The political landscape has changed considerably over the
last several years, especially when you look at where and how people vote.
Historically, people voted at polling stations located near their homes or
offices, and it was standard practice for voters to receive “house calls” from
political constituents looking to drum up support for a specific
socio-political issue and fundraise. That’s all begun to change with the
proliferation of smartphones and tablets and consumers’ increasing dependence
on these small screen devices. Now people are using these devices to research
social, political and economic issues affecting the country and the world, read
news about political candidates, and even promote fundraising events.
In the context of this year’s Presidential Election,
mobile is one channel that’s already getting the attention and advertising
dollars of both Obama and Romney in their race to win the hearts and votes of
Americans. So what’s the draw for publishers and app developers to make the
most of mobile political ads? What are the best ways to monetize mobile
political ads? According to eMarketer,
video will account for 5.8%, or $151.5 million, of the year’s $2.61 billion
total mobile ad spending in the U.S.
As the race to the White House heats up over the next few
months, we’re seeing an increase in the use of mobile video and rich media ads
within mobile sites and apps like Pandora and Facebook. The reason being is
simple – both are smart ad-supported channels that reach millions of mobile
users daily. By serving political ads that are engaging, relevant and
entertaining within these apps and mobile sites, publishers and developers can
effectively drive an increase in clicks, conversions and revenue. eMarketer
estimates that by the end of 2012, nearly 82 million Americans will access a
social media site on their mobile device. In fact, over 70% of music listening
on Pandora happens on mobile, or “off the computer,” (in July, total listening
hours hit 1.12 billion), and Facebook said last month that 543 million, more
than half of its users, access Facebook from a mobile device. If there’s one
thing we can be sure of, it’s that mobile political ads are here to stay and
can create a consistent revenue stream for publishers and app developers.
Of course, one of the biggest assets of mobile devices is
the ability to target users based on their location, time of day, device type
and device features. For mobile political ads, the monetization that can result
from delivering intuitive, targeted mobile ads across smartphones and tablets
is very important. For example, mobile ads targeting voters in a typically
“blue”, or Democratic state such as New York, will likely have higher
engagement rates.
Last, but certainly not least, it’s important for
publishers and app developers to pay close attention to the actual design and
user experience of mobile political ads themselves. Less is more. Instead of
pushing multiple messages through a banner ad, it’s better to focus on one
particular call-to-action. With consumers apt to want information fast and
delivered easily, the user experience should be a top priority in delivering
mobile political ads. So, ensure that banner ads support this type of mobile
usage/behavior to drive deeper and longer engagement (thus resulting in that
all important metric – revenue and ROI).
What types of innovation would you like to see in mobile
political ads? Would you be more responsive to a mobile ad that positioned a
candidate in a negative light? How do you plan to use your smartphone and
tablet in the days leading up to the Presidential Election? Tell us on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
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