Marketers took to mobile advertising to drive adoption of their mobile applications in greater numbers in October, according to a new report from Millennial Media.

Campaigns that directed consumers to an app download page as opposed to a Web site or landing page increased 33 percent month-over-month, according to Millennial Media?s SMART report for October. Campaigns focused on app downloads also made up 29 percent of the total campaigns on the Millennial Media platform.

?As advertisers continue to dedicate resources to creating branded apps, it is critical that they also drive adoption, and the increase in app download campaigns is a reflection of this,? said Mack McKelvey, senior vice president of Millennial Media, Baltimore, MD.

That?s entertainment
Other findings from the report include that campaigns with a store locator grew 5 percent month-over-month and made up 23 percent of total campaigns. Retail advertisers in particular used this to help drive store traffic. Additionally, sustained in-market presence remained the top campaign goal of campaigns, representing 37 percent of all campaigns in October.

The October report took a deep dive on the entertainment industry and found that 50 percent of these campaigns gave consumers the opportunity to watch a video, more than double the average for all verticals.

?One thing in particular entertainment advertisers have done really well is to figure out unique ways to make mobile work for their industry, and this can be seen through their use of mobile video,? Ms. McKelvey said. ?Over 50 percent of all entertainment campaigns had a ?Watch Video? post-click option, which was more than double the overall mobile average.?

Entertainment campaigns also included mcommerce as an option at a higher rate than the overall average, with 23 percent of entertainment campaigns including mcommerce as an option in October. This was more than double the overall average.

The mcommerce option was used to allow consumers to purchase movie tickets and DVDs directly from their devices.

?Any advertiser that wants to promote a product launch via mobile, could certainly learn from the entertainment vertical.  Their use of numerous types of targeting and engagement, pre and post-click, could be utilized for retailers, banks, travel and sports advertisers, just to name a few.?

Promoting a product launch or release was the top goal for entertainment advertisers, making up 50 percent of all campaigns. Advertisers most frequently promoted releases of new movies, TV shows and DVDs.

Motion picture releases were the top subcategory in the entertainment vertical in October, making up 42 percent of all campaigns. Television and DVD releases came in second and third.

?The entertainment industry has embraced mobile from the beginning, and has consistently been one of the top 10 verticals advertising on our platform since we started reporting the top mobile ad verticals in the second quarter of 2009.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York