Is free the key to mobile video adoption?

The mobile web is still a developing entity for both consumers and marketers, which is one reason that some marketers are slow to adopt the medium. However, many reports indicate that ignoring mobile could be a huge faux pas for advertisers. So, how should marketers approach?

by Kristina Knight

The key for mobile adoption, specifically mobile video adoption, is coverage and cost according to several reports. Vantrix, a mobile video company is trying to increase mobile video adoption by optimizing video for advertisers and offering consumers free content. Rather than asking users to pay for video clips, Vantrix subsidizes the cost by running ad campaigns within them.

This should not come as any surprise to advertisers. When the mobile web first opened, content providers were advised to offer clips, games and text messaging services free. However with less than 10% of mobile users actively looking for or downloading video content, is mobile video advertising a good fit?

The short answer is yes because more consumers are looking for video via mobile every day.

"Providers should try to replicate existing user behavior. People are used to finding content placed contextually within websites," said Daniel Torras, Vantrix's VP of Marketing and Product Strategy. But, Torras continued, ads on mobile should not be the same as ads made for Internet consumption. Mobile ads need to be short and hyper-relevant.

"There is not room for a lot of ads [in mobile], so the ads need to be relevant to that specific consumer and targeted to that consumer. Instead of blanketing the market with the same ad on a given piece of content, advertisers need to deliver specific targeted ads based on demographic, behavioral targeting and handset model."