Businesses are poised to spend more than $313 million on mobile campaigns in 2010, and marketing budgets for mobile devices are expected to exceed $1.2 billion within the next five years. With this in mind, marketers may be happy to learn that their investments could really pay off – according to a report from inMobi and comScore relayed by eMarketer, consumers are increasingly receptive of mobile advertisements.
The Global Consumer View of mobile Advertising reveals that nearly one-quarter of mobile users say they are getting comfortable with ads. Even better, more than one-third of consumers (38 percent) say mobile ads serve "an important purpose."
This means consumers appreciate mobile ads – but only when these ads offer value to them. The study's authors concluded that personalized ads were most effective, outranking free content and phone bill discounts as incentives consumers would accept in return for viewing ads.
In keeping with personalized content, marketers may want to reach mobile consumers with locally-targeted ads to ensure that offers are relevant. Creating mobile search ads according to consumers' locations may help companies convert on-the-go shoppers. According to Compete, one in three smartphone users has visited a local business they found through a local search application.
