Simply put, the method.
The method that works and will prove to be the vehicle that drives the vast majority of mobile advertising revenue is mobile local search. Specifically, in retail advertising, the method is known as mobile local product search.
Consumers have taught the Internet marketing community a very valuable lesson. When consumers use a search engine to find products and information for purchasing, and they are provided with relevant responses on goods and services, they do not consider it advertising--they consider it useful.
These same consumers have started to adopt mobile search applications, such as Slifter, to provide some of those same benefits. Slifter is a mobile local product search tool that allows consumers to find more than 85 million products at nearly 30,000 retail locations, such as Best Buy, Circuit City, Toys R Us, and many others. By arming consumers with product information like images, descriptions, and pricing as well as store information like the address, phone number, and even a street map, it becomes an extremely useful tool in helping consumers shop.
At the same time, it gives advertisers a way to connect with consumers via the mobile channel, while retaining the reporting and tracking that they have grown accustomed to online. Crucially, unlike other methods which are push oriented, a mobile search application is not spam. Rather, it is a tool that provides consumers with accurate information in response to a search they initiated. It's a way for shoppers to save time and get the information they are seeking in the context of their own shopping needs. Ultimately, the most successful form of mobile advertising is one that the consumer is willing to adopt because it improves the consumer's overall shopping experience. Consumers adopt it because it is relevant, useful, and improves their lives.
Retailers and brand marketers understand that the Holy Grail in mobile advertising is getting your product and store information to a consumer when and where they are looking for it. Smart, effective, location-based mobile search applications, like Slifter, are ultimately the best way to do it.
