Mobile Marketing Explained

Today the term generally refers to a medium that may move but has little in common with the traditional definition - the mobile phone or mobile computer device. Strictly speaking, the latest definition from the Mobile Marketing Association is "a set of practices that enables organisations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network."

The different types of mobile marketing on offer have expanded rapidly in a relatively short amount of time:

SMS marketing

Arguably the first method of marketing to mobile devices, this type of method only became possible when the Short Message Service (SMS) system became a standard capability for mobile phones and service providers. First launched in the early 2000s across western Europe and North America, it originally received a negative reception from many quarters as it was unregulated and businesses would often send unwanted advertising to users who had never opted to receive such messages.

Today, anti-spam laws in most developed nations require advertisers to receive permission from mobile phone users before sending SMS messages and must give an opt-out option within each text. This has probably helped it become the most popular branch of the mobile marketing industry, with several hundred million advertising SMS messages sent out every month in Europe alone. SMS marketing covers both direct advertising and open competitions, where users send in their answers to a brand in return for opting in to their marketing campaigns and a chance at winning a prize.
Bluetooth content
Bluetooth marketing is often very similar to SMS messaging but uses a different type of communication to send messages to mobile devices and is based around a "hotspot" system. Generally, this involves sending marketing messages to any user who walks within range of the bluetooth transmitter with their settings open.

MMS marketing

Essentially a rich media form of SMS marketing, this uses the Multimedia Message Service and therefore can only reach phones with a colour screen and MMS capability. Luckily, this accounts for the vast majority of users and effectively all modern phones. These messages can contain a timed slideshow of images, text, audio and/or video and are popular among brands for more closely targeted campaigns. Some MMS campaigns involve user participation, where the advertiser actually receives photos, videos or audio clips for use in a competition or to crowdsource content for the web.

Web marketing for mobiles

The latest addition is by and large, an extension of web marketing. Many mobile devices provide access to the internet either through the 3G network or even via wireless internet connections; the more advanced of these are known as 'smartphones' and are often capable of rendering a web page in the same fashion as a desktop PC.

Still, the different dimensions and interface of a mobile device mean that traditional HTML pages are often duplicated in an optimised mobile format at another address, where navigation is less dependent on a mouse and where processor intensive content is less likely to appear. This opens up display advertising for mobile devices as well as banner ads and text ads in search engine marketing. Advertisers can often use traditional PC advertising networks to target mobile devices specifically if they include certain lines of code, which is useful as the mobile format also allows for the new 'click to call' format for generating direct leads as well as dynamic location-based marketing using geolocation.
Joseph Barwick is a freelance author who has vast knowledge in mobile marketing. For more information on mobile marketing, please visit: www.sign-up.to/

Mobile Marketing

Initially, some problems were encountered as unwanted information was being sent out. Most of the SMS that were passed around was spam and it received an international negative media response. This was due to the fact that some of the advertisers had bought list of mobile users and began sending them unsolicited messages. These advertisers were stopped when strict security measures and laws were passed. The marketing industry saw the potential of mobile marketing and fully utilized it. The mobile service providers coded guidelines and laws that later became a legal advertising channel. The Mobile Marketing Association and Interactive Advertising Bureau also came up with guidelines for the proper functioning of mobile marketing.

Mobile marketing quickly became popular in Asia and Europe due to its novelty. In Europe alone, hundreds of millions of pounds have been invested in SMS advertising. Now SMS has become the most famous type of mobile marketing. Because of the popularity of short codes, this method has become much easier, creating a new way to reach out to potential customers. Now mobile short codes are looked upon as mobile domain names by global advertisers, as their brands are advertised whenever a message is sent.

In America, the first SMS short code campaign was started in 2002. It is easier to send complete information with short codes, which are usually numbers assigned to mobile operators of a particular location, which they use for brand campaigning and other purposes. They contain few words. These numbers are scrutinized by the service provider and all messages are monitored to ensure that they remain original.

Like opt-in emails, customers have to opt for SMSes in order for advertisers to send more promotions. Some mobile operators ask for a double opt-in form from the receiver. Making opting out easier for the customer. When the customer wishes to terminate receiving messages, they have to send the word "STOP" via SMS. All these guidelines have been laid by the Mobile Marketing Association.

