COMMENT: B2B mobile advertising - is it a reality?

Published:
12-03-2008

Simon Norris By Simon Norris, director and founder, Periscopix
Business social network LinkedIn's launch of its mobile service suggests that other B2B brands will follow its lead. It also prompts an interesting discussion as to whether mobile advertising will take off in this sector.
Mobiles clearly have the potential to help business people network, for example facilitating face-to-face networking and sales. The ability to beam a business card via Bluetooth and direct potentially interesting new contacts immediately to your website cannot be underestimated. Therefore the attraction of a mobile platform for organisations such as LinkedIn is clear, so expect to see other business networking organisations, such as conference organisers, follow suit.
But before B2B brands start lining up to promote their services via mobile advertising, it is important to be realistic about the potential of these new platforms. Business people need mobile web access when they are travelling and when there is no WiFi available. But WiFi is now fairly ubiquitous throughout airports, trains, conferences venues and hotels, so it is more likely that this audience will work via laptops, rather than mobiles.
In addition, the tiny amount of mobile search advertising that currently exists is concentrated around a small number of consumer offerings, such as ringtones and games for mobiles. There are some areas where it will grow, such as location-based offerings and anything reflecting a degree of urgent need. However, with useful services likely to centre around finding local restaurants, shops and car parks, the predominant focus will again be on consumer markets. The potential for B2B to fit this criteria is very limited.
Display advertising, i.e. where advertisements are shown to people without being associated with a search, are likely to make bigger inroads into mobile. But again, it seems inevitable that this will be dominated by consumer brands for the foreseeable future.
In conclusion, although the technical capability to advertise via mobile must not be undermined, realistically the medium is unlikely to have huge potential for the B2B market. Instead there are other areas, such as the significance of social networking on B2B, that deserve more excitement.


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