Mobile advertising on social networking sites must drive two-way interaction says Bango research

Posted on March 26, 2009 by Sarah Keefe

Focus of debate at AIME seminar on Mobile Advertising, April 2, London

"Mobile advertising for the masses" white paper

The publication today of the new white paper, “Mobile Advertising for the Masses” by Peggy Anne Salz, highlights that in the personal world of mobile social networks, advertising that encourages two-way interaction between advertisers and consumers will be more successful than conventional “push” style banner ads. The report suggests that virtual gifting is seen by many as the starting point for cultivating this two-way conversation.

The white paper is aimed at marketers who want to understand how to effectively market to mobile communities; it is available for download at http://bango.com/whitepaper2. Both Peggy Anne Salz, chief analyst at MSearchGroove.com, and mobile analytics vendor, Bango, will be discussing this topic at the AIME seminar on Mobile advertising on April 2 in London. More at http://www.aimelink.org/KN/MobAdvSocNet.aspx

“After testing mobile advertising on three mobile social networks – Buzzcity, Itsmy and Peperonity – the research clearly shows that demographic data they provide is essential as advertisers seek to develop dialogues with communities and deliver marketing messages sure to resonate with their members,” said Peggy Anne Salz.

“Clever mobile social networks even encourage their members to choose the ads they want, such as only ads about sports or fashion, making it possible for people to receive ads they find genuinely useful and interesting, as opposed to spam. No matter what the approach, it’s clear: A personal medium like mobile and an intensely personal space like a social network demand a much more personal touch from advertisers. “

The need for mobile analytics from an independent vendor such as Bango gives advertisers a more holistic view of their customers, allowing them to answer the critical questions every advertiser needs to know: Who are my customers? What did they look at? Where did they come from? Did community members convert to the campaign goals?

Mobile social networking was selected as the topic of the second white paper on mobile advertising because millions of current users of online social networks are going mobile and there’s increased popularity in mobile-only social networks such as Itsmy, Buzzcity, Peperonity and Mocospace. There will be 140 million users of mobile social networks by 2013, according to ABI Research.

This white paper provides a reality-check, road testing the ad networks offered by three leading mobile social networks, and documents the level of targeting each provides advertisers. It then evaluates how mobile analytics delivers a deeper understanding on how each campaign perform.