Mobile phone marketing, otherwise known as digital marketing, is the newest evolution of direct promotion. Direct promotion has always been supported by businesses as a personalized and focused way of reaching potential consumers and, with the popularity of cell phones, digital marketing has risen in popularity. Mobile marketing is perhaps best defined as the practice of promoting products and services using digital distribution channels to reach customers in a timely, appropriate, personalized and economic manner.
The most common form of digital marketing is SMS marketing, which has expanded very quickly in Europe and Asia. It is thought that several hundred million marketing messages are sent via 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 easily sent to any cell owner. As well as sending information to customers, marketers can often encourage customers to participate in marketing and brand exposure promotions by encouraging customers to text a specific number at an event in order to enter a competition, to receive a prize or to have their message displayed on a multimedia wall at an event. All of these methods involves the consumer through the medium of SMS and creates brand awareness.
There are a range of other forms of digital marketing. One variation is sending texts via MMS, which is a multimedia version of SMS, allowing customers to receive texts with color, pictures and video. There is also mobile web marketing, where companies advertise marketing aims through websites accessed by cell phones. Promoters often make innovative use of digital marketing such as location-based services where customers are offered tailored marketing and other network-related information and marketing material based on their whereabouts. With the range of methods and options available to companies, it is unsurprising that a recent marketing survey found that 89% of major brands planned to promote their products through digital 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 marketer has to send (push) the information to the consumer in order for the material to be received. This is different to “pull” marketing, a more unobtrusive form of promotion, where it is users who seek out the information from sources such as websites or blogs.
There are lots of advantages to digital marketing. Primarily, the attraction is that this mode of promotion can be tailored to the user. This is the gold standard in marketing as it means getting the campaign specifically to the group it’s focused on, instead of squandering money on an unfocussed campaign. The specialization allowed by this method of promotions, which results in a more economical campaign, is one example why a high return on investment is possible with digital marketing. Another advantage of digital marketing is the detailed tracking and reporting of subscribers it permits. Through this form, companies can track how many customers viewed their material and also access detailed information about each user such as their name, their age, their demographic and where they’re located. This permits a business to raise profiles of their subscribers; information which then guides future promotional campaigns and, ideally, their success.
It is noted in the industry that push marketing, of which digital marketing is a type, can help drive new cash flows and brand reinforcement if it is implemented correctly and appropriately. This is because it makes consumers aware of recent developments that they may not know to find already and the way the material is written, and even the fact that the material is being delivered by a modern, hip medium such as text, can say a great deal about a brand and a corporation.
There are, however, some negatives to digital marketing. By its very nature, it needs a mechanism - the cell - to be able to send information. The company, as well, has to make use of specialized equipment and software in order to send the content to users, which can mean sizeable outlay. Another negative is the fact that digital marketing is heavily regulated by the telecommunications industry in response to customer disquiet about what information and advertising they get exposed to. Most Western countries have laws in place that require companies to get the consent of users before promotional material is sent to them and must clearly provide them with an ‘opt out’ clause if they request to stop receiving material. If companies are found to be in violation of these laws, network providers can block marketing information by companies.
As mobile technology improves, digital marketing will certainly continue to grow in relevance.