Five Reasons for Telcos to Invest in Mobile Advertising Business

by Buana Sari Digital Marketer

According to the SkyQuest Global Telecommunication Market Report, the global telecom market was valued at USD 1700.2 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow from USD 1805.61 billion in 2022 to USD 3102.74 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2% during the forecast period of 2023-2030.

This year, the global telecom market is expected to experience strong growth, with an estimated worldwide spend of USD 1.5 trillion, representing a 2.8% increase compared to the estimated spend in 2022 (Source: Statista). Telcos are recognizing the value of investing in advertising, particularly in the mobile advertising sector, as the reliability and profitability of telecom services increase. A study on the global telecom sector suggests that in 2023, the industry will spend USD 20.3 billion on advertising, reflecting significant growth compared to the 19.5 billion spent in 2022.

Telcos have been involved in the digital advertising business for quite some time, with early mobile marketing and advertising activities predating the release of the iPhone in 2007. Over the years, telcos have progressed from basic text-messaging marketing to more sophisticated data-driven strategies. Recently, more telecom operators are making significant investments to compete more comprehensively in the mobile advertising arena.

A survey conducted by Adobe among 250 telco marketers worldwide, comprising mobile service operators, mobile virtual network operators, fixed service providers, and integrated fixed and mobile service providers, revealed that 68% of respondents have already invested in digital advertising platforms, and an additional 13% have plans to do so. However, some telcos remain hesitant to invest in the advertising business, primarily due to intense competition from innovative over-the-top (OTT) vendors who seek to disrupt traditional advertising models. These telcos are reluctant to leverage their extensive customer data through digital advertising to deliver valuable customer experiences.

Vantage Market Research forecasts that the global mobile advertising market will showcase substantial growth as a result of the growth in sales of mobile devices, mobile users, and the time spent on mobile devices. The mobile advertising market revenue is expected to reach around USD 397.2 billion in 2028. The adoption of mobile advertising by prominent telcos such as Indosat Ooredoo Hutchinson, Vodafone, Airtel, and others is driving the expansion of the mobile advertising market worldwide.

Despite the challenges posed by the competitive mobile advertising landscape, telco CXOs face the task of capitalizing on emerging trends and unlocking opportunities for revenue growth and market leadership. As leaders responsible for shaping their telcos' strategic direction, it is crucial for CXOs to explore the compelling reasons for investing in the mobile advertising business. The following article delves into five key reasons why telcos should embrace mobile advertising and maximize their potential for business success.

1. Monetizing Valuable Data Asset

Telcos possess a wealth of valuable customer data, including demographics, browsing habits, location information, and even insights into communication patterns. This data, when effectively analyzed and utilized, can unlock tremendous opportunities for monetization. By investing in mobile advertising and leveraging their data assets, telcos can offer advertisers highly targeted and impactful ad placements, thus driving revenue growth and forging strategic partnerships.

Telcos can harness the power of other digital advertising tools to maximize the value of their data assets. For instance, by integrating telcos' data assets with Google Ads, telcos can create custom audience segments, optimize ad placements, and deliver personalized advertisements across various digital channels.

Furthermore, Facebook Ads offers telcos a powerful advertising platform that combines advanced targeting options, robust analytics, and a vast user base. By leveraging telcos' data assets, such as customer demographics and interests, Facebook Ads enables telcos to reach a highly relevant audience and drive effective ad campaigns. Telcos can create custom audiences, run retargeting campaigns, and measure the performance of their advertisements, ultimately optimizing their revenue generation potential.

Moreover, telcos can also explore the possibilities of digital advertising, which automates ads in real-time. Data-driven digital advertising platforms enable telcos to leverage their data assets and participate in the dynamic digital advertising ecosystem. By connecting telcos with a multitude of advertisers and brands, digital advertising enhances efficiency, transparency, and revenue potential.

With mobile advertising tools like moLotus mobile video customer interaction platform, telcos can unlock the full monetization potential of their data assets. These tools provide telcos with the means to anonymize and aggregate customer data, ensuring privacy compliance while delivering valuable insights to advertisers. The ability to offer highly targeted ad placements based on customer behavior, preferences, and demographics empowers telcos to create compelling advertising propositions for advertisers, resulting in increased ad spend and revenue.

By investing in mobile advertising and leveraging the capabilities of platforms like moLotus, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and programmatic advertising, telcos can make strategic use of data, enhancing their revenue streams, strengthening their partnerships with brands & advertisers, and solidify their position as valuable players in the digital advertising ecosystem. Telcos possess a unique advantage with their data assets, and by harnessing them intelligently, they can unlock new avenues of revenue growth and establish themselves as key players in the evolving digital landscape.

