Archive for the ‘Digital Marketing’ Category

Tamome CEO shares his vision of mobile & technology with launch of his new business

Posted: November 16, 2012 in Ad Industry, Advertising, Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Networks, Affiliates, Digital Display Advertising, Digital Marketing, Display advertising, Industry News, Information communications technology, M-Commerce, Marketing, Mobile Ad Networks, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Affiliate Networks, Mobile Affiliation, Mobile Developers, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Search, Mobile SEM, Mobile Technology, Performance Advertising, SEM, SEO, Tablets, Tamome, Technology, Technology Evolution, Technology Theory, Wireless Technologies
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Tamome – Mobile Affiliate Advertising Marketplace launched by Founder & CEO Christian Louca

www.tamome.co.uk

Calling Partnerships

As Founder & CEO of Tamome I announce we are open for partnerships within the mobile affiliate advertising market sector.  The Tamome team have been quietly building our technology since February of this year and we are now live with major clients.  We are looking to extend partnerships with advertisers, affiliates, publishers and app developers. The time has come for the birth of mobile affiliation, a massively overlooked market segment that warrants some attention.

We have strong ambitions to drive this froward;  with all our knowledge, insight, motivations, passion and general love of the industry we hope to disrupt the market through creating exciting opportunity for all our partners and partners customers alike.  We invite you to participate in the next generation of mobile advertising.

A little bit of vision

With smartphone and tablet penetration accelerating across the globe and with more and more people using this as their means to stay connected with the world; always on, always connected and always with us.  This has become the preferred method of; communicating with friends, family, colleagues, TV Shows, entertainment,  finding out what is happening in the world, sharing content on a global scale in seconds,  navigating our way around the worlds cities and towns, letting our utility suppliers know how much we owe them, staying in touch with what is important to us, researching, understanding perceived value of anything through to buying digital goods, products or services and making payments.  It is no wonder that in such a short period of time where this is happening right in front of our eyes, we still cannot even begin to imagine where it will take us in the future.

Technology is so powerful; it has allowed the human race to advance in ways that were just simply not even conceivable before its time. ‘Before its time’…I am not sure what I mean by that.  Since technology has been around longer than the human race.  It seems strange even writing that; but I believe the reality of technology starts with life itself and the evolution of the world that we know and live in today.  Mobile technology is just one element of a whole world of biological and non-biological technology evolutions.  Non-biological evolutions need a creator, a creator can exist because of biological evolutions.  Make sense?  I think ‘technology’ is an almost impossible thing to define but I think we have to split this in these two pieces.

Biological Evolution of living technology

‘Technology that were Creators’

Biological evolution of the Human Race

Non-Biological Evolution of non-living technology

with the biological evolution of technology that were creators

‘technology that was created’

Technology that was made by technology that were creators

So it should be clear now that mobile sits within the Technology that was made by Technology that were creators space. Why is this important?  We need to understand the context of the bigger picture rather than just looking at mobile.

Technology evolution depends on its creators.  That is you and I. Creators evolve according to their natural evolution (remember we are biological technology).  Now the lines start to blur because you could ask ‘are we evolving according to the technology that we are creating?’  Anyway, another time for that one.

We have since life began carved, manufactured, developed, created concepts of technology to ultimately make our existence on earth enriched, easier and healthier.  The internet has enabled us to put all our thoughts, ideas and concepts all into one place, like a giant brain.  Thanks to mobile technology this brain is now accessible to us all across the connected world like being on a drip.  We can open it and close it as and when we feel.  Its always there, its always on but we are in control as to when we use it to make our days enriched, easier or healthier.  This is the power of mobile and why like no other industry it is growing at a rate that we have never seen before anywhere else in our time.  I am proud to be part of such an amazing evolution of technology and communication  that is simply extraordinary.

Christian Louca

Guardian mobile site drives mores unique browsers & traffic than apps & tablets combined but where is the engagement?

Posted: May 17, 2012 in Digital Marketing, Industry News, Information communications technology, Internet, Media & Entertainment, Mobile Applications, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Mobile Platforms, Mobile Technology, Online, Publishing, Publishing Industry, Tablets, Technology, Uncategorized, User Experience & Usability
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Deutsch: logo der tageszeitung the guardian

the guardian (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It has been some time since I first remember trying to sign The Guardian to the YOC media network, sometime in 2009.  From memory at the time, 4th Screen were selling around 1 million page views per month.  I have posted below the latest figures from their site**, that figure now stands at 6.2 million and generates more unique browsers and monthly page views than their iOS, Android and iOS tablet apps combined.  These figures are somewhat surprising but not because their mobile internet has the biggest pull,  rather that their mobile traffic has only 6 fold in 4 or so years and all their mobile channels are not generating significant page impressions.

