Portals/directories and telecom were the top two mobile advertising verticals in Q2 2010, according to the latest S.M.A.R.T. Report from Millennial Media.
Portals Top Vertical for 3rd Straight Quarter
Q2 2010 marked the third straight quarter portals/directories has been the top mobile advertising vertical as measured in terms of spending by Millennial Media. Telecommunications jumped from the number three spot in Q1 2010 to number two in Q2, swapping places with previous number two entertainment.
Dating rose from the seventh-highest-spending vertical in Q1 2010 to the fourth-highest in Q2. The other top gainers were Finance, rising from number 10 to number five, and Retail & Restaurants, climbing from 10th to seventh place. Millennial Media analysis indicates growth in this vertical was driven by retailers building databases for re-targeting, featuring location-based couponing for summer sales and ramping up spending for early back-to-school campaigns.
Automotive, coming in at number nine, was the only top 10 vertical to not be ranked in Q1. It displaced pharmaceuticals from the top 10 list.
Education took the biggest fall, tumbling two spots from number six to number eight. Travel was the only other vertical to move down the top 10 ranking, falling from fourth to fifth place.
Mobile Web Dominates Campaign Destination Mix
Mobile web destinations (Traffic to Site and Custom Landing Page) represented nearly 80% of the Campaign Destination Mix. Top mobile advertisers – including a number within the Top 10 advertising verticals on the Millennial platform (see above) – have developed persistent mobile sites and/or mobile applications to direct their consumers to take action.
Expand Rich Media increased 3% to represent 6% of the Campaign Destination. Automotive brands, like Entertainment advertisers, are designing rich media elements in their campaigns that are unique to mobile – not just repurposed creative from the wired web.
Audience Targeting Grows
As an ever-increasing trend, advertisers are leveraging Audience-Targeted campaigns on Millennial Media’s network. In June 2010, 41% of campaigns leveraged this method, while 59% of campaigns on Millennial Media’s network used Broad Reach targeting methods.
To achieve higher engagement rates, Millennial Media recommends that advertisers utilizing Broad Reach could emulate the Entertainment and Telecom verticals and develop more sophisticated audience targeting methods (i.e., GEO, demographic, behavioral audience and
audience takeover).
Audience Targeting Gets Geographic
GEO targeting (targeting based on geographic attributes) accounted for 56% of the Targeted Audience Mix in June 2010. According to Millennial Media, this targeted reach method continues to resonate strongly with advertisers in the Travel vertical, particularly Hotels and Resorts, who are able to reach visitors new to the area with relevant messages.
Daily Mobile Phone Use Grows
Average daily mobile phone use in the US reached one hour and 18 minutes in 2009, according to recent Yankee Group data. Thus Yankee Group advises marketers and advertisers to increase their focus on online and mobile promotions.
