Marketers are making more use of mobile media to reach out to shoppers this holiday season, and more shoppers are using their mobile devices to interact with ads, according to a new study.
Engagement with mobile campaigns continues to grow, according to Millennial Media’s tallies of action on its network, which covers more than 80% of the U.S. mobile ad market. The network’s October figures showed post-click activity was up by double-digit percentages in all forms of call to action, especially mobile-only activities.
Mobile campaigns are driving traffic to retail promotions and mobile commerce, which saw 13% and 8% growth in click-through in October, respectively. The study’s authors credited the growth to retail and consumer packaged goods promotions aimed at driving holiday sales.
Advertisers can drive significant product awareness and sales with holiday efforts, especially in relevant categories such as consumer goods, retail and entertainment, according to the study’s authors. Households are planning parties, shoppers are on the road and families are traveling, which makes them all receptive to those messages, the report concludes.
“This is a perfect time for restaurants to draw in hungry holiday shoppers who are out of the house using their mobile devices as a research tool to find the best coupons and specials,” says the study. “Telecom and retail brands should leverage the immediacy of mobile to reach consumers on the go with product sales and promotions.”
Advertisers who used mobile media over last year’s Black Friday weekend — the day after Thanksgiving that marks the start of holiday shopping — saw a significant pickup in consumers interacting with their brands via mobile, says the report. Restaurants saw a 51% increase in interaction rates, consumer packaged goods advertisers were up 31% and entertainment marketers saw a 30% spike. That trend is expected to continue this year.
