Alright people. For one last time, one freaking last time, I’ll try to clarify some of the most common misconceptions about mobile advertising.
What is mobile advertising?
It’s time to come out of the cave, pal. Even my granny knows about it. Mobile advertising is nothing but ads on your mobile phone – as simple as that.
Oh dear god, why do they send me ads?
To help you take part in the space research program sponsored by the NASA. Okay; I’m kidding. Ads on mobile phones serve the same purpose as ads on TV, magazines, newspapers, radio, and the internet. All these ads want to sell you something.
Ugh; can you explain further?
Sure I can. You see, you take your mobile phone with you no matter where you go, don’t you? You get ads on TV, you see ads on magazines and newspapers, and you have ads all over the internet. However, there is a fundamental difference between these ads and mobile ads. The response rate for the former is not so impressive. The reason is – you can always skip those ads. You can change the channel during an ad break, you can simply overlook an ad in a magazine, and you can easily block ads in the internet using your browser. However, with mobile phones, the response rate is very high as people will surely check out text messages and attend calls. In other words, an ad on a mobile phone will never go unnoticed.
What the hell? How can they send me ads without my permission?
Relax bro. No one is going to send ads to your mobile phone without your permission. This is precisely the reason why they’ve come up with something called the opt-in facility. What this means is – you can opt in to a mobile advertising campaign any time you want. If you don’t like it for some reasons, you can easily opt out of it any time you want. Easy as 1-2-3.
But why would I say yes to mobile ads, even if I had the choice to opt out any time I want?
Good question. See, mobile ads are not sent by loonies on a random basis. There is something called targeted advertising which makes things better. When you opt in to a mobile advertising campaign, you’ll be usually asked about your interests, likes and dislikes, brands you like, products you use, and a whole bunch of such questions. Using this data, mobile advertisers will be able to send relevant, targeted ads to you.
For example, if you’re a big foodie, an advertiser can send a discount coupon for a big Mac. If you’re a fitness freak, he can send you a WAP link to a site which discusses the latest trends in fitness and bodybuilding. In other words, the ads you get on your mobile phone will match your interests so you can make use of the information one way or the other.
All that is fine. I don’t want mobile ads. Now what do I do?
That’s cool. If you don’t want mobile ads, don’t opt in to any mobile ad campaign. Strictly say no to them. If you’re already a part of a campaign, simply opt out of it.
Do I only get promotional offers and discount coupons via mobile ads?
No, there are more interesting offers. How does free talk time sound to you? Or how about free text messages? Hell, there are companies that pay you to get ads on your mobile phone. There are companies which offer such things for real. Virgin does that, Blyk does that, and a number of other operators are contemplating on that. If you have doubts, check out this, this, this, this, and this.
Oh that’s nice. But I read in XYZ website that mobile ads are intrusive, a threat to privacy, etc?
Screw them. What do you think? The telecom industry is highly competitive. They just can’t afford to annoy their customers. Especially in this age of internet, they just can’t afford to make a mistake for they’ll be ripped apart by thousands of websites and blogs.
But I’m still not convinced?
Well; I think this story will convince you. China Mobile, the biggest mobile operator in the world, was made to eat humble pie due to mobile ad spam. So, I repeat, operators will not take the risk of annoying their customers with spam ads.
But what if operators all over the world made a pact and started sending ads no matter what?
What if the sun exploded? What if aliens popped out of your PC? What if George Bush got elected for the third time? What if Paris Hilton became a professor in Harvard?
See, these what-ifs are endless. Most importantly, they’re not gonna happen. So, stop thinking like a fiction writer.
Phew; so there it is folks. Hope that clarifies all your doubts about mobile phone advertising. Now, tell me. What more could I do to convince the so-called experts who constantly spew hate-filled passages about mobile advertising without any basic understanding?
Tags: Blyk, China Mobile, discount coupons, free talk time, free text messages, George Bush, mobile ads, mobile advertising, mobile advertising campaign, mobile phone, NASA, Paris Hilton, promotional offers, rant, targeted ads, Virgin, WAP
Technorati Tags: Blyk, China Mobile, discount coupons, free talk time, free text messages, George Bush, mobile ads, mobile advertising, mobile advertising campaign, mobile phone, NASA, Paris Hilton, promotional offers, rant, targeted ads, Virgin, WAP
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Rant.
