Berlin, Germany, and Santa Barbara, California (January 31, 2012). Mobile advertising solutions provider Sponsormob is now offering mobile Click-to-Call to advertisers in the United States through a strategic partnership with RingRevenue, the leading provider of call performance marketing in North America. With Sponsormob’s mobile Click-to-Call, advertising partners in the United States can now be contacted directly by potential customers via their mobile phones. Any merchant with a call center looking for inbound sales calls can benefit from mobile Click-to-Call. Phone calls are tracked in real-time with campaign-specific numbers that give detailed analytics and insight into which ads are performing and driving inbound calls.

Click-to-Call marketing is an advertising medium that makes perfect sense for mobile, yielding higher conversions through in-bound customer calls. Interested consumers who click on the call button of a mobile banner or landing page are automatically connected with an advertiser’s call center. Given the high-intent of a phone call compared to a click, and the addition of being connected to a live sales-person, calls typically convert at 30-50 percent compared to clicks at 1-3 percent. Additionally, Sponsormob’s business model is performance-based, which means advertisers only pay for the calls that meet their criteria, maximizing their advertising spend and seeing a greater return on investment.

“Sponsormob is a company who understands mobile and performance-based advertising. With Forrester Research projecting a 38 percent compound annual growth rate in mobile over the next 5 years, it is clear that advertisers are going to spend a lot of their budgets trying to monetize this channel,” said Jason Spievak, CEO of RingRevenue. “Placing a call is one of the most intuitive actions a consumer can take on their mobile phone, and calls are proving to be a very effective way to monetize mobile advertising, especially in service-based verticals.” Industries currently seeing the most success with mobile Click-to-Call are typically service-related, including banking and financial services, legal services, insurance, and education.

While Sponsormob is based in Berlin, Germany, the US mobile advertising market is growing exponentially and represents a massive opportunity for advertisers. The company is excited to offer mobile Click-to-Call to current and new advertisers in the US. RingRevenue’s experience and leadership in performance-based call advertising makes them the ideal partner for Sponsormob in their launch of mobile Click-to-Call. Regarding the partnership and Click-to-Call offerings, Jet Patel, COO of Sponsormob, says, “We are happy to have found a great partner in RingRevenue and look forward to offering Click-to-Call to our partners in the US market. Mobile is a fast-moving space, and we strive to offer our advertisers the best opportunities for connecting with users on mobile, of which Click-to-Call is one with great potential.”

Both Sponsormob and RingRevenue will be participating in this year’s LeadsCon, one of the most successful events for online lead generation, taking place in Las Vegas, February 28-29. Representatives from both companies will be attending the conference and exhibition discussing mobile Click-to-Call and call-based advertising. Sponsormob will also be exhibiting at Table Top # T-17 in the exhibition hall.

As 2011 is coming to a close, we are looking forward to the holidays but also have an eye on the future. The upcoming year will bring some big changes from us, as we are adding features to our network to make mobile advertising simpler and more effective. Although we can’t share all the details now, we can say that Sponsormob will be making advertising on the mobile web more accessible for companies wanting to reach a broader audience (more info on this to come in January 2012 …).

In addition to making plans for 2012, we have also been expanding our company. We are actually still hiring, looking for candidates to join our Berlin office. We even made a short video about it. Details on our open positions can be found on our jobs pages (English and German). If you are looking for a job in mobile advertising, please check us out. And don’t forget to keep an eye on this space for more from us in January!

In case anyone needs further evidence of the growing impact and use of mobile advertising, the travel industry is ramping up its involvement in mobile. MobileMarketingWatch reported today that hotels are beginning to dramatically increase their mobile ad spend. A recent poll shows that half of hotels will be putting marketing funds toward mobile advertising in 2012. Given the growing numbers of smartphone users worldwide, it makes sense to spend money where the people seem to be.

Beyond marketing spend on mobile, various sites and apps are making it easier to consumers to make travel plans and bookings from their mobile devices. Hotels.com has just launched an app that makes booking accomodation faster and simpler for those traveling. The app is free, and also offers customers daily deals as well as last minute bookings, making it easy for consumers to see the latest travel specials (Mobile Commerce Daily). Another app, this one for Android, is Google’s OnTheFly, which enables flight comparison and shopping. The app has recently been updated and now offers flexible date search, letting travelers check out flights within a 35-day time frame. Search history can also be saved for later viewing, making it easy to go back to flights you may want to see again.

