ChaCha, the human-powered mobile answering service, today launched an MMS-based mobile advertising platform to connect brands with its user base of over 15 million+ “information seekers.”
Answering over two million questions per day, ChaCha has grown rapidly in its short existence and has yet to pull the trigger on a full-fledge monetization effort, until now. The new MMS service will allow brands to reach ChaCha’s user base with rich media advertisements delivered via text. MMS was chosen for its broad media capabilities and its immense reach — available on nearly any cell phone regardless of whether it’s a smartphone.
ChaCha has already proven its users are ripe for consumer engagement. In 2010 alone, 73 percent of ChaCha’s mobile advertising campaigns resulted from renewals because engagement and response rates were considerably higher than other networks. With its new MMW service, ChaCha allows brands to leverage the technology in a variety of ways, including deploying existing rich media content such as sports highlights, video ads, movie trailers, interview clips, music videos, logos, photos, contests and more. Brands can even provide users with a text response code within a text message that launches video when consumers respond.
“This is a big deal for both our advertisers and users,” says Scott Jones, ChaCha’s CEO. “Many marketers view sight, sound and motion as major enhancements to their brand’s message, and we are now in the ideal position to support these objectives in mobile channels. Smartphones have whetted the consumer’s appetite for mobile, rich-media content. MMS allows media to finally reach virtually all mobile phones in a way that advertisers can have their messages seen and heard. Our users will benefit regardless of their phone type.”