Mobile advertising executive advises SMEs on best practices
Mobile marketing is expected to experience a tremendous amount of growth in the coming years, with a recent eMarketer study reporting that spending on mobile marketing is expected to reach $3.3 billion in the U.S. alone.
Though willing to venture into mobile marketing, many small business marketing departments may be unclear about best practices for the new trend. Tom Foran, chief revenue officer of mobile advertising firm Crisp Wireless, recently sat down with WebProNews to provide some guidelines.
To be successful, mobile marketing campaigns must cater to the needs of customers instead of spamming them, Foran advised.
"Mobile is not simply a repurposed desktop campaign," he told the news provider, adding that users are looking for advertisers to leverage exclusively mobile features such as click-to-call, click-to-video, click-to-locate and click-to-buy.
He also advised small business owners to think "beyond the banner" when it comes to advertisements, as alternative ads have seen some of the highest returns on investment.
Above all, "the biggest mistake you can make is being too cautious to give it a try," Foran told WebProNews. "The mobile landscape is uncluttered and generating CTRs [click-through rates] and user engagement. Now is the time to be seen on mobile."
The potential for results is powerful - Microsoft sales executive Erin Wilson recently told Econsultancy.com that, compared to Microsoft's online ads, mobile marketing brings in a 290 percent increase on unaided brand awareness, a 140 percent increase in purchase intent and a 70 percent increase in brand favorability.