I have always been an advocate for mobile internet and I do get and understand that having an app strategy for print and digital publishers makes perfect sense.  After all, I have personally been involved in building so many for clients as such, why wouldn’t I think this.  My bigger question is why is their mobile internet site and apps not generating higher levels of uniques or monthly page impressions?  We know they have an award winning app and their paid for model seemed to work and made them a small profit after development costs.

But… why is their mobile internet site generating far less monthly page impressions in ratio to their applications? And… are their applications generating enough impressions in ratio to the unique users?

Mobile Internet

Generating 6.2 million page impressions from 2.5 million unique browsers can be averaged out that for every one customer visiting the site once a month is only generating 2.5 page impressions per visit.  I am guessing that their customers are visiting more than once a month which would mean they are generating even less impressions per visit (just divide the impression number by the number of visits).  As you can see from these states it becomes somewhat disappointing and raises some concern.  Maybe I am interpreting unique browsers wrongly as unique users, but it sounds like the same thing to me.

The iphone app is a little better…

Again applying the same principle generating 1 million page impressions from 34,000 uniques can be averaged out that for every 1 customer using the app once a month is generating about 30 impressions per visit.  Like their mobile internet users the reality is they are visiting more than once a month and therefore the impressions they generate per visit are even less.

Lets look at the rest, again applying the same methodology…

iPad app

45,113 monthly uniques generating 3.45 million page impressions equates to 1 customer visiting once a month generating 75 page impressions per visit.

Android app

11,000 monthly uniques are generating 1.2 million page impressions equates to 1 customer visiting once a month generating 110 page impressions per visit.

What does this all mean?

Image representing Android as depicted in Crun...

In summary, it shows that their Android app is generating a much richer experience than their other channels.  Or maybe Android users are just more engaged than iOS users.  We have to be careful here as their mobile internet site will have traffic from all devices but overall the statistics suggest that most of their mobile site users are less engaged than their app users.

In my experience, working with print and digital publishers it is typical for a user to generate up to 10 impressions per visit but at an absolute minimum of visiting the site or apps 2 to 3 times a week.  This would mean you would have to divide those impressions (generated by the users) by approximately 12.  In doing that, the numbers would suggest that only their Android app and iPad app are delivering a rich experience where the user is most engaged generating 9 to 6 impressions per visit respectively.  The others fall well short of this and their mobile internet site alarmingly so.

m.guardian**

A dedicated mobile site giving users access to guardiannews.comcontent any time and from any device. It is optimised for mobile screen sizes and connection speeds.

Traffic:

2.5 million monthly unique browsers
6.2 million monthly page views

m.guardian is showing incredible growth and almost doubled its traffic over the course of 2011 – growth that is outstripping total growth of the mobile internet market (+25% yr on yr).

Users are accessing a broad range of content through m.guardian with the top five most visited sections being world news, football, sport, technology and Comment is free. Comment is free alone delivers over 250,000 page views per month – an indication that users are valuable opinion leaders.

iPhone app

An award winning iPhone app featuring video, live blogs and more that is available free to users in the US.

Traffic:

34,000 monthly unique browsers

1 million monthly page views

With steady growth in unique browsers of almost 50% over the last four months, the iPhone app is another strong performer in GNM’s mobile portfolio. What’s more, the proportion of heavy users is high at just over 50%. That, combined with a strong frequency metric for user behaviour, indicates a very loyal and engaged audience.

In addition to the regular news content, users have a strong preference for football, sport and business content.

iPad app

We launched our critically acclaimed iPad app in October 2011 and since then it has been downloaded more than 500,000 times (globally). With a clean, modern design and easy navigation the Guardian iPad app is immensely readable.

Traffic:

45,113 monthly unique browsers

3.45 million monthly page views

Android App

Free to download and available from the Android market worldwide it contains the latest news, sport, comment, reviews, videos, podcasts and picture galleries from the Guardian website.

