Rich Content Messaging: The phoenix rises
By : SriRam Vanchinathan
GM - Mobile Advertising
As mobile advertising continues to outpace its other counterparts in digital advertising landscape, mobile video ad, in particular, is experiencing a phenomenal growth. There are many factors that are working in its favour, like its powerful story telling capability and its potential to go viral when the content is engaging.
Eyeballs for mobile video is still too low
Today, consumers use multiple screens to consume video, and brands are recognising that mobile is likely to emerge as the most important screen of all, outpacing desktop and television in the coming days. However, in emerging markets, one of the major drawbacks of mobile video ads is that its reach is still limited due to relatively lower smartphone and mobile internet penetration. India is now second largest smartphone market, but penetration is still hovering at 15%. Again, only 20% of mobile users’ in India access internet. This leaves out a vast majority of mobile users who are either on feature phones or those who do not necessarily access mobile web and apps. Hence it is quite obvious that brands are missing a larger section of their target segments when it comes to mobile video ads.
A one-to-one channel – Rich video ads straight to consumers
For mobile video ads to truly reach its potential, this limitation of reach must be overcome. And this is possible only when brand advertisers unlock the potential of a hitherto untapped mobile channel – Rich Content Messaging (RCM), which was referred to as Multi-media Messaging Service (MMS) in its early days.
The biggest advantage of RCM is that it can deliver rich, engaging, interactive audio-visual content, straight to consumers’ phones with a compelling user experience. With majority of mobile phones in use supporting rich content messaging and RCM having a significantly higher open rates, the reach is not a challenge anymore.
When this enhanced reach is combined with the creative and visual appeal of video ads – one would clearly see the enormous potential and opportunities of this unique mobile ad channel for brands in improving consumer engagement.
Right content to right segment!
For video ads to really make sense to its audience and create an impact, advertisers need to ensure that the content is relevant and targeted to the right audience. While targeting has certainly improved in digital channels, it still isn’t very advanced. This is largely due to lack of availability of authentic data which is easily found in a telco’s ecosystem. By leveraging this data which is enriched with precise behavioural, location and demographic insights, RCM can be used to create and push relevant content to consumers.
Another aspect that brands relentlessly pursue, in a bid to increase RoI, is the measurability. Among the existing digital channels, this pursuit is met with a jolt as there is a possibility of duplication of views. This means, there is no accurate way to ascertain unique viewers of a video ad on the web or an app. For example, a single user can visit multiple sites or apps and view the same ad but each time it is counted separately, resulting in erroneous viewership calculations. With RCM this aberration is eliminated as it uniquely and directly reaches its audiences through a direct channel.
The success stories galore
Many brands are seeing success with RCM such as organised retailers, automobile brands, FMCG brands, ecommerce players and the BSFI sector. While the FMCG sector leverage the medium to reach the rural audience, the BSFI sector regularly send product offers through this channel to urban and semi-urban populace. Such targeting is possible only if advertisers have in-depth location and demographic insights. Telco data delivers it and much more. We have seen around 7% uplift in engagement for many of our clients across these verticals with this promising channel – the RCM.
Not just brand advertisers, telcos themselves can reap the benefits of RCM for their own marketing initiatives. Due to its interactive and audio-visual nature, RCM offers an ideal platform to promote premium services like polyphonic ring tones, wallpapers, screen savers and themes for mobile terminals and so on. The potential of this proposition is backed by the evidence that shows that consumers have been receptive to relevant, SMS-based marketing in the past.
Telcos can even use this channel effectively to deliver a variety of information and entertainment nuggets. They can tap RCM for dispensing micro-rewards and loyalty points in the form of videos or music.
RCM: The rising phoenix
The rich potential of RCM is only beginning to surface and as big brands and advertisers are starting to recognise its power and reach, it is only a matter of time before it becomes one of the critical tools in a marketers’ digital advertising arsenal. In future, marketers will increasingly rely on RCM to deliver interactive ads to target audiences via Application-to-Person (A2P) mobile messaging.
Multimedia messaging has risen like a phoenix in its new incarnation – RCM. If this channel is properly exploited, it has the calibre to reshape the landscape of mobile advertising by making it more personal, creative, and interactive than ever before.