Over the weekend,  Jumptap volunteered for the annual Jimmy Fund Fantasy Day.  The Jimmy Fund Fantasy Day has been supporting the fight against cancer every year by having a fundraiser in the legendary Fenway Park.  Fantasy Day allows volunteers to experience all the thrill and action of the baseball park while giving back and supporting the Jimmy Fund.  Since 1992, Fantasy Day has raised almost $6 million in support of cancer research and patient care at Dana Farber. Fundraising efforts continue to grow each year and Jumptap was very proud to participate in a wide range of events for the cause.

Engaging Customers

To continue with the Jumptap series on attracting brand dollars to your app, the second key area for app developers to understand is how engaging customers with your app will create the notoriety that attracts brand dollars.

There are many types of apps in the marketplace and there is a lot of data in the industry suggesting that many apps do not have a real utility for mobile consumers.  This is represented by the number of apps available in relation to the number of apps downloaded and then finally the number of apps used by consumers on a regular basis.  I have heard numbers such as 5 to 10 apps is the maximum number of apps people will use on a regular basis.  Regardless of the number, the best way to engage customers is to build an app that:

• Delivers a value to the consumer that would not be as easily achieved by any other method
• Creates excitement that provokes users to share and speak about the app
• Provides content (as well as advertising) that is relevant to the user

All 3 of these elements need to work together.  I think about some of the gaming apps that really only let me engage in one action.  The concept might have been “cool”, “new”, or “hip” at one point which led someone to refer me to this app but if there is not much more that I can do, I won’t re-use the app  - and neither will anyone else.

Content and utility in conjunction with a “hip” factor provoke referrals.  This is what brands are looking for.  It allows the app to tap into user audiences that result in targets for brand dollars… a topic for the next posting.

Have questions or need help in understanding how to improve your app’s engagement?  Post a comment!

On July 19th, the IAB’s Marla Aaron sat down with Paran Johar, CMO Jumptap to discuss Jumptap, the power of mobile, and the mobile internet.  Check out the video below.

Check out the event website: IAM Mobile Marketplace 2010

Neilsen reports that more than half of the 360M mobile subscribes will have mobile internet access by 2013, with access growing at over 15% annually.  The impact on mobile marketing will be undeniable, and highlights the importance to marketers, of embracing mobile early and with the right network.

Jumptap stands out among other ad networks because its open based, cross platform approach to mobile advertising enables marketers to easily reach 80% of mobile internet consumers.  Jumptap’s open approach allows advertisers to reach their audience regardless of platform, OS, or handset, be that iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry or feature phones. Jumptap combines its EXACT targeting with the most engaging flexible ad formats to reach the audience marketers are seeking.  As we see continued migration from PC to Mobile Internet having a platform and handset agnostic approach is critical in achieving long term scale for advertisers.

Paran Johar, CMO Jumptap

Read the full report at eMarketer

Recently we launched a campaign with an innovative way to interact with mobile consumers: wiping away frost!  The ad appears as a banner and expands to a frost covered screen.  The user swipes their finger to reveal the icy treat below, and is brought to a landing page that locates the nearest Dunkin Donuts store.  Load up your favorite Jumptap partner site or app, including Myspace, Go2, FoxNews, Weatherbug, WeatherUnderground, Verve and Showtimes to check it out.

Paran Johar, CMO Jumptap

Give ‘Em Reach

 
 
Jumptap recently spoke to app developers at the LA APP Show and the MobileBeat Conference in San Francisco. We heard from a number of developers that understanding how to successfully monetize their app continues to be a challenge. So “What do brands ultimately want from mobile? “

In our perspective, there are 4 key wants of brands:

1. Reach
2. Engaging Consumers
3. Targeting
4. Rich Media

Understanding these elements will drive decisions to make apps more attractive to brand dollars and to develop revenue streams for developers.

For today, let’s keep it simple with reach.

Reach

 
 
Brands are interested in building awareness with as many people as possible. This translates to number of unique users and page views. Specifically, brands want to know what percentage of their consumer base will be reached from an advertising campaign on mobile.