These advancements in mobile travel offerings makes it easy for those in the industry to gain new customers via the mobile web, and consumers are given tools to research and book travel on-the-go. This win-win situation is one of the many things we like about mobile!

It’s no secret that mobile marketing opens up new doors for companies wanting to market their goods and services to potential customers. Considering the number of global mobile internet users (Germany alone has several million), ads on the mobile web have the potential of reaching millions of users worldwide. Not only are mobile ads likely to reach a massive audience, but that audience can also be targeted so that ads only reach those who are likely to actually become paying customers.

The possibilities in mobile are seemingly endless, and new technology is expanding what can be achieved through mobile marketing. One of the latest innovations is Click-to-Call, which is starting to gain traction in mobile advertising. With Click-to-Call, users  viewing an ad from their mobile device have the ability to click on an icon within the ad itself and instantly be connected to the company advertising the good or service.

Click-to-Call is a win-win situation for the customer and the advertiser. Users interested in a product or service can connect directly with the company’s call center and either make a purchase, subscribe to a service, or find out more information without having to send a message or remember to make a call at some point later. Advertisers also benefit from the instant connection with potential customers, as the sales funnel is shortened via direct access to users.

Sponsormob is proud to be one of the first mobile networks offering Click-to-Call to its advertisers, so if this is something your company is interested in using as parts of its marketing strategy, please be sure to contact us. We are happy to be able to offer our advertisers the ability to connect with the best possible users, so take advantage of this!

It is no secret that the mobile internet is growing in regions all around the world at a pretty amazing rate. But sometimes it’s interesting to see numbers that show us just how massive mobile advertising is becoming, especially when compared to other forms of advertising. Recent studies on mobile advertising spend show that mobile marketing is on its way to take over traditional online spend and possibly even TV ad spend.

A report published by Flurry shows that in-app mobile advertising inventory is set to take over the entire online display ad spend by the end of 2011 (MobileMarketingWatch). According to the article by Mobile Marketing Watch, over 600 thousand apps are available worldwide for more than 350 million Android and iOS devices. The average number of apps per user turns out to be roughly sixty-five, and the number of ads per app-session were shown to be right around 4.3,  according to the apps tracked in the study.

Not only is the mobile internet swamping online ad spend, but it is catching up with  TV advertising as well. Just to clarify, mobile advertising alone isn’t taking over television ad spend – at least, not yet. However, interactive marketing (including online and mobile display advertising) is set to surpass TV marketing spend in the United States within the next five years, according to Forrester Research (Business2Community.com). The same study by Forrester Research also shows that mobile paid advertising and search will continue to skyrocket and are even expected to surpass email advertising as well as social ads this year, which proves what we have been seeing – expansive growth in mobile across all sectors. Companies who have not yet started advertising on the mobile internet should consider doing so in 2012, as the industry will only continue to grow.

A recent report from Google shows us that the majority of users exposed to mobile ads take action after seeing the ads. The report reveals findings from a study of smartphone users at the end of 2010 (search engine land). Several interesting patterns were shown, reinforcing what we already know to be true about mobile internet usage and further proving that advertising on the mobile web works.

Mobile internet usage at home

It is not only while on the go that people are accessing the mobile internet. According to the report, 93% of people use their smartphones while at home. Of those who are at home, the majority of them are on their mobiles while “consuming other media,” such as while watching TV. Interestingly, over a third of these at-home mobile internet users (39%) even admitted to taking their mobile phones with them to the bathroom as well (a bit strange, but true!).

Action taken

Google says those doing mobile searches on their devices are the most likely to complete an action - nine out of ten users, according to their report, “take action as a result of a mobile search, with over half of them leading to purchases” (search engine land).

Of those searching on the mobile web, the following categories show what is being searched for:

• News (57%)
• Dining (51%)
• Entertainment (49 %)
• Shopping (47 %)
• Technology (32 %)
• Travel (31%)
• Finance (26 %)
• Automotive (17 %)

Smartphone users and advertising

One of the key parts of the report reveals that smartphone users are actually quite responsive to advertising. The survey results show that over 80% of smartphone users exposed to ads actually noticed the ads. Even more interesting is that half of those who viewed the ads also responded by taking action.

After seeing the ads, a variety of actions were taken, including the following:

• 42 % clicked on the ad
• 27 % contacted the business
• 35 % went to a related website
• 49 % made a purchase

So as we see, ads on the mobile internet are noticeable and convincing enough to cause users to respond with action.

