New Mobile Marketing Stats...for what they're worth!

Twenty-three percent (58 million) of all U.S. mobile subscribers say they have been exposed to advertising on their phones in the past 30 days, according to a recent report from The Nielsen Company. Half (51% or 28 million) of all data users who recall seeing mobile advertising in the previous 30 days say they responded to a mobile ad in some way.

A few notes from the study:

• The number of data users who recalled seeing mobile advertising between the 2nd and 4th quarters of 2007 increased 38% (from 42 to 58 million subscribers)
• Teens (ages 13-17) were the most likely age segment to recall seeing mobile advertising (46% recalled seeing some type of mobile advertisement, compared to 29% of all users)
• Asian-Americans & African-Americans are more likely to recall mobile advertising (42% & 40% respectively) than all data users
• And my PERSONAL FAVORITE STATISTIC from this study...26% of those who saw an ad responded at least once by sending an SMS text message, the most popular ad response! 9% say they have used click-to-call to respond to a mobile ad, where users follow a link on their phone to call a specific number.

These are some pretty impressive numbers for a medium that is so new to the US. We're learning that there are as many different uses and options within the Mobile Advertising world, that it's difficult to keep up. In just 6 short months, the number of people who recalled seeing Mobile Ads went up by 16 MILLION!

"Increasing levels of consumer recall, interaction and receptivity to mobile advertising reinforce
the validity of the mobile marketing medium," said Jeff Herrmann, VP of Mobile Media at Nielsen Mobile. "Nielsen's Mobile Advertising Report helps marketers and media companies better understand consumer interaction and the available response mechanisms to drive conversion."

What this study DOESN'T talk about is what SellPhone Marketing is actually doing. Neilsen talks about CONTENT-supported ads...where an advertisement pops up inside a text message you weren't expected an ad to appear in. For example, I've been getting Text Message Updates from Yahoo for years every time the Arizona Diamondbacks play. They allow me to keep up with the game every 3 innings, even though I'm hundreds of miles away from the nearest televised game. Lately, Marriott Hotels has started to purchase ad space inside these text messages, telling me that I can get High Speed Internet at all Courtyard Hotels...even though I never asked (and don't really care)!

We're doing things a bit differently. We're not piggy-backing on someone else's content, and we CERTAINLY don't spam! What we do is insert a specific text offer inside an advertisers' current ad campaigns. In other words, if ABC Nissan is my client...the only place you'll see an offer to view a Mobile Ad for ABC Nissan is in an ABC Nissan radio commercial, TV ad, newspaper ad, etc. And, the only way you'll actually get to see the actual mobile message is to OPT-IN by responding to the original, traditional advertisement.

Think about the response rate when someone receives a text message THEY ASKED TO RECEIVE!

That may not be what cell phone marketing is doing, but that's what SellPhone Marketing is all about!