The first important metric is your user base in terms of volume. How many unique users open up the app on a monthly basis? Also, knowing how many page views your apps are driving on a monthly basis provide brands with the insight needed on how to spend their dollars.

Understanding metrics is one component but it is also critical for apps to know how to acquire users to bring the reach required by brands. One easy way to recruit users is to have apps operate across multiple platforms including iOS, Android, RIM, Windows, Palm, Symbian, etc. Multiple platforms allow you to reach more of a brand’s consumer base and make you more attractive for sponsorships.

A second tactic is promotion. Buying advertising on mobile to drive downloads is not necessarily and 1 to 1 relationship. Advertising increases your ability to rank in the app store which in-turn will drive organic downloads. Many apps find that for one paid download they acquire on average an additional 2.3 downloads. Driving more users to your apps will increase the metrics brand advertisers are looking for.

There are many programs that networks run to help apps increase awareness, downloads, and usage. Here is a link to Jumptap’s latest Passport to Freedom program.

Bringing developers together, especially iPhone developers, is always exciting.  On Tuesday several hundred developers came together at LA App Show for a day of fascinating demonstrations and discussion.  The highlight for Jumptap was our interview with host Seth Socolow about how app developers can attract brand dollars into their app.  Jumptap’s Adam Towvim has summarized his key points below.  Stay tuned in the coming days as we post a 10 part series on how to maximize your apps earnings!

Attracting Big Brand Dollars:

• Give ‘em Reach: Brands want to connect with their audience: wherever they are, across whatever platform
• Quality matters: Brands want high CTRs and highly engaging Rich Media
• Build audience knowledge: gather registration data (but don’t get in way of usability)
• Build your audience story: Who are they, but more importantly, why are they using your app? What types of offers can be placed in front of your audience that would resonate?
• Create Media Kits: Brand advertisers want to know what they are buying: unique users, monthly pageviews, screenshots of unique ad placement oppurtunities
• Pass info: Anything you can pass with the ad call, you should: Geolocation, Demographics
• Build the hooks: pre-app interstitial, banners, sponsorship skins — be creative but remember the balance between creativity and replicable ad buyer realities
• Segment by quality: Especially in large volume apps, you can segment by CTR, for example
• Side with the server: consider server-side updates for your app, wherever you can

What do you think?  Post a comment and start a discussion.

Recently we launched a click-to-video campaign to promote a movie release.  Mobile users who click on the ad will launch straight into the movie trailer.  Load up your favorite Jumptap partner site today and you might catch it!

Its been a week since we launched our $4,000,000 Passport to Freedom program, and in that time we’ve seen more than ever how essential it is to join the open, flexible Jumptap Mobile Ad Network. The battles between Google and Apple are raging. In the last several days we saw the Droid X sell out, then Google announce it had received its last shipment of Nexus Ones. Simultaneously Apple held a press conference acknowledging a defect in the iPhone 4, then days later announced the widened availability of the highly successful iPad.

That makes us prouder than ever to offer the industry’s most comprehensive array of ad solutions that run across any device—including iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android and Blackberry—all from one ad network and one single point of integration. Developers: Secure and increase your revenue today, by joining the Jumptap Mobile Ad Network and keeping 100% of revenue for the rest of 2010.  (Promotion details)

Get your Passport to Freedom today.

According to a new study by Forbes Insights, retailers are seeing a solid return on their mobile channel investments.  62% say their mobile channel returns are either exceeding (17%) or meeting expectations (45%).  Nowadays, consumers are starting to look to their phones for a shopping experience and leading retailers are trying to capitalize and take advantage of this fast moving trend.  Stuart Feil, editorial director of Forbes Insights, New York states that “The ubiquity of mobile devices is changing how retailers interact with their customers.” The study also found that 3 out of 4 retailers now have some type of mobile initiative in place and another 20% are in the process of evaluating the mobile channel.  Forbes Insights predicts that Mobile initiatives will be getting a bigger share of retailers marketing budgets in the next three to five years. They also predict that mobile application development will shift over the next year.

To read the full article click here.