Campaign deals of more than $250,000 grew 213 percent in the first quarter when compared to the year-ago period, according to new data from mobile ad network Millennial Media.

The main campaign objective for mobile advertisers was sustained in-market presence, per Millennial Media?s latest SMART report. The campaigns are meant to support the general messaging behind a brand versus a product launch or a branding effort tied to a specific news angle or seasonal initiative.

?Advertisers turned to mobile for their local advertising needs, a majority of campaigns on our network were cross-platform and advertisers used mobile as a reach vehicle to target their consumers at scale,? said Mack (Erin) McKelvey, senior vice president of marketing at Millennial Media, Baltimore, MD.

Millennial Media is the nation?s leading independent mobile ad network. The data is from the campaigns running across its network.

Adds up
Data from Millennial Media showed that not only did the number of mobile deals go up by 107 percent, but 78 percent of the campaigns on its network were across multiple devices, wireless carriers or platforms.

Also, mobile commerce campaigns from retail, entertainment and travel companies that offered consumers the chance to buy a product or service from their phone jumped 30 percent quarter over quarter. The ads pushed sales of products, tickets and travel bookings.

In a departure from previous SMART editions, Millennial Media released mobile advertisers? main campaign goals this time round.

While using mobile to sustain an in-market presence, advertisers also sought to generate leads and registrations, as well as launch or release new products.

Aside from those objectives, the mobile ad campaigns running on Millennial Media?s network aimed to build brand awareness, drive foot traffic and direct visitors to mobile destinations.

How advertisers engaged consumers post-click in the first quarter also showed a 29 percent uptick quarter over quarter in the automotive, consumer packaged goods, telecommunications and mobile social media verticals.

Vertical growth
A key finding from Millennial Media?s data was that local market targeting grew 24 percent in the first quarter compared with the year-ago period, accounting for 42 percent of all campaigns aimed at a specific audience.

These local mobile ad campaigns let advertisers customize their message to local markets ranging from a county to a DMA. Restaurants and insurers benefit from such localized deals.

In more signs that mobile is gaining rapid traction, six verticals more than doubled their revenue growth year over year, led by the retail/restaurant segment that was up 1,342 percent.

Five out of the six verticals have consistently ranked among Millennial Media?s top 10 global advertising vertical rankings. However, health-focused fitness and wellness was not in that ranking and yet grew 183 percent year over year.

?This is an indication that advertisers in new verticals are starting to invest heavily in creating a mobile presence,? Ms. McKelvey said.

?This overall growth is significant in scale and comes from an already robust level of spending,? she said.