Each year,the sale of smartphones is increasing by phenomenal percentages in the world and in the Middle East, where consumers are oriented towards the new generation of smartphones.
The increase of mobile advertising is directly related to this fast growing market, where advertisers should get aware of the new and fast platform to reach consumers in a blink.
Berg Insight forecasts the global mobile advertising market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 43 percent to € 8.7 billion in 2014, but the question that rises is what would be the share of the middle east of these huge budgets? Will the advertisers in this region take advantage of the booming market?
The attraction for telecom firms is clear with a Middle East mobile advertising market that consultancy Booz & Co expects to more-than-triple in value to $400 million by 2014.
Some see mobile advertising as closely related to online or internet advertising, though its reach is far greater - currently, most mobile advertising is targeted at mobile phones, that came estimably to a global total of 4.6 billion as of 2009. Notably computers, including desktops and laptops, are currently estimated at 1.1 billion globally.
As mobile phones outnumber TV sets by over 3 to 1, and PC based internet users by over 4 to 1, and the total laptop and desktop PC population by nearly 5 to 1, advertisers in many markets have recently rushed to this media. In Spain 75% of mobile phone owners receive ads, in France 62% and in Japan 54%. More remarkably as mobile advertising matures, like in the most advanced markets, the user involvement also matures. In Japan today, already 44% of mobile phone owners click on ads they receive on their phones
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The effectiveness of a mobile media ad campaign can be measured in a variety of ways. The main measurements are impressions (views) and click-through rates. They are also sold to advertisers by views (Cost Per Impression) or by click-through (Cost Per Click). Additional measurements include conversion rates, such as click-to-call rates and other degrees of interactive measurement.
Mobile media can run on a mobile web page or within a mobile application, often referred to as in-App.
One of the popular models in mobile advertising is Cost Per Install (CPI) where there the pricing model is based on the user installing an App on their mobile phone. CPI mobile advertising Networks work either as incent or non-incent. In the incent model the user is given virtual points or rewards to install the game or App.
Little statistical information may be found on the Middle East area, however the following information found through search engines are very encouraging:
As advertisers continue to rely more and more on digital media, traditional agencies are challenged to add value and protect their relationships by providing their clients with alternative media channels. There is huge untapped potential in the mobile advertising space in Middle East where number of mobile phone users is way exceeding the number of internet users.
Middle East telecom operators, increasingly on the hunt for new revenue streams, are looking at location-based mobile advertising as a means to tap the region’s boom in smartphone use, as well as the rise in popularity of applications that alert users of discounts and offers at their favorite shops and restaurants.
Although the Middle Eastern consumer lacks of trust in the mobile advertising and yet he hasn’t acquired the culture of ad clicking or viewing, it’s the increase of this confidence and the establishment of a solid relationship with the consumer in a “crescendo” mode that will allow eventually the advertisers to crawl into the mobile ad world with increasing budgets to match the growth of smart mobiles in Middle East.
