Report: Branded ads doing better on mobile

If recent online ad campaigns have fallen short, marketers, it may be time to look to mobile. According to new data from research hub InsightExpress, mobile ad units performed better than online ads. The change began in 2007 and has continued through the latest holiday season. According to the research mobile helped brands increase purchase intent, brand and ad awareness and favorability.

by Kristina Knight

How much bigger is the ROI for mobile? The InsightExpress report indicates that consumers have higher ad awareness (23% via mobile vs. 8% via online), higher purchase intent (11% via mobile, 3% via online) and higher message association (14% via mobile vs 4% via online).

Just how much can be gained from the mobile marketplace? According to mobile ad network AdMob quite a bit. From 2009 through 2010 the ad network reports at least 2 billion ad requests daily. Consumers in nine countries are using mobiles and viewing mobile ads. Asian countries show the most monthly ad requests followed by Western Europe.

Added to that, consumers are also pushing for answers via mobile devices. According to ChaCha their interface is handling more than 3 millions questions and answers daily through their mobile and online hubs. Most of their questions are pop culture related, but they handle questions about technology, news headlines and even homework/school related questions.

"People come to ChaCha for answers about everything. In 2010, we had massive growth, with our monthly web traffic jumping from 17 million last January to over 29 million this month," said Scott Jones, ChaCha CEO. "Now that we have added more topical and visual content to match user questions, creating a richer more interactive experience online, our page views are north of 40 million every month and growing."

For example, Miley Cyrus and Justin Beiber top their list of most-questioned. But consumers are also looking for ways to say 'I love you' in different languages. Could this be a Valentine's Day trend to watch? One thing is certain, mobile isn't going away so now is the time for marketers to get involved.

Tags: AdMob, ChaCha, InsightExpress, mobile advertising, mobile consumption, mobile content, mobile marketing