Service providers provide customers with the option of sending SMS to email addresses, while others offer mobile games and ringtones, which are used for promotional purposes. This has lead to the invention of MMS or Multi-media Message Service, which can send short promotional videos and animations. Bluetooth is another good technology that was developed in 2003, and many companies in Europe have found it useful. When a message is send via Bluetooth, the receiver has to accept the incoming message, making this method legitimate. The message transfer speed is high and is also free due to its radio-based technology.

The method of sending out SMS advertisements based on geographical location is known as location based service. The customer is tracked by a GPS chip built into the phone. Radiolocation signals from the nearest cell phone towers are used for this purpose.

Mobile marketing is a safe marketing strategy, as it is customer opted. The short message sent through this method is known as mobile originated or MO message. If the advertisement is done through a call, the call is known as mobile terminated or MT message. The rise in the number of mobile phone users makes this method very profitable.
Dreamhobbiz dreamhobbiz.cbpirateblog.com/

Mobile Marketing Of Restaurants

Location based restaurant deals
Just imagine that, we are hungry but we don’t have any idea about the location of the restaurants. The situation is too bad…right? There come the needs of location-based restaurants. Location based restaurants is directly connected with mobile advertising or campaigning among the people about the location of restaurants and even the special dishes available there. Thus we can very easily find out hotels and can find a solution to our severe hunger.

Location-based deals are the part of advertising which can be done with the help of mobile networks. Some mobile networks provide a large number of deals exclusively for few particular restaurants, even through their own sites. Now I will tell you an example which I have heard before, a mobile company named Loopt made a deal with one of the sushi restaurant. And the very interesting thing about their deal is that, the sushi restaurant people agreed to give any type of rolls for free for the people who are using Loopt mobiles,ie, when the people shows the messages in their mobiles. Just think, how interesting the situation is? Here, the deal features is integrated in the loopt’s applications and in addition to that, the reviews, local contents about the restaurants, bars and events available in the locality to the people. It is one of the easy of advertising.
Restaurant Texts are very much useful in the fields of advertising. Nowadays Many of the restaurants are using “mobile marketing and SMS text messaging softwares” for their publicity. Some of the features of providing restaurant texts are:
1) Customers can order their food through a sms.
2) Just do a weekly contest among the mobile users and offer the winner a delicious dinner or lunch.
3) Restaurants can give an sms for free to the people about the items they are going to serve for lunch, just 30 minutes before the lunch time.
4) We can send a text message announcing daily specials and wine items etc.

Using this sms package, we can successfully create a deeper relationship with our customers and even we can gain a group of frequent visitors in our restaurant. The very attractive part that is hidden in this texting is that, when a customer gets a free message about the special dishes in a particular restaurant, then there is a 100% chance of forwarding that message to his friend circle and thus will widens the network.
Visit foodelz to know all about geo deals available and what is location-based deals for restaurants.

How To Integrate Mobile Marketing And Email

If the worldwide number of sales of smartphones, all the free apps and utilities are not enough to convince you of the explosive new growth in the mobile market and the business opportunities they open up to you, then I'm sure these text-messaging facts will:

• Globally, there are more mobile phones than computers. In fact, there are more mobile phones than televisions and computers combined!

• Over 2.5 billion text messages are sent each day in America alone.

• 94% of text messages are read within 4 minutes of receipt.

Making use of bulk SMS marketing and email simultaneously has many combined benefits:

-Mobile devices are pretty much always switched on; they enable us to be constantly connected and to get info on the go, in real time. So targeting your buyers and subscribers via mobile devices are the way to go if you want to deliver permission-based, targeted and branded communication to your (potential) clients.

-Bulk SMS marketing is a powerful direct marketing tool, mainly because of its high response rate and because it is easy to set up. Combine bulk SMS marketing with your email marketing strategy, and see your direct marketing campaigns extend to new heights.

-You can effortlessly combine your direct marketing strategy with your SMS sweeps, by sending out quick updates via SMS, and saving your newsletters for more lengthy information.

-It's quick and easy to send and manage bulk SMS messages from the internet to mobile phones. Use an email marketing company to upload your list of mobile numbers (from Excel or a text file), type your message, and blast it off.

