Laurence Bird, discusses the rapidly developing mobile market.

Monday, 26 November 2007

According to IAB’s Mobile Council (a panel of mobile advertising experts), technology isn’t the biggest barrier for mobile internet, it’s the public’s perception that mobile internet is difficult and expensive to use. This, however, is no longer the case. Touch screen devices like the iPhone make it easy to browse and interact online while unlimited mobile internet packages remove the cost barrier.

What does this mean for advertisers? The much talked about ‘year of the mobile internet’ is going to happen, it may not be immediate, but the foundations are in place to make it a reality – advertisers need to be ready. Brands that pioneered internet advertising ten years ago are now the brands reaping the highest rewards online today. Likewise, brands that are learning how to use mobile internet advertising now will receive the same benefits as the medium grows.

Audiences are relatively small and restricted to selected content at the moment, but advertising models are readily available offering returns to smart advertisers. Google allows for mobile specific paid search, popular portal and content sites like Yahoo, FHM and Loaded offer banner advertising while video content providers like Channel 4 offer video advertising alongside their mobile programming.

Of course, with so many similarities to internet accessed on a computer it can be easy to assume that ‘scaled down’ advertising offerings can be used on mobile. This is partly true, but like any medium it is different to another with content and advertising being consumed in a different manner; a smaller screen size for starters.

Industry knowledge and resource is obviously an issue for driving mobile advertising; many brands simply don’t have the resource to spare. The good news is that for any experienced internet advertiser, the similarities that do exist make the inclusion of mobile advertising in a campaign incredibly easy. Companies offering mobile advertising are companies you are likely to already be dealing with for internet advertising.

This poses the question: what should I be doing right now and how much? Investigate mobile and think about how your brand can work on the medium – then practice a little. Why not establish a mobile web presence? It’s darn easy and will offer you a destination for click-through from mobile advertising. The baby steps you take now will help your brand when the boom happens.

Other articles from the IAB staff's week of online insights:

• Monday - Kieron Matthews discusses display advertising

• Tuesday - Amy Kean looks to make sense of social media

• Wednesday - Jack Wallington talks video advertising

• Friday - Ben Butler looks to the future of online