2. Diversifying Revenue Streams

Telcos traditionally relied on revenue streams primarily generated from voice and data services. However, with the proliferation of over-the-top (OTT) services and intensifying competition, telcos must adapt and diversify their revenue streams to ensure long-term sustainability. Investing in mobile advertising presents a significant opportunity for telcos to expand their business and decrease their reliance on traditional telecom services.

moLotus, along with other leading digital advertising platforms, enables telcos to diversify their revenue streams by monetizing their advertising inventory. These platforms provide a wide range of innovative features and capabilities that empower telecom operators to boost their advertising revenue potential.

By partnering with moLotus, telcos can leverage unique capabilities of automation, transformation and digitization, enabling telcos to connect with a multitude of brands and advertisers in a more efficient and effective manner. With moLotus mobile advertising, telcos can tap into the growing ecosystem of demand and supply of advertising inventory, allowing for greater scalability and revenue generation.

Additionally, telcos can utilize moLotus's real-time reach functionality, which facilitates delivery of ads in real-time without any app or data plans. Telcos can maximize their customer lifetime value by maximizing ad visibility, conversions and responses, ensuring the highest possible return on investments, thereby increasing revenue for telcos.

Furthermore, by utilizing moLotus's ad optimization algorithms, telecom operators can improve the performance of their ad campaigns. These algorithms analyze vast amounts of data in real-time, allowing telcos to fine-tune their ad placements, target the most relevant customer segments, and optimize ad delivery for maximum impact and revenue generation.

Moreover, telcos can explore revenue diversification through native advertising, which seamlessly integrates brand messages within the user experience. Native advertising platforms, such as Taboola and Outbrain, enable telcos to monetize their digital properties by integrating sponsored content that blends harmoniously with the surrounding environment. By offering native advertising opportunities, telcos can tap into an additional revenue stream while maintaining a positive customer experience.

By embracing platforms like moLotus and other advertising solutions, telcos can diversify their revenue streams and reduce dependence on traditional telecom services. The mobile advertising tools open up new avenues for ad revenue growth and financial stability. By capitalizing on the expanding mobile advertising ecosystem, telcos can establish themselves as multifaceted players in the industry and ensure long-term business sustainability.

3. Enhancing Customer Experience

In an era of heightened customer expectations, telcos must go beyond providing basic connectivity services and focus on delivering personalized and relevant experiences to their customers. Mobile advertising serves as a powerful channel for telcos to engage with customers in a meaningful way, creating value-added interactions that enhance the overall customer experience.

Embracing innovative technologies like moLotus can considerably improve customer experience and customer satisfaction, adding to revenues and profits. With moLotus, telcos have the ability to deliver hyper-personalized and interactive mobile video messages to their customers. This platform allows telcos to send tailored offers, promotions, and updates based on individual preferences, creating a more engaging and relevant communication experience.

By utilizing moLotus, telcos can simplify the onboarding process for new customers by delivering informative and interactive videos. This ensures that customers quickly grasp the features and benefits of the telco's services, reducing confusion and boosting satisfaction. Additionally, the platform can be leveraged to provide proactive customer support through video messages, addressing common issues and providing solutions.

moLotus empowers telcos to send timely service reminders and notifications, keeping customers informed about billing cycles, plan renewals, or upcoming upgrades. This proactive approach helps customers stay on top of their service requirements, minimizing any disruptions, and fostering a sense of care and attention from the telco.

Through moLotus, telcos can create interactive experiences for their customers, offering various response options such as Call, Web Click, mgram, SMS, USSD, and more. Telcos can design loyalty programs, contests, and other engaging initiatives to encourage customer participation and reward their engagement. This not only strengthens customer loyalty but also elevates the overall brand experience.

moLotus serves as an effective channel for telecom operators to get valuable customer feedback and carry out customer surveys. Telcos can embed surveys within the mobile video messages, allowing customers to conveniently provide their opinions and insights. This valuable feedback helps telcos understand customer preferences, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to enhance their offerings and services.

In addition to moLotus, other leading mobile advertising platforms offer telcos the tools and capabilities to deliver some engaging ad experiences to their customers. For example, AdColony is a mobile advertising platform that specializes in delivering video ads. Telcos can leverage AdColony's ads to captivate their customers' attention, provide engaging storytelling experiences, and create a positive brand perception. Similarly, InMobi, another renowned mobile advertising platform, offers telcos the ability to deliver contextual and location-based advertisements to their customers. By utilizing InMobi's targeting capabilities and location intelligence, telcos can present timely ads to customers based on their real-time context and preferences. However, the level of personalization and customization is comparatively less than moLotus making advertisements less relevant and less valuable to customers.

Furthermore, telcos can leverage the power of mobile ad networks, such as Google AdMob, to extend their reach and engage with a broader audience. By partnering with ad networks, telcos gain access to a vast pool of mobile apps and websites where they can display targeted advertisements. This enables telcos to reach customers across various digital touchpoints and create seamless experiences throughout the customer journey.

By using these mobile advertising platforms, including moLotus, AdColony, InMobi, and Google AdMob, telcos can deliver personalized and relevant ad experiences to their customers. Through advanced targeting capabilities, interactive ad formats, contextual relevance, and extensive reach, telcos can ensure that advertisements align with customer preferences, needs, and behaviors. This enhances the customer experience by providing value-added content, promotions, and offers that resonate with their interests.

