Mobile advertising is the evolution of a great communication tradition. Over time, companies have tried to publicize their products in various ways. The latest digital advances have allowed communication between companies and users to be bidirectional and new information techniques to exist. We tell you how advertising has changed in recent years and how it is applied to mobile devices.
Brief history of advertising evolution
To understand the techniques used in mobile advertising, it is necessary to investigate the origins of commercial communication. The first promotional texts date back to ancient Egypt and are millennia old.
In later cultures, in addition to written announcements, the figure of the spokesperson began to become popular, who communicated the most important events that took place in the city. This type of people reached great relevance in the Middle Ages. The appearance of the printing press served to make it easier to create advertising brochures.
However, you have to go back to the 20th century to understand modern advertising , thanks to the creation of the first agencies in the United States. The invention of the radio, the increase in the diffusion of the press and the popularity of television made propaganda become a professional job and a widely used way of informing society about a company’s products. The presentation of the smartphone was just the last phase of this revolution, since it meant a new support with a series of special characteristics, totally different from what had been seen before.
What is mobile advertising
Mobile advertising is considered to be that which uses the smartphone as a tool for a company to reach its potential customers. It is considered a communicative revolution because it allows people to be approached in a different, more personal and ubiquitous way.
Among its main features is its ability to combine various forms of advertising (by text, by video, by call), the possibility of segmenting, geolocation capacity and the opportunity to adapt to the user’s characteristics.
Types of mobile advertising
There are several mobile advertising techniques . The most commons are:
- SMS. It consists of sending a text message through the traditional channel. The recipients have previously given their consent by accepting a subscription. It is a tool used in old mobile phones but is still used today by some companies due to its effectiveness.
- Push Notifications . The company notifies of a special promotion through a notification. A mobile advertising technique that is less and less common because it is quite invasive and can cause a bad perception by the user.
- InApp . Free mobile apps need money to finance themselves. It is for this reason that many of them include advertising within their platforms. Although there are a wide variety of alternatives, short videos or banners are the most used options.
- SEM . If a smartphone user uses a search engine to access information on the Internet, they will find that there will be some ads paid by various companies in order to appear in the top positions.
- Social networks . The phone has become the most used device to access social networks and even some of them, such as Instagram or Snapchat, are exclusive to this medium. Mobile advertising includes campaigns specially designed for this type of platform. Sponsored content or the insertion of paid posts are the most used techniques.
Advertising uses new technologies to get company messages to people. The digital world is full of opportunities to facilitate the relationship between companies and their customers.