Traffic:

11,000 monthly unique browsers

1.2 million monthly page views

The app delivers a globally minded audience of opinion leaders and the most popular sections include football, Comment is free and world news.

Furthermore, over one in three are heavy users and this has steadily increased over the last few months – an indication that user loyalty and engagement is growing.

SOURCE**: Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/advertising/mobile?newsfeed=true)

Borrell: 20% of Local Marketing Budgets Planned for Mobile

Posted: August 17, 2011 in Ad Industry, Digital Display Advertising, Digital Marketing, Display advertising, Industry News, Location Based Services, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Industry News, Multichannel Marketing, Online Advertising
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Mobile phone penetration in Europe citation ne...

Image via Wikipedia

Borrell Associates, which specializes in research covering local and online advertising, issued a new report this week called  “Main Street Goes Mobile” that examines the role that mobile media is projected to play in  local business marketing over the next five years.

Pointing to a business and consumer environment ready to embrace mobile advertising, Borrell cites statistics indicating that a full third of website readership already accesses information via mobile devices. Meanwhile, half of local businesses report plans to engage in mobile marketing.

These local marketers plan to commit roughly 20% of their budgets to this effort. Will they follow through? While mobile marketing (and hyperlocal efforts in general) can be turnkey in some respects, there are still costs to consider, along with the navigation of complex technologies and new business relationships.

The difficulties most local (and national) businesses encounter with online and mobile implementation have led directly to the rise of a media middleman — Groupon is a well-known example. Whereas traditional ad agencies and marketing firms handle creative and placement, taking fees directly from advertisers, many local advertisers are opting for promotions and other efforts that come without a clear price tag attached. Using the model embraced by many group deal sites, advertisers actually receive money from these middlemen (albeit much less than they would from traditional customer engagements) rather than doling it out.

Borrell projects that, by the end of 2011, 1/3 of all mobile phone users will have smartphones. Soon, mobile capabilities will be the price of entry for marketers. Advertisers are looking to firms like Groupon, LocalUp and GeoIQ to keep their advertising efforts streamlined, transparent, and supported on multichannel platforms.

We’re talking about real money here. Borrell projects that local online advertising will reach $18 billion by 2016, with local mobile couponing at $3 billion. While this growth is occurring at a rate much faster than the slow initial shift to online advertising, we need to remember that there is already what Borrell calls an “installed base”: advertisers and consumers comfortable with online marketing, for whom the addition of mobile is simply a shift within a familiar environment.

In an important divergence from ads of the past, “the medium is no longer the message,” according to the report.

Borrell asserts that “mobile is not a channel — it’s a [series of] platforms,” allowing real-time engagement with consumers. Within mobile usage lie options for email and paid search advertising. Both of these highly popular functions provide a fertile environment for mobile advertising. But advertisers are also examining text / SMS, downloaded apps (a key opportunity) and in-game environments. And not all these channels will grow at the same rate.

In an important divergence from ads of the past, “the medium is no longer the message,” according to the report. With content and channel decoupled, advertisers need to consider that communication can be delivered in a number of ways at a number of different moments in a consumer’s day, and need to plan their messaging accordingly. Even the way the industry measures and tracks marketing success will need to change, since we are going beyond eyeballs and “impressions” to assessing the distinct action a consumer takes (or doesn’t take).

The research firm notes that local radio companies have largely missed the boat when it comes to online marketing opportunities, leaving the spoils to companies like Pandora and Slacker. This is a useful observation, as local radio really does seem half-hearted about its online presence; it will be interesting to watch future activity in this space.

The report includes a number of insightful charts projecting revenue and growth rates for components within mobile advertising. While national ad spending continues to rise in some channels, it drops in others, and local ad spending is projected to rise across the board.

An especially interesting point is the blurred point of difference between promotions, which have traditionally been more B2B-focused, and advertising, historically a B2C effort. Driven by coupons and discounts / deals, mobile marketing is starting to move across each category of US promotional spending.

Coupons, discounts and deals have “evolved,” Borrell says, to a balance point where they are both easy to execute and appealing to consumers. Other, more complex promotions prove to be more challenging to implement. An example: proximity marketing is enjoying press exposure right now. Borrell projects that the nascent marketing structure will hit its stride about two years from now. For the moment, promotions involving geolocation and “fencing” are too complex, data-driven and expensive for all but large national advertisers to take on.

