Mobile Ad Networks No Longer MIA on ROI
For countless new entrants into mobile advertising, attempting to understand one’s ROI can be a confusing and frustrating exercise.
"The most significant issue for ad buyers," reads a new report from MIT Technology Review, "is that they don’t know if the ads are working, like they do on desktop computers." The report cites data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, which indicates that all media depend critically upon reliable metrics for audience reach.
"The mobile industry is getting to a point where marketers are looking past the initial click-through and diving deeper into user engagement," observes Rimma Kats of Mobile Marketer.
According to Kats and other industry experts, analytics represent the key ingredients needed in a modern mobile advertising effort. "The more data and analytics marketers have at their disposal, the better," she says.
eMarketer estimates that mobile ad spending will spike from $8.4 billion in 2012 to $37 billion in 2016. But in order for the marketing community, which is presently awash with optimistic predictions, to continue investing in the mobile channel, the return on this investment of time, treasure, and faith can no longer be as murky as in years past. And mobile ad networks know it.
“Especially with limited screen size, and much shorter time for placements, mobile advertisers have to be much more focused, more targeted,” advises Peter Wang, senior vice president of engineering at appssavvy. “This is where analytics comes in."
As 2012 drew to a close, it was evident that today's leading mobile ad networks were gearing up to wisely refresh and retool their analytics capabilities..
"The younger ad networks seem to really understand the importance of analytics," says Brian Pennington, an independent marketing analyst and consultant to multiple Fortune 500 companies. He cites rapidly growing ad networks like Airpush, Millennial Media, and Tapjoy as innovative industry standouts facilitating effective new ways to boost mobile ad engagement across their vast ad networks.
"Tracking and targeting are challenges that mobile advertising networks face today, across all platforms," says Chris Akhavan, SVP of Partnerships at Tapjoy. "Right now, even the most sophisticated ad networks have limited targeting capabilities compared to Web-based advertising networks. That said, both tracking and targeting are improving rapidly on mobile and will only get better."
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