Moreover, by focusing on delivering high-quality and engaging advertisements, telcos can establish themselves as trusted partners in the digital ecosystem. Customers appreciate relevant and non-intrusive ad experiences, and by delivering such experiences, telcos can foster stronger relationships, build brand loyalty, and differentiate themselves in a highly competitive market.

4. Forging Strategic Partnerships

Investing in mobile advertising opens up opportunities for telcos to forge strategic partnerships with brands and advertisers, creating mutually beneficial relationships and unlocking new avenues for growth. Telcos possess unique assets, such as their extensive subscriber reach, valuable customer insights, and robust mobile infrastructure, which advertisers can leverage to enhance the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns. By collaborating with advertisers through platforms like moLotus, telcos can provide self-service interfaces, programmatic ad buying capabilities, comprehensive online campaign management and big data management tools. These collaborative efforts drive revenue growth, strengthen brand positioning, and pave the way for long-term partnerships, ensuring sustained success in the mobile advertising business.

Telcos hold a valuable position in the mobile ecosystem, with a vast subscriber base and extensive knowledge of customer behavior and preferences. By partnering with advertisers through platforms like moLotus, telcos can offer advertisers access to their subscriber network, allowing advertisers to reach a highly targeted audience and achieve optimal campaign results. Telcos can leverage their deep understanding of customer insights to help advertisers refine their targeting strategies, ensuring that advertisements are delivered to the right audience at the right time.

Moreover, telcos can provide self-service interfaces through platforms like moLotus, enabling advertisers to have direct control over their advertising campaigns. This self-service approach empowers advertisers to manage their ad placements, targeting parameters, and budget allocation, giving them flexibility and control over their advertising initiatives. By offering self-service capabilities, telcos streamline the collaboration process, reducing friction and enhancing the overall experience for advertisers.

Furthermore, telcos can provide comprehensive campaign management tools through platforms like moLotus. These tools allow advertisers to monitor campaign performance, track key metrics, and optimize their advertising strategies in real-time. By offering advanced big data analytics and reporting capabilities, telcos empower advertisers to make data-driven decisions and achieve better campaign outcomes.

By forging strategic partnerships with advertisers through platforms like moLotus, telcos create a win-win situation. Telcos can unlock additional revenue streams by monetizing their advertising inventory and offering value-added services to advertisers. Advertisers, on the other hand, gain access to a highly targeted audience, advanced targeting capabilities, and streamlined campaign management processes.

5. Driving Innovation and Future-Proofing Telcos

Another compelling reason for telcos to invest in the mobile advertising business is the opportunity to drive innovation and future-proof their operations. As the telecom landscape continues to evolve, telcos must adapt to stay ahead of the curve and meet the changing needs of customers and advertisers. By embracing mobile advertising, telcos can foster innovation within their organizations and position themselves as leaders in the digital advertising ecosystem.

Mobile advertising platforms like moLotus provide telcos with access to cutting-edge technologies, advanced analytics, and emerging advertising trends. Telcos can leverage these tools to experiment with new advertising formats and interactive video experiences, allowing them to offer unique and engaging opportunities for advertisers, resellers, and customers. By pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation in mobile advertising, telcos can differentiate themselves from competitors and attract new partnerships and business opportunities.

Furthermore, mobile advertising platforms like moLotus enables telcos to future-proof their operations by capitalizing on emerging technologies and trends. With the rise of 5G connectivity, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and advancements in data analytics, the mobile advertising landscape is constantly evolving. Telcos that invest in mobile advertising can stay at the forefront of these advancements, leveraging their infrastructure and expertise to deliver innovative advertising solutions tailored to these emerging technologies. By embracing these trends early on, telcos can position themselves as key players in the future digital ecosystem.

Moreover, investing in mobile advertising fosters a culture of innovation within telcos. By encouraging cross-functional collaboration and empowering teams to explore new ideas and strategies, telecom players can create a conducive environment for innovation and organizational growth. Mobile advertising presents a dynamic and ever-evolving landscape that requires continuous innovation to stay competitive. Telcos that invest in this area can foster a culture of creativity, adaptability, and continuous learning, positioning themselves as forward-thinking organizations that are ready to embrace future opportunities and challenges.

Conclusion

As CXOs in the telecom industry, the opportunities presented by mobile advertising are too significant to ignore. By investing in mobile advertising and embracing platforms like moLotus, telcos can harness the dominance of mobile devices, monetize their data assets, diversify revenue streams, enhance customer experiences, and forge strategic partnerships with advertisers. These compelling reasons position mobile advertising as a strategic imperative for telcos seeking to thrive and lead in an increasingly competitive landscape.

It is time for CXOs to recognize the transformative potential of mobile advertising and unlock the full power of this dynamic industry to shape the future of their telcos.