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2019 Forecast Stresses Mobile Marketing Innovation

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As mobile use has expanded to include the majority of the population, mobile marketing has become integral to AccuList USA clients’ multiple marketing channels, including direct mail’s mobile-scanned QR & AR codes, mobile-optimized e-mail, nonprofits’ mobile giving and retailers’ geo-located ads and apps. When the average U.S. adult is expected to spend more than three and a half hours a day on a mobile device and 70% of digital advertising is already mobile, it’s no surprise that 2019 is forecast to be another banner year for mobile marketing. A recent ClickZ post outlines some of the big trends to expect.

Increased Efforts to Combat Mobile Ad Fraud

Mobile ad fraud is on the rise, doubling year-on-year during the first quarter of 2018, which also saw an increase in fraud sophistication, such as SDK spoofing and click injection. As a result, ClickZ author Luca Mastrorocco predicts that advertisers will push to avoid fraud and boost brand safety by demanding supply chain transparency from vendors, increasing use of anti-fraud metrics for mobile apps, and seeking to engage users directly via mobile network operator rather in-app.

More Apps and More Diverse Apps

Even with over 2 million apps in both Google Play and the Apple App store, Mastrorocco asserts that the mobile app landscape is far from saturation, citing innovations such as J.P. Morgan’s online banking app offering free or discounted trades in its digital investing service, the success of TikTok’s viral 15-second video app, and Facebook’s investment in a new Lasso app to compete with TikTok. He foresees even more app development and innovation ahead, especially in AI-based apps and use of virtual reality and augmented reality (AR).

An Embrace of Mobile Interactivity

Mastrorocco also predicts that interactive mobile experiences, such as IKEA’s new AR app allowing users to virtually place furniture in their homes, will blossom in 2019, blurring the line between mobile advertising and content. Gamification will play a central role in interactive mobile marketing, even among non-gaming brands, he adds, as brands use playable ads to communicate with users in a entertaining way and to join digital and brick-and-mortar sales, such as by rewarding players with prizes or discount vouchers that can be redeemed in-store.

A Focus on Real-Time Data Tracking & Analytics

Expect data-driven tactics to expand significantly in 2019. Brand marketers are forecast to increase their demand for user-centric advertising that tracks performance and analyzes results in real time to optimize media and creative in-flight. Their goals will be to both produce the best possible user experiences and more cost-effective ad spending. Brands using real-time data to produce iterative in-house creative can gain a competitive edge over those relying on agency creative, per Mastrorocco, who sees a resulting rise in experimentation with geo-location targeting and dynamic creative optimization. For the complete article, go to https://www.clickz.com/mobile-marketing-2019/221210/

2018 Offers New Growth Opportunities for Publishing Marketers

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There’s no doubt that AccuList USA’s business and consumer publishing clients face some pivotal audience- and revenue-building challenges in both print and digital marketing, but there are also growth opportunities in 2018. We note three potential positives recently highlighted by Publishing Executive magazine.

Quality Content Over Free Content

Audiences are increasing their demand for quality content, and advertisers are seeking publishers who can deliver that quality. There is a lot of untapped revenue potential for publishers who commit to quality, especially since the free-information era is ending as readers become wary of free but low-value content and increasingly willing to pay for reliable quality. For digital publishers, the downside of a shift to paid quality content can be a shrinkage of circulation, forcing them to balance potential gains in subscription revenue against lower page-views for ads. The Publishing Executive article offers various mitigating tactics: leaky paywalls; metered paywalls; charging only for premium content; allowing only paid subscribers to comment or participate in an online community; early access to certain articles for paid subscribers; access to paywalled content for subscription to a free newsletter, etc.

It’s All About Niches

With consumer access to vast amounts of information spewing into print, online, media and social every day, mass-market-oriented print and digital publications have been struggling, and niche publishers proliferating. Readers want to focus on what’s relevant to their specific interests, and many advertisers want to reach the right pool of people more than just the largest pool of people. The trick for publications is to embrace niche demand without sacrificing too much circulation. The Publishing Executive article offers some suggestions. Digital publications can create a product-within-a-product on the website, for example, with content targeted to a subset of the normal audience and attractive to new sponsors who want to reach that specific audience. For print publications, there are niche-targeted inserts, bonus sections, customized covers, polybagged special reports, or ad packages that combine a full-page ad in the magazine with a more in-depth cover wrap or insert for a special event or audience.

Demand for Brand Safety Grows

Brand advertisers have become concerned about aligning with publishers who tolerate fake news, violence, extremism, or other offensive content. The Association of Magazine Media recognized the danger and the opportunity in 2017 and released an ad campaign (“Better. Believe it.”) to highlight magazines’ quality content and brand safety. This means that respected publishers can court advertising revenue (and circulation) in 2018 by stressing brand quality and safety in their promotions. On that point, Publishing Executive quotes from an Advertising Age piece in which Shelagh Daly Miller of AARP declared: “Only when brands partner with reputable publishers can they have full confidence in where their ads are being placed. That’s a message that should be all over our industry’s media kits. And tattooed onto the foreheads of our ad reps.”

For more on publishing growth opportunities in 2018, read http://www.pubexec.com/post/6-growth-opportunities-publishers-2018/