Mobile marketing has grown significantly over the years, and it’s grown under the constraints of tiered mobile data plans. As of this week, however, tiered plans could be falling to the wayside, leaving marketers with expanded opportunities in mobile marketing.
Verizon joined its competitors this week in offering unlimited data plans to its customers, albeit at $80 for a single line. This move from Big Red marks the full resurgence of unlimited mobile data plans, the former standard for mobile data in the early days of the smartphone era.
These plans began phasing out as telecoms started to embrace tiered data several years ago. The mobile channel has expanded in the years since, and new content like augmented and virtual reality, and live streaming, have ostensibly encouraged telecoms to supply customers with more data.
Though none of the plans offer literally unlimited data (they throttle users with usage above around 20 GB), the inclusion of Verizon now means mobile users now have vastly expanded data allowance options on all major carriers. For marketers, this could lead to even more growth in mobile advertising, particularly video advertising.
It’s no secret that mobile video advertising isn’t growing at the same rate as other forms of mobile marketing. eMarketer estimates that mobile video advertising made up only 10% of marketers’ total mobile ad spend last year.
It’s obviously unlikely that marketers’ concerns about users overcapping on data from video ads is the culprit here. But, knowing that consumers can consume your pre-roll or mid-roll ads without stretching their data is surely a comfort. More data means more opportunity for marketers to experiment with new technology like virtual reality, and ramp up efforts in live streaming and 360 video.
It’ll take time to see how consumers adapt to their new unlimited data options. Afterall, many of these plans are significantly more expensive than their tiered counterparts.