According to InMobi, middle eastern countries are keeping up with global trends when it comes to mobile device usage in general. A study published by InMobi studied mobile trends in the Middle East between July and October 2010 and reveals some interesting findings.

First, they confirmed that Nokia devices still account for nearly half (45%) of all mobile devices. They also found that 40% of total impressions are on smartphones, which is significantly higher than the worldwide average of 45% (Wireless Federation). The iPhone also gained 18 points of market share within the period, although this was due in part to Inmobi activity in key areas.

Mobile ad impressions also grew 51% in the three-month period, reaching 752 million ad impressions per month. The report shows that if current growth remains steady, the Middle East will soon account for 1 billion monthly impressions. With a large population and many young people who are mobile-friendly, the region will be a good place for mobile advertising in the near and distant future.

Mobile marketing isn’t just for the big players anymore. While small businesses may be overwhelmed by stepping into a world that is relatively new, mobile isn’t just for the big boys. Companies who don’t yet have the name recognition of a big brand name can still profit from advertising on the mobile web. Considering the number of people using mobile devices grows every year and that there may soon be more mobile users than desktop internet users, mobile advertising is becoming essential for growth in today’s business world.

Small businesses owners can enter the mobile web either by creating a mobile-friendly web site or by developing their own app. A mobile website is a good start and will position businesses to be in a place where they can be found by the many people who are already spending more time on their mobile device than in front of a PC. Currently, some mobile companies do better than others, and travel related sites, game sites, and dating sites are doing very well. However, there is growth in other areas as well, including finance/banking, education, retail shopping, and more.

Businesses who want to take the next step may even develop their own app, as the developers of the Mobile Payroll app did (Inc.).  Companies are developing apps as a part of their services and are seeing app usage continues to grow in popularity (more on the growth of apps here). And as we are seeing, apps are becoming big business, as apps are being created for virtually anything you can imagine.

So for those who are in business already and have not been active in the mobile web, now is a good time to consider creating a website that can be viewed on mobile sites as well. Mobile advertising is big and getting bigger. Why miss out on all the action?

A recent study by InMobi, a mobile advertising firm, and comScore, reveals that the mobile advertising scene in Africa is strong and a place where both advertisers and publishers can benefit greatly. The study gathered information from 2,500 consumers in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria. The results show us that 69% of Africans are either somewhat or very comfortable with mobile advertising, which is higher than the 61% they have found in the US and Europe (MobileMarketingWatch).The study also shows that men are generally more receptive to mobile ads than women, but again, there is a higher percentage of women open to mobile in these African nations than in the US and Europe.

Of the mobile consumers who were polled, 45% of them use mobile to “find new information,” followed by those who are on their mobiles for entertainment purposes (MobileMarketingWatch). Furthermore, consumers want a relevant message more than they want discounts or free content, which is interesting and something that should be noted. The calls to action that were well accepted in the study were click-to-call (30% of the results), followed by social media (24%) and then content and search (MobileMarketingWatch).

The implications of this study are that mobile is a great place for advertisers to connect with consumers in Africa, in particular those advertising to women. For publishers, the interest in mobile presents them with a fantastic opportunity to profit from the popularity of mobile, especially those who jump in the game now. Mobile users in Africa are also clearly looking for value and authenticity, so advertisers need to be aware of this by offering consumers something of value.

Adfonic, a European based mobile advertising marketplace, just released a report showing real-time reporting details from their network. The report compares mobile web use and traditional internet usage. The results show that most people access the mobile web during the times when online traffic slows down, and the numbers seem to show that advertisers may be missing out on some good opportunities to market.

The hourly click patterns Adfonic gives show that mobile web use begins around 6 p.m. and peaks around midnight. Adfonic asserts that people are using their smartphones to surf the web in place of reading a book before going to bed at night, and that people are also browsing the mobile web during commercials when watching television in the evenings (Adfonic via RealWire).

A second time that appears to be busy is the early morning hours. It seems that users are turning on their mobile phones first thing in the morning, before turning on a computer or heading off to work. This interesting report shows that brands are missing out on peak times and are not fully using the capability of the mobile internet. If this is the case (and we believe it is), then there remains a large amount of advertising potential that is still very much untapped. Mobile users are a very targetable market, and this report shows that there are gaps in the times where traditional advertising is effective that can be filled with mobile advertising.

Details of their report can be found here.