-Use the API provided by your email marketing solution which gives you easy-to-use API calls, and lets you build your own texting services on top of your messaging gateway.

Now that you're convinced about the powerful platform that can be created by integrating mobile marketing and email, I will let you in on what to do with this knowledge:

• As with email marketing newsletters, only send text messages to people who have actually opted in (permission based).

• Make it quick and easy for subscribers to opt-out from receiving SMS's.

• Increase brand awareness via text messages.

• Encourage an interactive response via text messaging.

• Save SMS messages for important updates and events. The key to success is to know what to send via SMS, and what to send via email.

• Competitions, coupons, giveaways, and once-off offers are best sent via SMS. Then, further details and prompts can be sent via email. Save money by combining both methods! Send the message once by choosing the appropriate medium. Therefore, when sending SMS's, you can exclude the recipients you've already emailed; thus saving you money by using the more cost-effective email route for sends.

• Send SMS campaigns from the mobile number of your choice, thus allowing recipients to send feedback directly to you.

• Sign up with an email marketing solution to receive statistics for your bulk SMS sends; this way, you can see who received your message and at what time.

In an increasingly digital world, you need to consider the best option for reaching consumers anytime and anywhere. Consider what they have on them all the time: car keys, a wallet, and a mobile phone!

All your customers have gone mobile, so why haven't you? Shape your brand image with a mobile-friendly experience. The potential for success with using mobile marketing platforms and email is incredible!
Lewis Mossman is a freelance author who has vast knowledge in bulk SMS marketing. For more information on email marketing company he suggests you to visit: www.graphicmail.com/

Keys To Mobile Marketing

Mobile ad networks are basically entities that work between you, your mobile marketing company and the mobile system your audience uses. A mobile ad network collects the advertiser's ads and sends them out to customers identified by device type and profile as matching the advertiser's requirement. Mobile ad networks may be exclusive to their own brand, or wide reaching across many platforms.

Considerations when deciding on a mobile marketing campaign:
* Budget. It's important to decide at the get-go to know how much you can spend on a campaign. Without a general idea at a campaign's inception, you're doomed for failure. Have concrete definitions in mind so you don't blow your entire company's marketing budget on one thing.

* Spend that budget. Knowing your budget will help you to determine which mobile ad network(s) to work with; establishing a "baseline" to refine that budget into a real actionable plan. If you are determined to use a campaign driven by social media then hire specialists in that area. Perhaps you are interested in a single company that can handle everything - social media and SMS campaigns to YouTube and traditional advertising. With the right budget, anything is possible.

* Target. Work on defining your demographics. Age, gender, marital status, etc. Know your target audience. Narrow it down as much as possible. Later, when you are comfortable with your mobile marketing companies, you can always expand.

* Target location. Local mobile marketing campaigns or regional full blown marketing campaigns? Or world-wide? Geography is important to include in any mobile marketing campaign spending plan to ensure you get the most for your advertising dollars. How about a split campaign? Consider a business installing commercial Christmas decorations. The core business is geographically limited. They also sell and lease decorations. Why not set up 2 different campaigns marketing to two different geographic and demographic targets?

* Tone. How do you want to come across in your mobile marketing campaigns? Friendly and family oriented? Or business and no-nonsense? What is the tone of your organization as a whole? You may not want to market your law team like you a theme park. This seems simple on the surface, but thinking about this in a data driven way can add complexity.

* Will you need a mobile ad network? The short answer is most likely. Even if you do not deal with them directly, a mobile ad network will factor into your mobile marketing campaign somehow.

* What measurements will you use? Maximum views, also known as impressions impressions, of your mobile marketing campaigns or performance-based, like pay per click? Or mixed? This will help to define which mobile marketing companies you will work with best.

* How will you track the performance of your mobile marketing companies? Just like everything else in business, ROI is important so you will want to know and monitor for that.

Any reputable mobile marketing company will be happy to consult with you to help you determine your parameters. Establish a trust. You need to go in with the basics (like your budget) to get things rolling but a viable working relationship based on trust in the expertise of your marketing company is your best ally.
Find out more about mobile ad network. Get more information on mobile marketing companies and mobile marketing campaigns.