It would seem that there is a major creative opportunity for middlemen — or traditional ad and marketing firms — to help develop effective and simple creative to push through these new channels, allowing advertisers to retain their hands-off status. Gradually, however, the creative quality will be forced to improve, based on consumers’ heightened expectations and the risk otherwise of saturation.

Borrell’s report effectively illustrates the skyrocketing growth of mobile marketing and advertising, as well as clarifying the multiple channels that fall within our current definition of “mobile.” They do remind the reader, though, that this all exists within a much larger bucket of money still being spent by national advertisers on traditional marketing and advertising efforts. Mobile marketing is an infant: tiny, but loud, and getting louder.

Via: http://streetfightmag.com/2011/08/12/borrell-report-local-marketing/

Apple Snubs The iAd & My Personal View on the Mobile Ad Market

Posted: June 7, 2011 in Developers, Digital Display Advertising, Digital Marketing, Digital Trends, Display advertising, E-Commerce, Industry News, Information communications technology, M-Commerce, Media & Entertainment, Mobile Ad Networks, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Conference, Mobile Developers, Mobile Handsets, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Mobile Platforms, Mobile Technology, Retail, Smartphones, Technology, Telecommunications, Wireless Technologies
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My Comments on the below:

It is very interesting that Apple have not mentioned iAD at the World Developer conference day in San Francisco yesterday as highlighted by Dan Frommer of Business Insider.  Especially, as they were so keen to raise the bar in the mobile ad industry when they announced its release last year. That said the mobile ad industry is moving at such a fast rate and I no doubt Apple are fine tuning their product from the learnings they would have taken to-date.

We are seeing first hand the mobile ad-market exploding into the desk of most Marketers & Media Planners and Buyers. This is a subject that has to be on the list rather than off the list.  There are dynamic shifts across regions in the type of advertisement whether it is brands, content companies or media owners all wanting to capitalise on the opportunity.

Mobile content companies that where present in the early stages are finding it hard to convert in the matured markets such as US and Western Europe.  I believe this is due to user desirability and general maturity of the market.  The old content subscription services are not so sought in markets with strong smartphone penetration.  As the mobile web and apps that are enabled by smartphones offer content that is ‘King’.  Whereas, in emerging markets like LATAM, ASIA, Indonesia with heavy feature phone penetration content is scarce and usability limited. Hence, the desire is still high for content companies to service this void.

Western society is dominated by the big Fortune 100 advertisers whether it is premium advertising with super sexy rich media and the explosion of HTML5 or more simple direct response campaigns pushing for an acquisition/sale of some sort.

We are starting to see the big brands shift some ad-spend into the emerging markets from certain sectors such as, Travel, Finance, Technology, Health and Automotive but this is still a small portion of the total ad spend in those markets that are dominated by content companies.  The end user is still considered as someone with limited or no disposable income unlike its more matured Western Societies. This is changing thanks to technology and many other factors and presents a huge opportunity for M-Commerce as this will in many emerging markets leapfrog e-commerce.

This is when everything changes…

When we consider there are 3 billion people in the world that are not even connected to online and that these 3 billion people in the next five years will become connected via cheaper and still sophisticated smartphones it presents a world of opportunity and excitement.  This is why I work in the most exciting and fastest growing industry of all time.

Posted By ] Dan Frommer

Remember Apple’s iAd? Apple might not, either.

A year after being shown off as a “tentpole” feature of iPhone software, Apple’s mobile advertising business didn’t earn a single mention today, as execs previewed a new version of iOS at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs even took the opportunity to trash ads.

While discussing Apple’s free, new iCloud email service, he took an apparent jab at Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and the others, which stuff ads in their free email services.

“No ads,” he boasted. ”We build products that we want for ourselves, too, and we just don’t want ads.”

That’s obviously not the same thing as if Jobs were to say “we don’t like iAds” or “iAds stink.”

But it seems to underscore the awkwardness of Apple — a product-focused hardware and software company — trying to become an advertising company. (Much more about that here.)

Maybe there just weren’t any new iAd features to show off today. Apple certainly had a lot of more interesting new stuff to show off. But there wasn’t even a “hey, look how many ads we’re delivering every day” or “wow, we have all these amazing advertisers!” message. Or anything.

