013.

Overall, teenage mobile and tablet use has increased. The digital activities may have changed since last year, so it’s very helpful for advertisers to stay current on media usage.

Singles and smartphone habits

If you are a single American adult, chances are that you are in a committed relationship with your smartphone. eMarketer reports on a recent survey conducted by online dating sites Christian Mingle and JDate. The survey interviewed single adults and discovered a few mobile trends.

·        Apparently, 47% of those surveyed constantly check text messages throughout the day.

·        38% utilize the internet on his/her phone several times in the day.

·        35% check and send emails several times daily.

·        32% constantly check a social networking site throughout the day.

·        40% talk on the phone several times in a day.

·        31% look at or share photos several times a week or at least once a week.

·        47% rarely or never check online dating sites or apps.

The study also shows that the age group of 27–34 single adults seems to have the stronger reactions to certain statements regarding mobile habits.

·        61% of 27-34 acknowledged “I’m always afraid of missing something interesting if I don’t check my mobile device(s) frequently.”

·        57% admitted that they are, “so dependent on my mobile device(s) that it’s like an addiction.

·        47% stated, “I often get less sleep than I should because I’m using my mobile device(s) late at night.

What does this tell advertisers? While it would be great to use this as across the board responses for all single American adults, it has to be put in the perspective that these results are coming from a niche group of people from niche dating sites. Use this information as an insight to the single adult habits, but don’t consider it to be the absolute truth. 

Demographic breakdown of smartphone users

Mobile users in the United States are continuing to grow with the segment of smartphone users growing exponentially. A new study put on by Pew Internet & American Life Project, discusses the current demographic breakdown among smartphone users.

eMarketer reports that there is a very close race between smartphone users who own Androids and those who use iPhones. Meaning 28% of smartphone users have Android operating systems and 25% have iPhone. Results were released in May 2013.

About 31% of Android users are male and 26% are female. For iPhones, females have a slight edge with 26% and males at 24%.

A more significant difference from the two types of smartphone operating systems came from the age breakdowns. Of people in the 18-24 age group, about 43% have Androids while 31% have iPhones. Androids have higher user percentages up until the 45-54 age group (27% Android and 25% iPhones), in the older age brackets, iPhones take the lead.

When looking at annual household incomes, those making more than $75,000 a year tend to have an iPhone at 40% vs. an Android at 31%.

iPhones also have higher ownership among individuals with a college degree or higher at 38%. Android users, who have a college degree or higher, pull a 29%.

What does this tell advertisers? Android phones tend to be in the hands of the younger, middle class and educated user. iPhones trend towards upper class, educated, with a slight skew to older users.

Do people send emails from a Tablet more than a PC?

For advertisers, it can be really helpful to know which device consumers use to access their information online. In knowing, it can help an advertiser be more efficient with targeting the message to the right audience.

The company Perion, which develops email client software, did some research to find which devices people use to access their email. Surveying 4,400 iPad users in the United States, the company focused on where people read and sent emails.

eMarketer reports that a higher percentage surveyed chose to read and send emails through the iPad than other devices like a PC, mobile or other.

Here is the percentage breakdown of which device people prefer to read emails from:

55% Tablet (iPad for this study)
32% PC/Mac
10% Mobile
3% Other

The following is the percentage breakdown of which device people prefer to send emails from:

48% Tablet

41% PC/Mac

9% Mobile

2% Other

Also noted in the survey was that 53% of iPad users check emails anywhere between 1-5 times a day. About 35% check 6-10+ times per day.

It is important to note that the study only spoke to people who have a Tablet; therefore, the numbers may be skewed to heavily favoring the device. So, if you are targeting an audience that is tech savvy, Tablets are high competition to PC/Macs. Therefore, it is definitely a device one should keep in consideration when putting together an online and/or mobile campaign for that niche audience.