What You Need to Know About Basic Mobile Marketing

A good mobile marketer needs to understand that mobiles are personal devices and mobile marketing endeavors are primarily to achieve customer retention while creating brand awareness, rather than fulfilling core client acquisition functions. This article will briefly discuss the different mediums available to mobile marketers and the potential of each.

As of 2010, there are over 5 billion mobile users worldwide. That means, of the 7 billion people on the planet, over 70% are active mobile users. So if you haven't delved into mobile marketing yet, you've already lost a huge chunk of potential business. And if you're completely new to the mobile marketing arena, here are a few things you should know.

What is Mobile Marketing?

According to the Mobile Marketing Association, "Mobile Marketing is a set of practices that enables organizations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network".

Given the constant proximity of consumers to their mobile devices, this marketing channel is one an intensely personal one and requires a delicate, carefully planned approach. Needless to say, mobile marketing is a marketing medium that is seeing increasing use across the globe as mobile market penetration grows on an astronomical level.

Mobiles Represent More Than One Medium

When you choose to market your product via mobile there are multiple options to consider in terms of the medium through which you get your message across. Mobile phones are incredibly varied and support a range of communication functions - all of which you can utilize to get your message through to consumers. Here is a list of the mobile marketing channels that we will be touching on through the rest of this series.

Short Message Service (SMS)

SMS is still the most widely used communication system and allows you the greatest market penetration especially in developing countries where widespread use of low-end devices, that may not support internet browsing, bar code scanning, GPS and other relatively high-end features, is common.

Multimedia Message Service (MMS)

Videos and images sent via MMS have great viral marketing potential can result in some great returns, while massively boosting brand awareness. It's also a good way to introduce interactivity into your brand campaign with user-created content, since nearly every mobile device is able to create and send MMSes.

Mobile Web Marketing

The internet has long been an essential marketing tool for businesses everywhere and mobile web marketing is merely an extension. However, unlike every other facet of online marketing, successful mobile marketing on the web requires the creation of mobile-optimized webpages, which can be tricky given the limited interactive space on most handheld devices. Nonetheless, web marketing together with the extreme portability of a mobile is among the most lucrative marketing methods available, letting you connect directly with a consumer on a near continuous basis.

Fixed Area Communication Networks

Bluetooth, proximity systems and location-based marketing services can be powerful tools when campaigning within a specific geographical area. Most fixed area messaging systems have a tracking function that operates within a particular radius giving marketers the opportunity to send highly customized content to individual customers.

QR Codes

Quick response codes are the new rage in mobile marketing, despite having been around since 2000. They function as simple coded images that can be scanned to deliver a number of results. The most common QR marketing codes deliver users to a particular web address and are mostly found on in-store product labels, although they play host to a variety of alternate uses and functions as well.

Given that mobile users form a large component of the population in nearly every country, a multi-channel approach holds huge potential for your product or service. Take the time to explore the multiple opportunities inherent in each medium of mobile communication and ways in which to gain the maximum advantage through each channel.

Resources:

http://www.heronacademy.com
http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.co.uk
http://esalesdata.com
http://www.mmaglobal.com