Via: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-snubs-the-iad-2011-6#ixzz1OZxRyZFl

Half of smartphone owners now shop online via a mobile device

Posted: May 23, 2011 in Digital Marketing, Digital Trends, E-Commerce, Industry News, Information communications technology, M-Commerce, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Multichannel Marketing, Online
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Posted By ] Paul Skeldon

Half of smartphone owners have now completed some sort of purchase on their mobile, increasing by 20% over just nine months, with 11% of smartphone shoppers now using the device to make a purchase on a weekly basis, according to research by eDigitalResearch and Portaltech.

The study also finds that smartphone owners are increasingly using their phones to shop, browse and research for products via their phones. More than a quarter (28%) now use their smartphone to find product information on a regular basis and remains one of the most popular shopping activities to complete on a phone.

The study looked at the increasing role of mobile in retail commerce and surveyed both smartphone and non-smartphone users. The results clearly show the continuing shift in consumer behaviour as more and more shoppers are adapting to new technologies, browsing, shopping and interacting with brands on the move.

Chris Russell, Director at eDigitalResearch, tells us: “This second study reinforces what our previous results have shown; that the dramatic increase in Smartphone use is fundamentally affecting consumer behaviour. We are entering into an age of MEcommerce; a shopping revolution where the consumer now has the power to dictate to retailers where, when and how they want to shop and interact”.

The results clearly indicate the growing trend that smartphones are being used more and more as an essential lifestyle accessory, with almost a 15% rise in the number of consumers interacting with mobile applications on a daily basis.

The results also show that consumers expectations of mobile websites have dramatically increased since the first research results last year; 31% of users now say that quick browsing should be an essential feature of mobile websites, compared with just 20% who said the same last June. Other significant factors that people see as essential include security, fast loading images, zoom functions and a professional looking site, reaffirming that consumers expect to find the same coherent retail message across channels.

Smartphone users who said that they never shopped online reduced from 70% last June to 49%, echoing the overall trend of growing consumer acceptance of m-commerce. Similarly, smartphone owners who said that they expected to browse and purchase more on their phones in the next 12 months more than doubled from 20% to 46% and firmly establishes the importance for retailers to continue to develop and invest in mobile.

Rachel Wilkinson, Head of Brand and Retail at Portaltech, explains: “I hope this research reassures reluctant retailers that mobile is not a flash in the pan, but a rapidly increasing channel that should be integrated into wider marketing, social and commercial strategies. Mobile is unique in that it is the most portable and accessible channel to a consumer – you are literally in the palm of your customer’s hands and this level of accessibility 24/7 allows retailers to deliver messaging, marketing or unique experiences in a totally different way from any other channel.”

Andrew Walker, CEO or Portaltech adds: “In the last year, mobile has gathered pace with retailers reporting traffic of between two and 12% via the mobile channel and Morgan & Stanley predict that by 2014, sales via a mobile device will overtake sales from a PC. The trends in multi channel and convergence within retail, are reinforcing the importance of a single integrated platform that can manage and support all the channels, including mobile.”

Via: http://www.internetretailing.net/2011/05/half-of-smartphone-owners-now-shop-online-via-a-mobile-device/

Shoes.com: 85pc of purchases come from mobile Web, not apps

Posted: May 11, 2011 in Digital Marketing, Digital Trends, E-Commerce, Industry News, Information communications technology, Internet, M-Commerce, Media & Entertainment, Mobile Applications, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Mobile Platforms, Mobile Search, Mobile Technology, Multichannel Marketing, Online, Publishing, Publishing Industry, Retail, Search, Smartphones, Strategy and Planning, Technology, Telecommunications
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My Comments on the below:

I am a bit late finding this article but there you go.  I find the stats really interesting.  Despite the fact they offer shoes for all, I am guessing here that their main user base is made up of Women.  I can instantly relate to their experience.  If I look at my partner who since purchasing her an android phone (6 months ago), who by the way is a kind of techno-phoebe, has moved from a 0 to a 10 user of the mobile internet (0 being not at all and 10 being everyday more than once).  However, despite this amazing change of her use of phones not once has she been bothered by apps.  This is not because she is not aware or has not tried them but she is used to searching for content when she wants.  She finds it easy.  She already knows which sites she has interest in and what sites she would buy clothes/shoes and whatever other flavour.  It is interesting as her peers also share the same thought process, yet their male counterparts and very engrossed into both mobile internet & apps.  In fact the more I think about it especially apps that help them not have to think for themselves or games of course!  Anyhow, before I digress, this supports the experience shoes.com has described.  As women, being the main demographic (again this is an assumption) of shoes.com, they are comfortable and familiar with SEARCH (and aren’t we all, no matter our gender) hence making more purchases via the mobile site than apps.  Therefore, as long as the e-commerce site is mobile optimised and the URL re-directs are in place then their customers will happily discover and purchase via the mobile internet site (as we in the industry call m-commerce, a transaction made via the mobile device).

