The results of a wireless advertising study released today show consumers are extremely open to receiving advertisements on their wireless devices, and that wireless marketing may be so effective it will drive the adoption of mobile commerce and the usage of the wireless Internet.
SkyGo Inc., which bills itself as “the authority on wireless marketing,” conducted the study, surveying 1,000 participants in Boulder, Colo., over four months. The participants, who received at least three advertisements a day, recorded their feelings about the advertisements in five online surveys during the study.
According to the study’s results, 64 percent of the more than 500,000 advertisements sent out during the study were opened. Each advertisement featured a title page and, once open, led to a variety of different screens.
“The open rate was very high,” said Daren Tsui, co-founder and chief executive officer of SkyGo. In addition, he said 15 percent of those advertisements led participants to take some kind of action or plan to take action, such as buying an item, calling about it or visiting a Web site.
But perhaps the most significant finding of the study is the number of advertisements that led to an actual purchase. Of all the advertisements sent out, 2.9 percent ended in an online or offline purchase. Tsui said the number is extremely high-most marketers are pleased with .5 percent. The number represents a strong argument for mobile commerce and for SkyGo’s advertising platform, which the company is marketing to carriers and wireless Web sites.
The study also found 58 percent of participants could remember specific advertisements with some help, another large number for marketers.
“Fifty-eight percent is a very good number,” Tsui said.
The study, which SkyGo designed in hopes of covering the full range of wireless marketing strategies, featured advertisements from more than 50 national and local brands and agencies, including Visa, Procter & Gamble, NextCard, Digital Impact, Kinkos, HP Online, eCoupons, JCPenney, CompUSA, Kentucky Fried Chicken, ESPN.com, Subway and Hollywood.com. SkyGo employees worked with the companies to create a variety of types of wireless advertisements, such as one-click options to buy a product on the spot, send more information to an Internet e-mail account, connect to a retailer’s WAP site or automatically place a call to the retailer. The study featured a total of 565 unique advertising campaigns.
According to SkyGo, advertisements featuring interactive trivia-Tsui gave the example of a Kinkos ad quizzing users about the origin of the company’s name-had the greatest impact on participants. A major draw was the coupon reward the trivia advertisements offered following correct answers.
“These generated a lot of page views,” Tsui said. “The highest number in terms of rates was interactive trivia.”
Less effective types of advertisements were those allowing users to participate in polls; register for newsletters or services; and e-mail information to online accounts.
The least effective type of advertisement was the “click-to-call” option, which drew in less than 1 percent of participants.
“Maybe they don’t want to talk to someone,” Tsui said. Also, participants didn’t like simple banner advertisements that merely promoted a product-they instead preferred interactive ads, he said. “They don’t like ads that are banner-like and have no action in it.”
Tsui said the findings of the study bode well for marketers and carriers, but that the medium must be used correctly or it would alienate consumers.
“Wireless advertising is a double-edged sword,” Tsui said.
If advertisements are done correctly-made interesting and are targeted to the right people-they can help build brand loyalty and drive consumers to purchase goods and services. However, if the advertisements are unappealing, consumers may get a distinctly negative impression of the brand.
“Ads that are not relevant to them are really annoying,” Tsui said. “It really depends on the consumer proposition.”
One more result Tsui said would be especially attractive to carriers was what participants said after the study: Fourteen percent said they would most likely switch carriers so they could continue receiving advertisements.
“If it’s done correctly, you can help reduce churn,” Tsui said. “Churn is a huge problem.”
ConStat, an information technology market research and consulting firm, managed the research and complied the data for SkyGo’s Wireless Marketing Study. The Kelsey Group, which provides research and analysis, monitored the study.
