In a phrase, Mobile Marketing refers to “any marketing activities done through portable devices”. Portable devices could be anything compact including mp3 players, laptops and mobile phones. Currently, most mobile marketing activities, inclusive of advertising, are delivered through mobile phones. Mobile phones is estimated to have more than 4 billion users worldwide; penetrating the market much faster than other devices.
Mobile phone marketing has a combination of 3 awesome media traits – the wide reach of broadcast TV, the precision of direct advertising and the measurability of the Internet. With such impressive traits, it is impossible for marketers to ignore this booming marketing medium.
Mobile phone marketing is primarily done through SMS, Internet ads and applications.
1. SMS
If a cell phone can’t receive SMS, it would do better in the museum. SMS is such an attractive medium for mobile advertising because it is 100% compatible to all cell phones. Like it or not, you should have by now received quite a number of SMS ads from different companies.
2. Internet Ads
According to Internet research firm, eMarketer, there are 405 million mobile internet users worldwide and this number is expected to double within 4 years. It’s also estimated that worldwide spending on mobile advertising would reach a total of $19 billion in 2012.
Mobile ads are placed through Google AdWords or Yahoo and would appear on mobile websites as either text or image ads. Mobile text ads can also appear when users search on Google and Yahoo from a mobile device. Users who click on the ad will be sent to the advertiser’s mobile webpage. Marketers also have the option to connect users to their business phones.
Our mobile devices are always with us. Accompanied by the rise of smart phones, you can bet Mobile Advertising would be all marketers’ top choice in years to come.
3. Applications
Mobile applications are currently riding the smart phones tidal wave. Akin to Facebook applications, mobile applications are used by marketers to establish brand presence. A successful application marketing involves creating a great user experience.
Yummy as always, Pizza Hut introduced a delicious iPhone order application. This application allows users to virtually customize their orders by scrolling, tapping, tilting and shaking their iPhones to choose crusts and toppings for their pizzas and sauces for their wings. I am not a fan of pizzas but this application had me ordering just to play with it!
Images courtesy ComScore
Statistic via eMarketer and ComScore
