Q & A with Noah Elkin, Principal Analyst, Mobile at eMarketer

By Noah Elkin November 23, 2011

Mobile Advertisingmobile advertising trends

Where Mobile's Going & How It'll Get There

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After eMarketer released a new report, “Mobile Advertising and Marketing: Moving to the Mainstream,” which offers sharp predictions about the future of mobile advertising, I contacted the author of the report, Noah Elkin, principal analyst for mobile at eMarketer, to ask a few questions. In the report, Noah discusses mobile’s evolution into a mainstream form of media and what this means for marketers aiming to capitalize on its scope. With mobile’s momentum only increasing, Noah also identified key sectors of mobile advertising that are growing most rapidly and offered his insights into industry efforts and trends. This interview with Noah identifies some of the article’s biggest takeaways; be sure to check out another of Noah’s articles for more on mobile trends. MT

Noah, you’ve predicted $4.40 billion in mobile advertising spend by 2015. What changes in thought and technology will propel this change? What could be the biggest hindrances to this magnitude of growth?

eMarketer’s forecast reflects the continued advance of smartphone adoption and rising tablet acquisition among US consumers. A key factor pushing mobile advertising toward the mainstream is that mobile web access is fast becoming more the norm than the exception. This makes mobile a greater imperative than ever for marketers. Economic factors could put a dent in the degree of mobile advertising growth but our perspective is mobile will continue to emerge as less of an afterthought and more of a permanent fixture in marketers’ digital strategies.

In the article, you highlighted a few sectors of mobile advertising that seem to be booming. Why are these particular areas finding such success?

All mobile ad formats will see sizeable spending increases through 2015, but similar to the dynamics of online advertising, search and display are emerging as the dominant mobile ad formats. Mobile display ad spending (banners, rich media and video) will overtake SMS/MMS to become the largest overall format in 2012. Within the display category, rich media and video are growing the fastest as marketers seek to translate the desktop’s engaging brand experiences to smartphones and tablets.

Mobile’s biggest boon seems to be its ability to really connect with and engage consumers. Which techniques and tools do you think are most effective at capturing consumers’ attention on mobile devices?

Research shows consumers prize utility and ads that connect them to deals, for example, but in effect, mobile can play a key role at every stage of the purchase funnel. Regardless of where consumers are in the buying process, there are mobile channels and ad formats that push them farther down the funnel. In practice, this means targeting based on where consumers are and what they are doing and using a range of techniques across the mobile spectrum to engage them.

What do you think are the most important takeaways for mobile advertisers from this publication?

Mobile advertising is no longer a question of “if” but of “when.” Marketers are approaching mobile from a perspective of both less and more: less experimentation and more commitment, fewer test budgets and more real dollars, fewer one-off campaigns and more repeat buys. Most importantly, there is a growing sophistication in marketers’ efforts to integrate mobile into their broader digital campaigns to engage consumers.

Be sure to check out more of Noah’s insights in the full “Mobile Advertising and Marketing: Moving to the Mainstream” report and in this article!

Noah Elkin

Noah ElkinPrincipal Analyst, Mobile - eMarketer Noah Elkin covers trends in mobile marketing, usage, content, devices and commerce for eMarketer. In addition, he is co-founder and co-chair of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) Emerging Technologies Committee, and serves on the Direct Marketing Association's iDirect Leadership Committee. Noah contributes a monthly column to the Ad Age DigitalNext blog and has been quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Ad Age, Investor's Business Daily and NPR's “Marketplace”. Noah speaks regularly at industry events and conferences, including iMedia Summits, DigiDay, OMMA, Search Engine Strategies, Digital Publishing & Advertising Conference (DPAC), SEMPO roundtables and Digital Marketing Days. Prior to joining eMarketer, Noah served as managing partner at international digital agency Steak, where he drove strategy development for both Steak and its clients. Before that, he served as vice president of corporate strategy for iCrossing, where he helped to build the company’s social media practice and worked with clients to integrate social media into online marketing campaigns.