No matter where you live – US, Denmark, Romania or China, you’ll hear words like ‘recession’, ‘global crisis’ and ‘decline’ several times each day. And although most of the industries have felt the harsh bite of the economy winding down, there are some good news, especially for those involved in mobile and web services.
According to a new report released by Magna last week, the market for mobile advertising will grow by 36%, rising from $169 million in 2008 to $229 million during 2009. The numbers represent US market only, but judging by several key factors, such as the extend of recession in the US compared to Europe, and the user’s habits (Europeans tend to use text/SMS and advanced mobile services more than customers in the US), we definitely have something to look forward to.
Mobile Advertising Revenue
Unlike most of the conventional media, like TV and print, revenue from mobile advertising continues to grow on yearly bases, and is expected to reach more than $400 million by 2011. There are several factors that contribute to this.
The advertising budget of most companies is getting tight, so marketing exec’s are forced to look for cost-effective alternatives for traditional (TV, radio, print) media. At the same time, the user base, or the number of mobile subscribers is constantly expanding – some of markets that have, until recently been thought of as technologically under-developed now have mobile penetration rates of well above 100%. But the main driving force behind the growth is the evolving technology – sales of smartphones are increasing steadily (smartphones now account for more than one third of all mobile phones in some markets), witch allows service providers and advertisers to offer advanced services and engage their audiences in new ways. Of course, the sophistication of the devices influences the user’s habits, witch means that they are getting more accustomed to using their phones in new and different ways.
What does this means for you? Well, to sum it up – m-business is pretty much unaffected by the recession. Since the marketing budgets of most advertisers are getting tight, some of the money until recently spent on often cost ineffective ‘conventional’ media is getting invested in previously overlooked means of getting the message through. At the same time, user base is constantly expanding, and there are ever more ways to precisely target your audience.
So, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t start, or continue to evolve your own SMS-services – You certanly can’t use the ‘recession’ as an excuse any more. 
[...] Have we not heard enough about economic crises? Global recession has been a terrifying fact ingrained in our minds. However, the Chinese word for crisis (危機) is composed of two ideograms — the first ideogram (危) means danger while the second ideogram (機) represents opportunity. The economic crisis indeed presents itself as a danger, and yet the opportunities embedded in this concept can be seen in our ever-growing SMS industry. As the Chinese saying goes — a crisis is also a turning point — our colleague Alex has proven to us with a great example about mobile advertising revenue . [...]
[...] Six days ago the old year 2009 went away and its throne was taken by the new 2010. It is a year that will be full of expectations and hope. And while some are still waiting for the end of the ravaging economic crisis others already know that mobile revenue continues to grow, despite the recession. [...]