NEW THOUGHTS ON MOBILE MARKETING

Oppportunity

Is mobile marketing really on the rise?  Although there have been many articles written about the growth in mobile marketing, does it really apply to your business? ComScore published a press release that mobile internet is becoming more of a part in our daily lives.  The LA Times commented on the press release mentioning that advertisers should pay attention to this trend.  Should we keep an eye on this… yes.  Should we invest in it?  My opinion is that if you want to be an early adopter and can do some testing while its cheap, now may be the time to get in before everyone else does it.

Mobile search

My thoughts on this is that search volume isn’t quite here yet to invest a lot of resources into mobile search.  An interesting fact I learned at SMX Advanced from attending a session on mobile marketing was that it is good for small business advertising in local search, especially for pizza delivery. Search behavior on a mobile device differs by that consumers only search by a few keywords and not long tail words.  Using mobile internet to search for product reviews while shopping in a brick and mortar store can be useful, but how effective are search ads in mobile?  Your website may not be optimized for the best user experience in a mobile device and it may be difficult to track performance of the ppc ads.

ROI and tracking

How easy it is to quantify ROI? One could track click to call to see how many calls came in from a mobile ad which resulted into a sale, mobile coupons can be tracked, mobile would be good for extending the reach and frequency of your traditional advertising (i.e. put a “keyword” in a print ad or TV campaign to text to a special number to opt into receiving messages, updates, or promotions from an advertiser.), text message marketing to blast messages like email (but this may be difficult to segment and target), use mobile for brand engagement in fun and interactive games on widgets which could be leveraged into data collection of a customers email address, name, phone number, etc.). These are just a few of the many examples of how mobile could be leveraged. The birth of the iPhone, G1, and smart phones present many opportunities for this new area to reach customers right before the point of sale.

A mobile phone is a personal device. Why would someone want to opt into receiving messages which could be perceived as annoying and intruding?  Don’t consumers already have enough to deal with from telemarketers, direct junk mail, and spam email?  Why would one want to opt into receiving messages to be interrupted to learn about a company’s product, event, or news? As a consumer, I would hope to receive one hell of an awesome offer that is of value in exchange for interrupting me.  Again, these views are my opinion based on living in North America, but other cultures may have different opinions on how they want to be communicated to on their cell phone.

International considerations

What about other opportunities in BRIC countries? Many onsumers in BRIC countries have more mobile devices than they do computers.  The size and population of China has obvious market potential.  Internet can be expensive in other areas around the world and the best way to reach people is through their phone since it may be more affordable.

Mcommerce

Ecommerce is still growing industry, but what about mcommerce?  How comfortable would consumers feel purchasing from their mobile device?  How well developed are mobi sites?  How can you make mobi sites scalable?  How would sales be tracked on a mobi website?

Its obvious that there is huge opportunity to connect with people on their personal device.  How do you plan to leverage mobile marketing for your business?