This is not about radio, but because two key words in the radio industry’s success over the years have been “mobile” and “local,” radio will care about these results.
CHANTILLY, VA.: BIA/Kelsey today released its five-year outlook for U.S. mobile local advertising. According to the firm, total U.S. mobile ad spending will grow from $790 million in 2010 to $4 billion in 2015. During the same period, BIA/Kelsey projects the local portion of that total to increase from $404 million to $2.8 billion, making locally targeted mobile ads 51 percent of overall U.S. mobile ad spending, growing to 70 percent by 2015.
BIA/Kelsey defines mobile local advertising as that which targets users in specific locations or contains location-specific calls to action. Smartphones and mobile Web usage will drive the phenomenon “as large brand advertisers evolve their campaign objectives to the capabilities of the mobile device–most notably, location awareness,” BIA said.
The firm also sees mobile advertising moving down market to small and medium-sized businesses through a combination of local sales and self-serve tools. Increasing use of mobile media, clearer ROI and a shorter purchase funnel will accelerate a demand within display, search and SMS advertising formats, the company predicts.
“Revenues will grow from not only ad volume, but also premiums placed on location-targeted ads,” said BIA/Kelsey’s Michael Boland. “These premiums result from higher performance for locally targeted mobile ads when compared with non-local ads, due to higher relevance, immediacy and consumer buying intent, all of which are more prevalent in mobile than many other print and digital media.”
~ Deborah D. McAdams, Television Broadcast
