A whopping 82 percent of shoppers use their mobile phone while in the store, echoing the immediate need for marketers to develop a mobile presence for the 2010 holiday buying season.

Millennial Media’s July SMART report showcases the power of mobile technology and trends that can be leveraged by nearly every vertical as the holiday shopping season approaches. A key takeaway of the SMART report was that advertisers should not underestimate the buying power of the male shopper this holiday season.
 
“Brands should be keen to leverage mobile couponing this holiday season to optimize sales through both mobile and traditional store channels,” said Erin McKelvey, senior vice president of marketing at Millennial Media, Baltimore, MD.

Mobile shopping insight
Each month, Millennial adds a special section into its SMART report that profiles something specific. This month, the company partnered with InsightExpress to focus on mobile shopping, since the holiday shopping season is right around the corner.

The featured section this month “Mobile Shopping Behaviors” showcases survey results from InsightExpress’ second quarter 2010 Digital Consumer Portrait. 

The survey found that nearly 20 percent of smartphone owners made a special trip to the store after receiving a mobile coupon.

“[This proves] that mobile is not just another customer communications channel, it is rapidly evolving into an effective commerce channel on its own as well as a great tool to drive additional brick-and-mortar sales,” Ms. McKelvey said.  

The study also found that males over index for coupon usage in the electronics, clothing store, department stores and service categories.

Engagement
Rich media was on the rise in July. More than 13 percent of advertisers incorporated rich media elements in their campaigns.

The number of campaigns that used “Expand Rich Media” also grew in July and represented 23 percent of the destinations on Millennial’s network.

“This growth indicates to us that advertisers continue to find success by offering mobile users a deeper, more engaging experience,” Ms. McKelvey said.

The increase was due to advertising verticals such as CPG, travel, retail and restaurants incorporating rich media elements in their summer campaigns to attract highly engaged mobile users.

Advertisers in the telecom, automotive, retail and restaurants verticals leveraged the store locator and view map post-click action to drive foot traffic to their bricks-and-mortar locations. 

Targeting
The trend of advertisers using targeted-audience campaign methods continued in July with 43 percent of campaigns on Millennial’s network leveraging this method, representing a 2 percent increase month-over-month.

Behavioral targeting accounted for 17 percent of the targeted audience mix in July and experienced a 5 percent increase month-over-month. 

“Brands in the Travel vertical created targeted audiences of vacationers and Telecom advertisers developed custom audiences designed to reach consumers ready to switch service providers,” Ms. McKelvey said.

Final take
Giselle Tsirulnik is senior editor of Mobile Commerce Daily