While mobile marketing is still in the beginning stages as compared to the more mature advertising mediums such as television, radio, print and even the Internet, mobile is quickly emerging as an advertising channel with full impact. According to industry estimates over one billion dollars will be spent on mobile advertising annually and will grow exponentially over the next several years.
The most obvious reason for this growth is the adaptation of the mobile phone itself and its penetration rate in the USA reaching 215 million users in the year 2007. This massive number of users is luring brands to reach their customers through the new medium.
The benefits of mobile advertising are not just about the large number of devices in the marketplace but also about the specific nature of the mobile phone as a potential marketing medium. Its portable, intimate and data-intensive nature makes the mobile device the perfect personal connecting point in an increasingly digital world.
As with any new media marketing vehicle, mobile offers a wide variety of marketing and advertising options available to brands each with its own strengths, weakness, limitations and unique selling proposition. There are currently four major types of mobile advertising:
- Messaging (Text, SMS & MMS): This category includes advertising messages that can be delivered by the various, available messaging formats. Today the message method of choice is predominantly text-based but over time will no doubt increase to include rich multimedia messages (MMS) which give businesses the ability to advertise their message through the use of sound, image and video. Messaging enables brands and enterprises to deliver their message/content and connect with consumers in a variety of ways, including sweepstakes, surveys, voting and even product purchase.
- Mobile Web Advertising: This category includes a host of activities that comprise mobile Web browsing (i.e., mobile search, banner ads). Very similar to Internet banner ads, WAP banner advertising is considered a rich media form that is only displayed in browsing environments and is the predominant format for mobile Web advertising today. Mobile search in particular has attracted a good deal of advertiser attention, because it allows for contextual advertising and can prompt immediate call-to-action. For example, a search for “pizza” could return paid, location-specific results, initiate a call and offer a mobile coupon.
- Downloadable Applications: This model requires software to reside on the users actual mobile device. These are often interactive, entertainment-based experiences such as games but can also be value added services as well. As user savviness increases, and better phones are developed, applications such as this will become more common place; however, consumers are currently unaware and/or wary of costs associated with this type of content which limits its reach as an advertising medium.
- Mobile Video Ads: Just like traditional television ads, these are short (5-30 second) video advertisements played before, during or after the viewing of mobile TV content on mobile phones. Because the TV-like impact such ads could have this is an area of keen interest in business advertising. However, the expense and actual reach make it an unlikely advertising option for businesses.
With text messaging built natively into 95 percent of all mobile phones in the US market place today, it is an ideal mode of marketing over the other described methods. Short Codes (a string of numbers typically fewer than 6 digits) represent the only universal way for brands to connect with all mobile users. For any brand or business, this translates into one common address, one call to action.
The ability for Short Codes to be present everywhere as a marketing platform in the US creates the most scalable vehicle for businesses to connect with almost all mobiles users. In the United States there are an estimated 213 million unique mobile phone users above the age of 13 – 86% of the total cell phone market.
Because the technology is so widely adopted it allows for painless creative execution. Where as with other formats, multiple variables need to go into the design of your advertising creative. With text-based advertising methods, including consideration for items such as screen size and inconsistent color support is not an issue.
With an SMS campaign you can instantly send a message or a call to action to a list of customers who have already requested (by opt-in) you send them information. The messages are sent with pinpoint accuracy, exactly the moment you want them delivered.
The advantage of SMS campaigns supersedes the more basic attributes of having a robust, addressable marketplace. Analysis by M:Metrics sheds light on the real ability of SMS to drive a diverse range of interaction with a highly desirable (and responsive) group of consumers.
Almost 40 million receive SMS ads on a monthly basis of the 215 million cell phone users who subscribe to SMS. The types of messages received by these users include contests, coupons or discounts and info about product services.
In September 2008, almost 40 million US consumers (18.6 percent of the total mobile subscribers and 43 percent of all who actively text) recall receiving SMS ads. Of this group, 4.3 million, or 12 percent, responded to an SMS ad. The level of interaction is impressive compared to almost any other advertising vehicle available today and especially to other available mobile ad formats. It shows that consumers truly remember and respond to SMS campaigns.
SMS messaging allows advertisers to reach a highly desirable demographic. Always important when advertising is understanding the individual who responds to an ad. Upon analysis of the consumer demographics of regular text messages, several compelling characteristics stand out:
- An examination of the demographics benchmark of SMS users show heavy representation and over-indexing among the key 18-35 year old age group. This trend is true regardless of whether the subscriber is an active user of text messaging or not.
- Additionally. While there is no exact proxy for a consumer’s propensity to open his or her wallet in response to mobile offers, it is interesting to note that a significant percentage of those sending text messages are willing to pay for more expensive phone plans.
Mobile marketing is one of the fastest growing advertising channels today. Ongoing debates regarding what format or type of mobile marketing is best suited for a particular brand or campaign will continue. Since adding new elements into a brand’s marketing mix requires testing, companies should begin trying various mobile marketing formats and initiatives now in order to understand the power and impact that a mobile device can have. SMS campaigns are easy to start, are simple to use and offer the greatest reach and potential. More and more consumers are recognizing and responding to these short codes in television shows, on consumer goods and in various advertisements. No organization or brand can afford to be left behind in the rapidly evolving mobile marketplace. The most important thing for brands to take away from this is to start today and begin to realize the potential of this powerful new medium.