In the early adoption days of mobile internet we saw that many publisher, media owners and e-commerce sites were receiving anywhere up to 5% of their users online coming from a mobile device.  Whilst with one hand this was positive news, with the other it was bad. As the sites that were not optimised for mobile you can start to work out the potential loss of revenues and/or damage to the brand/media owner by delivering a poor user experience and/or no real payment flow.  Traditional publishers and media owners quickly woke up when they saw these stats.  However, the retail industry was very slow to react.  It wasn’t until Steve Jobs created the iPhone and apps that they retail sector started to take the space semi-seriously.  It is great to see now how retailers or e-commerce sites are starting to understand and experience this space better and as the article suggests ‘not just jumping on the app-bandwagon’.

Posted By ] Rimma Kats

Shoes.com's mobile site

SAN FRANCISCO – A Brown Shoes Co. exec at the Mobile Shopping Summit said that 85 percent of mobile purchases come from the shoes.com mobile site and not its applications, proving that retailers should focus on having a Web presence before jumping on the app bandwagon.

Panelists during the “Mobile Roadmap Part I: Key Evaluation Criteria For Developing Your Initial Mobile Platform – The Keys To Mobile Merchandizing” session discussed the challenges and success their companies face with mobile. The panel was moderated by Marci Troutman, CEO of Sitminis, Atlanta.

“We had a strong ecommerce platform,” said Pete Hogan, vice president of ecommerce at Brown Shoe Co., St. Louis. “We were seeing a lot of agencies contact us about mobile and there were few players in the game two years ago.

“Eighty-five percent of our mobile sales come from the mobile Web and not apps,” he said.

Future of mobile
According to Mr. Hogan, the company’s long-term mobile strategy will involve the use of HTML5 to provide a richer experience to consumers on their mobile devices.

For companies that are looking to develop mobile sites or apps, it is important to keep the consumer in mind and try to make the overall mobile commerce experience as seamless as possible.

“Think about your business and how many times people touch your business,” Mr. Hogan said. “If you’re Starbucks then it’s daily, if you’re McDonalds it’s weekly.

“If our customer is a registered customer, we wanted to make sure we auto filled their shipping information,” he said. “That’s where you help them save time.”

A majority of consumers who download applications to their mobile devices do not use most of them.

A mobile site is an ideal tool to capture that consumer at the point-of-sale, per the panelists.

However, companies wanting to enter the application space should make sure that their apps provide a different experience than the mobile site. A lot of the time, mobile apps are geared towards loyalists, pushing deals and alerts to them daily.

There needs to be an incentive for consumers to click on that app icon when they want to shop instead of going to the company’s mobile site.

The mobile site, on the other hand, is an access point for existing and potential customers and should be treated with that in mind.

Brown Shoe first developed a mobile site and then an iPhone application.

Currently, the company has three iPhone applications, three mobile-optimized sites and three Android apps.

According to Mr. Hogan, the company’s mobile site mimics its ecommerce site and now features personalized recommendations and ratings.

“We tried to add most of the bells and whistles,” Mr. Hogan said. “However, there are still a few missing things.

“Tracking is also important – we can see when customers are coming to our mobile properties,” he said. “The ROI is trackable.”

Mobile extension
Dale Monson, senior vice president of operations at The Sportsman’s Guide, said that the company is currently working on a second version of its mobile site.

Although the company has a mobile presence, Mr. Monson said that it has not invested in marketing efforts to promote its applications.

“When we launched our iPhone app, we wanted to make sure we were in the market,” Mr. Monson said. “The main challenge we had was a lot of items on our Web site and it’s difficult to push that into the mobile and have consumers shop easily.

“However, we have not had a good marketing program yet to push the downloads,” he said. “We have not invested in marketing efforts for our apps.”

Via: http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/2011/04/28/shoes-com-85pc-of-purchases-come-from-mobile-web-not-apps

Rimma Kats is staff reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily and Mobile Marketer. Reach her at rimma@mobilemarketer.com.

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