Keys to Creating an Effective Mobile Advertising Campaign
Mobile phone marketing, otherwise known as SMS marketing, is the modern evolution of direct promotion. Direct promotion has always been supported by businesses as a specialized and focused method of reaching new consumers and, with the rise of cell phones, SMS marketing has increased in popularity. SMS marketing is perhaps best defined as the practice of marketing products and services using digital distribution channels to reach customers in a quick, focused, personal and cost-effective manner.
The most popular example of mobile marketing is SMS marketing, which has expanded rapidly in Europe and Asia. It is thought that several hundred million promotional messages are sent through SMS every month in Europe alone. SMS stands for ’short message service’ and is a communication form specific to cell phones where a short message can be quickly sent to any mobile phone user. As well as sending material to customers, advertisers can often encourage customers to participate in promotional and brand exposure campaigns by encouraging customers to SMS a particular number at an event in order to enter a competition, to receive a gift or to have their text displayed on a multimedia wall at an event. All of these methods engages the customer through the medium of SMS and creates brand awareness.
There are a range of other types of mobile marketing. One variation is sending texts via MMS, which is a multimedia version of SMS, allowing customers to receive MMS with color, pictures and video. There is also mobile web marketing, where brands advertise marketing objectives through websites accessed by cell phones. Advertisers often make innovative use of SMS marketing such as location-based services where customers are offered specific marketing and other network-related information and promotional information based on their whereabouts. With the multitude of methods and choices available to promoters, it is no wonder that a recent marketing survey found that 89% of major brands planned to advertise their products through mobile marketing by the end of 2008.
Mobile marketing is an example of what is known within the industry as “push” marketing. The idea behind push marketing is that that the business has to send (push) the information to the consumer in order for the material to be received. This is different to “pull” marketing, a passive form of promotion, where it is customers who seek out the content from sources such as websites or blogs.
There are lots of advantages to SMS marketing. Primarily, the attraction is that this form of advertising can be personalized to the subscriber. This is the gold standard in marketing as it means getting the material specifically to the group it’s focused on, rather than wasting money on an broad campaign. The specialization allowed by this mode of promotions, which results in a more cost-effective campaign, is one example why a high return on investment is possible with SMS marketing. Another advantage of SMS marketing is the detailed tracking and reporting of users it allows. Through this medium, companies can track how many subscribers received their material and also access specific data about each consumer such as their name, their age, their demographic and where they’re located. This allows a marketer to raise profiles of their subscribers; data which then guides future promotional campaigns and, ideally, their success.
It is noted in the industry that push marketing, of which SMS marketing is a form, can help drive new cash flows and brand reinforcement if it is used correctly and sensitively. This is because it makes users aware of recent events that they may not think to enquire about already and the way a message is phrased, and even the fact that the material is being delivered by a innovative, hip medium such as SMS, can say a great deal about a brand and a business.
There are, however, some negatives to SMS marketing. Inherently, it requires a mechanism - the mobile phone - in order to send information. The company, as well, has to make use of specific equipment and applications in order to deliver the message to consumers, which can involve sizeable outgoings. Another negative is the fact that SMS marketing is heavily regulated by the telecommunications industry in response to customer disquiet about what data and marketing they get shown. Most Western nations have laws in place that compel businesses to receive the approval of consumers before promotional information is received by them and must clearly give them with an ‘opt out’ option if they want to stop receiving content. If businesses are found to be in violation of these laws, network providers can block marketing material by businesses.
As mobile technology grows, SMS marketing will surely continue to rise in relevance.
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