Lately we’ve had mobile on our minds. Utilizing this trend (that’s here to stay) offers big opportunities for the fresh produce industry to reach consumers. According to Marketing Land, in today’s society consumers spend nearly 60% of their time on the Internet on their mobile devices, as compared to other devices. This opens the door for reaching consumers in a fashion you might not have considered yet – mobile advertising.

Mobile advertising allows fresh produce brands the access to communicate information about of products or services directly to consumers via mobile devices and smartphones. The spectrum for this type of communication ranges from short message service (SMS) text to interactive advertisements. Ways you can advertise on mobile include – text ads, image ads, app promotion ads and video app promotion ads. For example, on the popular music app Pandora you see a mix of these mobile advertising features where brands are utilizing the app to reach consumers.

In 2014, the United States mobile search ad spending reached $8.72 billion. In 2015, this figure will grow to a little over 50% ($16 billion) according to eMarketer. It’s not planned to stop the growth either –with an expected $25.69 billion of US search spend going to mobile in 2018. If you’re anything like us you are probably wondering what marketers are getting from mobile advertising to justify such an increase in ad spending? Let’s talk about the benefits:

1. Geo-targeting: the majority of mobile ad networks allow geo-targeting so you can run very specific campaigns to reach consumers.
2. Accessibility: Since consumers carry their mobile devices with them throughout the day this means you can reach potential customers wherever they are instead of having to wait until they log on to the internet with a computer, turn on the radio, or watch television.
3. Easy to Create: Mobile ads are much smaller than what you would typically run in print which means creating one does not involve as much. It allows you to say more with less!
4. Relationship Building: Users of mobile are used to using their phones for personal messages and conversations. Advertisers should follow suite and customize mobile advertising messages to the expectations of mobile users.
5. Reach: Mobile advertising works perfect for “on the go” consumers like we see purchasing fresh produce. Through mobile advertising you can increase your visibility for consumers who fall in this category.
6. Cost: You can reach more audiences than less. The fact is mobile advertising costs a fraction of what television and radio ads cost. You can afford to test messages and try different platforms until you find what works best for reaching your specific consumers.

If you’re in need of help with mobile advertising design and development for an upcoming campaign, DMA Solutions is offering a discount on this and other marketing services through January 31. Click here to learn how you can take advantage of this offer!