• by TJ Person , August 2, 2013

The future of mobile advertising has everything to do with context, location and extreme personalization. People count on mobile for just about everything. And marketers have the ability to target, engage and offer in-the-moment value, sharing deals and coupons when shoppers want them.

Based on people's inherent (and constant) interaction with their treasured mobile phone, coupled with consumer likes and behavior, advertisers can engage with consumers unlike no other time in history.

Mobile advertising is targeted

Using mobile advertising creatively, retailers can provide hyperlocal exclusivity, offering shoppers proximity-based deals and create excitement and loyalty. Nordstrom, for example, can reserve inventory on a particular ad network exclusively for iOS devices within a 30-meter radius on any given day. Wanting to create a viral buzz and reach local shoppers, Nordstrom can host a weekend sale to drive in-store traffic. They could have 100% Share of Voice, and push exploding offers to every iOS user in the area that expire in 60 minutes, creating a sense of urgency to create a viral buzz. 

Already near the physical store, shoppers are rewarded and enticed to get an exclusive deal. Retailers can take full advantage of proximity and pull shoppers into their establishment and increase sales the last day of the month or quarter.

Mobile advertising is dynamic

Imagine yourself playing a game of "Angry Birds" as you wait for the muni. You are very aware that the temperature just hit 90 degrees. You glance back at your phone and an ad appears that says, “Cool down: ready for an iced coffee? Dunkin’ Donuts is just 0.2 miles away” with an offer to get a donut for a dime. 

In the very near future, we will start to experience personal-value ads baked directly into mobile. Much is already being built to enhance personal user experience to ensure there is enough value (and learned respect) given to mobile consumers. As we're already seeing with Apple iAd, mobile advertising is being re-imagined directly within handsets like iPhone, Android and HTML5. Access to the accelerometer and GPS already allows for innovative, personal and engaging experiences.

Dynamic ads will be able to consider everything from time of day, temperature, calendar, and location to the day of the week. And, as these variables change, so will the ads that are served up.

Mobile advertising is engaging

What if National Geographic wanted to drive an awareness campaign, and created a fun and active click-to-camera or click-to-video game where they geographically target the top sightseeing U.S. destinations (Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty, etc.)? People can be encouraged to submit a creative photo to win a trip anywhere in the world. When participating in the game, travelers are automatically prompted via the phone’s camera with instructional rules of engagement.

Advertisers have an opportunity to deploy incredible innovative services in order to create new types of relationships with customers. Already literally at their fingertips, progressive advertisers are deploying innovative ads to reach shoppers in unique ways throughout the day -- ways that provide instant benefits to customers, create extreme loyalty, and capture attention. These services are already well on their way to monetizing mobile in ways that will disrupt the way we think about advertising, and will likely change the ways that consumers behave and engage.

The future of mobile advertising will have us interacting with brands and retailers in ways that have been unimaginable. Until now.