By Paul Childs

Daily online traffic levels are known to follow a typical pattern with activity peaking at lunchtime before beginning to tail off during the afternoon. Mobile activity, perhaps unsurprisingly, follows a very different pattern, but it’s one that advertisers are yet to take full advantage of.

We have identified, through our reporting of real-time clicks within the Adfonic mobile advertising marketplace, that many advertisers are missing out on a growing mobile audience during the evening at a time when online audience numbers are falling. Detailed hourly click patterns reveal that mobile traffic starts to build from around 6.00pm and continues to rise throughout the evening, before peaking at midnight.

This growth in ‘sofa’ and ‘bed’ surfing among iPhone, iPad and other smartphone traffic is increasing as users switch from TV watching to mobile browsing in the commercial breaks or between programmes. Many seem to prefer their smartphone - to engage with social media or to download apps for example - to a good book when they go to bed.

Our statistics also identify the early morning as a potential hotspot for mobile advertisers, with an increasing number of people waking up and reaching for their smartphones or using them while commuting.

Importantly, both of these peaks in smartphone traffic coincide with periods that are traditionally seen as dead times for online advertising. There is a clear opportunity for advertisers to reach incremental audiences through mobile and these insights show that if brands are to get the most out of their digital advertising, they need to integrate mobile with their online campaigns as the two channels have great capacity to complement each other.

Most brands, advertising agencies and content owners haven’t started to exploit this opportunity and are yet to tap into the full advertising potential of mobile. As people switch off from TV advertising and spend less of the evening in front of a PC, the smartphone and tablet devices like the iPad are becoming the mediums of choice for spontaneous internet access. They also open up exciting new opportunities to cross-link TV and online campaigns with mobile devices and content and the possibility to engage more effectively with consumers through richer mobile ad units.

One thing is absolutely clear, smartphone and tablet devices are changing the habits of the digital audience. Immediate and constant online access, along with new ways to interact with and entertain consumers over and above what is possible through other mediums, enable brands to reach out and engage with new audiences. It is a huge opportunity, and one they can’t afford to miss out on.

About the author

Paul Childs is Chief Marketing Officer at Adfonic. Paul is the marketing and product whiz. He thinks up new tools, experiences and the longer term strategic roadmap and direction. Paul also looks after the marketing, online and social media aspects of Adfonic. Prior to this, Paul worked in various senior marketing roles for mobile operators and online start-ups. Since 2005, Paul has become an expert in mobile search, mobile advertising and enabling web browsing on mobile devices.

About Adfonic

Adfonic is one of the fastest growing global mobile advertising marketplace serving ads across 190 countries through a 2,000 strong publisher base. Launched in July 2009 by three mobile industry veterans, Victor Malachard, Paul Childs and Wes Biggs, Adfonic is headquartered in London with operations in France and the USA. Adfonic enables advertisers to bid for display advertising space on mobile sites and applications and publishers to maximise the earning potential of their mobile traffic. To learn more, visit http://adfonic.com or blog at http://blog.adfonic.com.