2008 still not the year of mobile advertising

According to a recent Forrester research, 2008 won’t be the year of mobile advertising. Lots of companies are counting on it, but the numbers aren’t still there. Only 7% of users, according to Forrester, trust ads on mobile. Yet about 83% of the marketers believe mobile will become a more effective platform over the next 3 years. And i am amongst them. It can’t be otherwise. With convergence of services and platform, mobile is going to be even more at the centre of our digital lives. Yet I think we have to look at mobile in its broader sense, including all sort of wireless devices. The difference in concept and usage between the “old mobiles” and the new devices demand a re-thinking of advertising on mobile. Enough with advertising for the sake of advertising, there is a need of really effective advertising and the particularities of the medium demand intense study, research and trial and errors.

Good candidates for advertising are sponsored search (as an extension of the online practice) and referrals/pass alongs maybe driven by social platforms. Surely there are many others, but their effectiveness need to be tested and checked. Smart targeting platforms or algorithm and the use of personal information will also play a major role. It is time to experiment, now that the risk is of annoying a growing yet still contained user base.

Mobile advertising is bound to be very big in the coming years, we just need to figure out better how to accomodate such a growth without disrupting the user experience.