Ever heard of on-the-spot mobile marketing campaigns? Well; you are about to. UGotItFirst is a new entrant in the field of mobile marketing which claims it can come up with mobile marketing campaigns in a matter of minutes.
The company’s marketing process works on an opt-in basis and people who wish to become its members should sign up, give their preferences, and request to get information on those preferred products or services. So, when a member gets an ad on his mobile phone, it will be a relevant advert about his preferred product/service which he can make use of. So, the question of intrusive, spam mobile ads and invasion of privacy does not arise in this situation.
Now, what about the on-the-spot mobile marketing campaign? Let’s say, you are a coffee shop owner. It’s been a dull day and you want to do something to boost your sales instantly by offering a 5% discount on all lattes. You can go to UGotItFirst, choose the number of discount coupons you want to send, and specify your target customer segment. In a matter of minutes, UGotItFirst will send those coupons to people in that location who had indicated their wish to get such deals. The campaign is targeted – the coupon only goes to someone who wishes to get it and he/she is nearby your coffee shop, thereby making it even easier to get a sale.
Apart from this, the company has also got mobile based offers upon completing which mobile users will be paid for. You may have to take part in a survey and complete a poll and you’ll be paid for that. While the amount may not be big, you can always do with a little bit of cash, right?
Despite being a new entrant, there is a lot of buzz about this company in the market. Launched on March 13th, UGotItFirst already boasts of 2000 registered users. Good times, I tell you.
Tags: advert, buzz, coffee shop, customer segment, discount coupons, good times, invasion of privacy, lattes, marketing campaign, marketing campaigns, marketing process, mobile ads, mobile marketing, mobile marketing campaigns, mobile phone, mobile users, preferred product, preferred products, target customer, ugotitfirst
Technorati Tags: advert, buzz, coffee shop, customer segment, discount coupons, good times, invasion of privacy, lattes, marketing campaign, marketing campaigns, marketing process, mobile ads, mobile marketing, mobile marketing campaigns, mobile phone, mobile users, preferred product, preferred products, target customer, ugotitfirst
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.
The growth of any industry depends on the kind of reception it gets from people and when it comes to mobile advertising, it is absolutely true. The success of an advert, especially through the mobile phone, depends on three things.
Firstly, you need to make people understand that there is some value for them and they do get benefited by checking out the ads. Secondly, you need to make your ads interesting enough to keep them engaged, and thirdly, you need to make those ads simple enough that people can respond to your ad with no or little effort from their part. Speaking of which, two companies have done exactly the same with their innovative mobile advertising methods.
SnapTell Inc. is a name well known in the mobile advertising/marketing industry and within a year of its inception, it has earned a name for itself in the industry. It has an innovative mobile advertising method wherein customers are asked to take a snap of a newspaper ad, magazine ad, or a billboard ad of a particular product and send it in order to get discounts on the product. Recently, a wine retailer in New York tried this method out and had tremendous response from the customers. As a customer, you don’t have to worry about getting ads in your mobile phone and responding to them, as you can simply take a snap of a newspaper ad or billboard ad and simply send it back to get discounts on the product. Also, taking a picture with a camera mobile is far easier than having to respond to an ad via text message. This innovative mobile advertising method has enticed a lot of customers and SnapTell has become very famous in a short period of time.
The next company is Single Touch Interactive Inc., which has a mobile advertising program that is as easy as 1-2-3. In this program, customers will be able to activate their electronic discount coupons whenever they go for shopping, simply by dialing the pound sign followed by ‘SAVE’. This is far better than traditional discount coupons available in magazines and newspapers in which case you have to cut them and carry them whenever you go out in order to be able to avail of the discounts. In this case, you can simply activate your coupon any time you want and get benefited immediately. This advertising plan will be unveiled from February next year.
It’s really good to see small players in the mobile advertising industry coming up with innovative plans like this to get response from the customers. Mobile advertising industry, I think, is truly the example of a free market where it really doesn’t matter whether you are a big player or a small player – if you deliver what people want, you are in.
Tags: discount coupons, free market, innovative mobile advertising, mobile advertising, mobile phone, single touch interactive inc., snaptell inc., text message
Technorati Tags: discount coupons, free market, innovative mobile advertising, mobile advertising, mobile phone, single touch interactive inc., snaptell inc., text message
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.
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