As a small business owner, one of your challenges is to know how to spend your advertising dollars wisely. Sometimes flyers or coupons might fit your needs, while others might go for the big buck television advertisements or big newspaper displays. A relatively new option for reaching your audience is through the use of cell phones. The prospect of placing ads on cell phones can be appealing for some, and this avenue certainly has its fans. But for consumers, the idea of facing ads on their cell phones might not be so appealing, according to a new survey. So if you’re considering this form of advertising for your business, you might want to consider the following: A Harris Interactive survey found consumers ambivalent to the idea of ad-supported content and services on their cell phones. When asked of the different forms of cell phone advertising, from text links tied to search results to a promo ad when turning on the phone, the overwhelming majority of respondents found them "not acceptable at all." The Internet's most successful form of advertising to date, search links, was the most popular, with 33 percent finding them "somewhat" or "very" acceptable. A video clip appearing from a retail store nearby did not go over as well: 84 percent said the tactic was unacceptable. Other forms Harris asked about included text messages from companies, voice mail messages from a celebrity or spokesperson and audio ads that play while a call is connected. The Harris Interactive survey, commissioned for pay-per-call ad service Ingenio, asked 4,000 U.S. adults about their cell phone habits. Mobile is thought to be the next frontier of digital advertising, often called the "third screen" behind TV and the computer. ABI Research anticipates $3 billion will be spent on mobile ads this year, rising to $19 billion in 2011. Internet giants like Microsoft, Google and Yahoo! have entered the field, while the introduction of the iPhone has introduced limitless possibilities. Despite the excitement surrounding mobile advertising's future, few respondents have encountered it in the here and now. Just 30 percent said they had seen or heard ads on their phones. Less than half use their cell phones for more than calling. "The reality is that when people are confronted with the idea of advertising on the mobile phone in the abstract, they don't like it," said Greg Sterling, principal of Sterling Market Intelligence. "When presented with relevant advertising when they're looking for something, they're much more accepting in practice." That is probably the result of a majority of cell phone users in the U.S. using their phones solely for calling. Of those using them for more, text messaging was the most popular (39 percent) while advanced activities were few and far between. For example, just 9 percent said they check e-mail through their phone, 7 percent use a Web search engine and 15 percent play games. Many cell phone users expect to use their phones for more purposes in the near future. While just 9 percent use their phone to check e-mail, 20 percent expect to do so in the next three years. Similarly, search use goes from 7 percent to 22 percent. Sterling believes the key to making advertising acceptable in these contexts is relevance. The bar is even higher on the cell phone, he said, citing the 63 percent who said the cell phone is "very personal." "People want offers, they want advertising content in certain situations," he said. "[But] it's perceived to be more intrusive on the cell phone." | 
