Some good news for mobile marketers

Finally, here’s some good news for mobile marketers. Access 360 Media’s latest report says brings up a few points which I think will be very reassuring for mobile marketers.

1. Once people subscribe to text message alerts from marketers, they stick to it. The number of people who unsubscribe after getting alerts for some time is very less. In fact, it is only around 4%.

2. The response for mobile marketing campaigns has been very high. On an average, 2 to 4 percent of mobile users click on the ads they get to know get more information. This is way better than the response rate from online ads, which is somewhere around 0.01%.

In my opinion, these two facts prove a point. The one which I’ve been telling again and again and again in this blog. Get your customer’s permission, send useful, relevant ads, and give them the choice to opt out of it any time they want. Rest assured, your mobile marketing campaign will be a success.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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FTC to keep a close eye on mobile marketing

Trust me, I knew this was coming. I could almost sense it coming.

Mobile marketers will now have to be more careful than ever, because from now on the Feds will be watching them closely. FTC’s event, ‘Beyond Voice: Mapping the Mobile Marketplace’, discussed the concept of mobile marketing and the ways in which it can be made less intrusive, more organized, and so on.

A common complaint among a section of mobile users was that some of the mobile ads are vague in nature and don’t inform the reader the exact price of the service or product being marketed. As a result, the customer doesn’t realize how costly the service/product actually is and ends up responding to it. He comes to know it only when he pays a hefty amount later. This, they say, should be stopped immediately.

Based on this, the FTC has clearly stated that mobile marketers, from now on, should disclose the costs involved very clearly and should not send ads that are misleading in nature. The Feds have also informed that they will be carefully monitoring the mobile marketing industry which is growing very fast at the moment.

I’ve always stated that mobile marketers should be very careful about the way they approach the users. They should not forget that people, a lot of them, pay for text messages and they have every reason to hate a text message ad which is vague/misleading/useless or all of the above. So, it’s the responsibility of the mobile marketer to make sure the customer knows what he is getting into.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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M:Metrics has some encouraging news for mobile marketers

A recent report from M:Metrics states that men in the age group of 18-34 are considered the best target for mobile advertisers in the U.S. and Europe. Men in this age group respond to text message advertisements and more importantly, access mobile web quite frequently. This has made mobile marketers take notice of this potential customer segment.

In Europe, mobile users in this segment are equally inclined to both text message adverts and mobile media. In fact, the numbers are quite encouraging for mobile marketers in Europe. In England, the number of mobile media users is 26.8% while in France and Germany it is 18.4% and 18.5% respectively. In fact, a significant amount of mobile users in England who belong to this age group prefer their mobile phone to TV, as they can get everything they want from mobile web.

The report also says that almost one third of mobile users in UK said that they prefer to respond to mobile ads and would like to buy products that are advertised. This statistics, more than anything else, should be very encouraging for mobile marketers in Europe.

Mobile users in the U.S., unlike their European counterparts, are not that much interested in text message adverts. They are more inclined to access mobile web for news and other information.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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Debunking the myths about mobile advertising - III

When I first read this, I thought of writing a line-by-line rebuttal. But then, I saw no need for that. So, I’ll just highlight a few points and express my views on that. First of all, I wanna say that I respect everyone’s point of view. You’ve got your point of view, your own opinions, your take on certain issues, and so on. But Mike, I have a little problem with your write-up. That is, you went on to ‘assume’ certain things about mobile advertising. Let me explain.

‘It audibly interrupts your life like telemarketing.‘

Well; just like you have a DND (Do Not Disturb) option for telemarketing, you have an option for mobile adverts too. You are presented with a choice. You can either opt in to mobile ads or just say ‘no thanks.’ So, there is no question of mobile ads interrupting your life.

‘But you know that once the floodgates open, and the spam comes rushing in, everyone will hate mobile advertising.‘

Well; It may happen. But then, it may not. Why? Just check out - exhibit A and exhibit B. Perhaps the largest network carrier in the world, China Mobile, learnt a lesson the hard way regarding mobile spam. That, my friend, should reassure folks like you that advertisers and carriers can’t get away with mobile spam. There will be severe repercussions to face.

‘Some marketers are talking about respecting the privacy of users and putting consumer in control of what they get and when. Do you find that reassuring? I don’t.‘

Why do you think so?

‘And support any movement or legislation that seeks to block or criminalize mobile advertising.’

Don’t you think it’s kind of a knee-jerk reaction?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Rant.

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Different types of mobile advertising

The fact that text message advertising is the most popular form of mobile advertising is something that everyone knows. However, mobile advertisers are trying their hands on different types of mobile advertising to reach their target customers more effectively. Three such types of mobile advertising are rapidly becoming famous with both mobile marketers and people. They are Bluetooth advertising, video ads, and barcodes or QR codes.

Bluetooth advertising is something I’ve talked about a lot of times in this blog. With more than 60% of mobile phones in North America sporting Bluetooth facility, advertising via Bluetooth is a no-brainer. You can download coupons, audio files, video files, and other things via Bluetooth and this has become very popular with mobile users of late. Not surprisingly, the response rate for such ads has been very impressive.

Video ads are something that is a part of mobile videos these days. Most carriers offer free mobile content in the form of videos funded by adverts. Instead of placing these ads before or after the video, advertisers these days try to intersperse these ads with the content in such a way that people don’t find it odd. Product placement is gaining popularity among mobile marketers these days and they are trying to add adverts to mobile videos in a manner the user won’t find annoying.

QR codes or Quick Response codes are becoming rapidly popular. All you need to do is, scan the code with your mobile camera. Immediately, you’ll get a text message with more details on the ad. It’s that simple. In Japan, like I already said, this technology is a rage and it’s now popular in Europe and parts of the U.S.A.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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