The newest installment of Jacobs Media’s jacAPPS blog has a few harsh words for the newly-public Facebook and their inability to monetize a vast network of mobile users.
Company head Paul Jacobs comments on a particular line from Facebook’s initial public offering statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission. It reads:
“We do not directly generate any meaningful revenue from mobile, and our ability to do so successfully is unproven.”
Jacobs balks at the statement, citing the social network’s estimated 425 million mobile users as a huge cash cow which everyone has neglected to milk.
He goes on to cite numerous successful — monetarily and otherwise — mobile advertising campaigns put forth by radio stations using techniques such as “pre-roll advertising, in-app streaming ads with graphics and display ads.”
A group of stations in the Portland and Seattle markets entered into a multichannel mobile deal with Papa John’s, enabling listeners to order pizza directly from their smartphones, and a program in Atlanta struck a deal with Crown Royal, sending listeners to a mobile site featuring weekly drink specials.
Jacobs also highlighted an upcoming platform called Publink, a “combination of Groupon and AroundMe” that uses geolocation and “social sharing” to enable local stations to reach local businesses who are not normally accessible, due to a lack of interest, money or both.
All in all, mobile advertising is a journey just beginning, and Jacobs feels that with dedication, hard work and an acceptance of change, radio can compete with any platform.
