2-way interaction a must for social network ads

A Bango product story

Edited by the Marketingweek Marketplace editorial team Mar 30, 2009

Mobile advertising on social networking sites that encourages two-way interaction between advertisers and consumers will be more successful than conventional 'push'-style banner ads.

This is the viewpoint of a whitepaper entitled 'Mobile Advertising for the Masses' by Peggy Anne Salz, chief analyst at Msearchgroove.com and Bango.

The whitepaper, aimed at marketers who want to understand how to effectively market to mobile communities, suggests that virtual gifting is seen by many as the starting point for cultivating two-way conversation.

Salz said: 'After testing mobile advertising on three mobile social networks - Buzzcity, Itsmy and Peperonity - the research clearly shows that demographic data they provide is essential as advertisers seek to develop dialogues with communities and deliver marketing messages sure to resonate with their members.

'Clever mobile social networks even encourage their members to choose the ads they want, such as only ads about sports or fashion, making it possible for people to receive ads they find genuinely useful and interesting, as opposed to spam.

'No matter what the approach, it is clear that a personal medium like mobile and an intensely personal space like a social network demand a much more personal touch from advertisers.

The need for mobile analytics from an independent vendor gives advertisers a more holistic view of their customers, allowing them to answer the critical questions every advertiser needs to know.

Mobile social networking was selected as the topic of the second whitepaper on mobile advertising because millions of current users of online social networks are going mobile and there is increased popularity in mobile-only social networks such as Itsmy, Buzzcity, Peperonity and Mocospace.

There will be 140 million users of mobile social networks by 2013, according to ABI Research.

The whitepaper provides a reality-check, road testing the ad networks offered by three mobile social networks, and documents the level of targeting each provides advertisers.

It then evaluates how mobile analytics delivers a deeper understanding on how each campaign perform.