Pointing to the success of mobile marketing to drive in-store traffic, close to half of all mobile ad campaigns from the retail and restaurant vertical included a store locator during the first half of 2012, according to a new study from Millennial Media.

Millennial Media?s November Smart report looks specifically at the retail and restaurant industries. In addition to using examples to show what these companies are doing in mobile, the report also examines how consumers respond to mobile advertising from restaurant and retail brands.

?Mobile presents advertisers a great opportunity to drive foot traffic into various physical locations, and brands are responding by increasingly shifting ad spend away from traditional local channels and into mobile," said Marcus Startzel, general manager of North America at Millennial Media, Baltimore.

?Of note, we saw 44 percent of all campaigns in the vertical used a store locator, which was significantly higher than our platform average, and shows how advertisers are dedicated to ensuring consumers can always find the closest location, no matter where they may be,? he said.

Driving in-store traffic
According to the report, the restaurant and retail vertical was the third largest on Millennial Media?s platform during the first and second quarters of 2012. Spend from these companies grew by an average of 11 percent each month during the first six months of the year.

Specifically, clothing retailers made up 30 percent of the campaigns used by retail and restaurant companies during the first half of 2012. Home products made up 21 percent of the campaigns on Millennial Media?s platform.

Mobile ads from restaurants can be particularly effective at driving in-store traffic, per the report. For example, the combination of restaurants and fast-food companies make up 16 percent of Millennial Media?s advertiser mix.

To drive in-store traffic, 61 percent of retail and restaurant marketers used location-based targeting during the first six months of 2012. Sixty percent of these campaigns were for restaurant brands.

When it comes to the goals that retailers and restaurants have behind their mobile campaigns, 38 percent of marketers want to drive in-store traffic. Seventeen percent aim to drive site traffic.

Sixteen percent of retailers and restaurants advertising on Millennial Media?s platform want to boost brand awareness, which is often used by jewelry brands, quick-service restaurants and apparel retailers.

Eleven percent of marketers turn to the medium for product launches. This is especially prevalent for a whopping 73 percent of computer and electronics brands.

Fifty-seven percent of online retailers used mobile to increase sales leads.

Post-click activities
The report also looked at what consumers do after clicking on an ad.

Eight percent of consumers who interacted with mobile campaigns from retailers and restaurant companies downloaded an app. Across all industries, app downloads made up 40 percent of post-click activities.

Commerce-related activities made up 36 percent of post-click activities for restaurant and retail mobile campaigns. Only eight percent of mobile campaigns across all verticals included commerce as a post-click action.

When it comes to combining mobile with social media, 30 percent of mobile campaigns from retailers and restaurants specifically made the option available in ad units. Seventeen percent of all mobile campaigns did the same.

?Branding campaigns and driving store traffic are incredibly important to brands in the retail and restaurant vertical, but there is also a great opportunity to use mobile to drive direct sales via mcommerce,? Mr. Startzel said.

?We saw 36 percent of campaigns feature a mcommerce post-click action, which was 4.5 times our platform average,? he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York