Measuring WAP Ad Campaign Success

WAP (define), or mobile Web, adoption is growing in North America. According to M:Metrics, approximately 10 percent of consumers use the mobile Web for gaming, messaging, and browsing. Demographics skew higher for male users, and overall mobile Web users are generally in the 18-44 year old age group (though predominantly within the 25-34 age range). In terms of income, mobile Web users have large disposable incomes, with 38 percent earning over $75,000 and 22 percent earning over $100,000. In Europe, WAP adoption numbers are even higher.

The mobile Web is here to stay!

As I described last time, there are many applications consumers can use via the mobile Web. But how, as a brand, do you participate in and measure success from a WAP-based ad campaign? Measuring a mobile Web campaign's effectiveness is done in a similar way to measuring an Internet campaign's success. Key terms to know include:

• Impression: Successful viewing of an ad. For example, when a subscriber browses a data product (WAP, video, downloadable, or even MMS), ads appear within the content. Ads are sent to the user's screen by an ad server that reacts to "calls" from the mobile content provider. An ad impression is recorded each time an ad is called and subsequently displayed on the user's screen.
  
  
• Click rate: User interaction (highlights and clicks) with the ad (banner, text link, interstitial). Brands can then measure the participation in a campaign through consumer action, whether it's a clickable banner, click to call, or something else.
  
  
• CTR (define): A click on an ad that takes the consumer to a jump page for more information or to take advantage of an offer. A jump page enables consumers to get more information on the product/service being marketed and creates an opportunity for the consumer to interact with the brand.
  
  
• CPM (define): A measure used by Internet marketers to price ad banners. Sites that sell advertising will guarantee an advertiser a certain number of impressions (number of times an ad banner is downloaded and presumably seen by visitors), then set a rate based on that guarantee times the CPM rate.
  
  
• Redemption: The number or percentage of consumers who actually take advantage of a particular offer. Most often, redemption is tied to mobile couponing applications.

I recently asked Courtney Leimanis, director of sales at Zingy, what brands can expect in terms of success rates from a mobile Web campaign. (Zingy has offered WAP advertising since 2002). Leimanis says average campaign click rates are 3.25 percent, with average WAP CPM around $45. This seems to be a lot higher than what we see from the Internet, where average CPMs are about $5 and click rates are less than 2 percent.

According to Leimanis, the nice thing about the mobile Web is it's so much like online that brands and consumers find it easy to make the connection. And the simplicity of mobile Web will help to drive overall adoption.

Why should brands consider mobile Web advertising in their overall strategies? First, mobile allows a brand to establish the one-to-one dialogue with its consumers. Due to the nature of the personal device, we have always-on, always-available interaction with consumers. The mobile Web is something they understand. Leimanis believes users already knows what to do with the Internet, so extending to mobile is easy for the brand.

What types of campaigns can be deployed using mobile Web and mobile Web advertising? A few sample WAP campaigns launched by Zingy:

• The Travel Channel. The Travel Channel promoted the debut of a new show, "No Reservations," by launching its own WAP site. The site featured a bio of celebrity host Anthony Bourdain and detailed his weekly travel itinerary to bring fans back each week and remind them to tune in. The Travel Channel ran ads across Zingy's WAP network and enabled direct click through to the custom site. The application was good brand extension for the Travel Channel, as it allowed consumers to take the brand with them wherever they went.
  
  
• Reebok. Reebok launched a new customizable shoe by promoting it with personalized content (including ring tones and wallpaper) that consumers can use to customize their phones. Reebok enabled opt-in for consumers to receive an email with retail locations where they could customize their shoes.
  
  
• The U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy used WAP for recruitment efforts, reaching young adults by appearing throughout such WAP sites as Vindigo and FilmFan.com to promote a free Navy film giveaway. The campaign enabled immediate click to call to the Navy recruitment center.

For more information on how to integrate mobile advertising into your initiatives, see the Mobile Marketing Association's (MMA's) mobile advertising guidelines, which outlines the basics for mobile Web banners and mobile posters (coming soon). The guidelines are published by the MMA's Ad Standards Committee, chaired by Kim Olson, of Sprint Nextel, and Heidi Lehmann, of Third Screen Media. Committee participation is open to all MMA member companies.