DMS ’11: The Mobile Formula: Location + Context = Relevancy

Much of the focus at DMS ’11 centered on the acceleration of performance-based local ad models across new platforms to drive measurable results. Mobile is leading the way with its ability to geotarget intent-driven consumers and spur “secondary actions” (click to call, click for directions, etc.).

In a panel on mobile local ad networks, Verve Wireless CMO Greg Hallinan, xAd CMO Craig Hagopian, Where VP of BD Dan Gilmartin and AT&T Interactive SVP William Hsu each offered data and context to validate mobile’s efficacy.

Hagopian: xAd’s geocoded ads earn 3 percent to 8 percent CTRs, with secondary actions on these ranging from 25percent to 50 percent. This can be explained by the mobile search user’s “intent to act on information within an hour.” The query chain, or funnel, is dramatically compressed.

Hallinan: Verve’s local display network is seeing a “significant increase in the volume of locally sold mobile ads.” And once on-board, those businesses show a high propensity to renew, and at three to five times the level of the initial spend.

Tsu: Similar to Verve, AT&T’s branded local display network is driving $3 eCPMs on average. These can escalate to as high as $10 to $15 in some cases.

While local targeting is essential to capturing mobile user intent, the panelists added that context plays an equally central role in optimizing an ad’s relevance for an individual consumer. As an example, Where recently ran a campaign for Halls that geofenced a one-mile radius around the areas of a city where the flu index spiked, driving consumers to nearby CVS, Walgreens and Walmart.