Author Archives: ingridm

Mms Marketing

Posted by ingridm on January 12, 2012   |   Comments Off

As cell phones and tablet technology begins to move further and further towards something out of a Star Trek episode, more and more users are accessing the Internet with the same machine they make calls on. And as a result of this technology trend a new form of marketing has developed to reach users that are on their phones just as, if not more, often than they’re on their computers. This method is called MMS marketing, or multimedia messaging service marketing.

A company that uses MMS marketing specifically designs advertisements complete with images, text and often with sound and video as well that are meant to be displayed on a smaller, telephone screen. Given the inherent differences in technology you can’t just send the same advertisements to a cell phone as you would to a computer. What you’ll end up with is a garbled or unviewable message, as well as a customer who might be frustrated by trying to view the message. So if you make it simple, straightforward and specifically designed for your customers then you have just the right combination to play a fast, informative ad and get more customers interested in your business offers and products.

You can’t just randomly send your MMS marketing messages to people either. Many clients may not want to receive them, and if they get ads when they’ve expressly asked not to and it eats up their data package you’re going to have the exact opposite effect that your ad was designed to have. So you have to get clients to sign up for these MMS marketing services of their own volition, providing a phone number or email address so that you have a place to direct your marketing. You can put sign up forms in your stores, on your business’s homepage, or really anywhere else that your clients are likely to see them and decide to sign up.

Once you do get your customers to sign up, it’s important that you keep them happy. As such MMS marketing advertisements should include an offer for the recipient as often as you can. Trade-in deals, coupons and “subscriber only” discounts are all good ways of both getting information to your customers and helping peak their curiosity so that they’ll come in and check out your goods even if they decide not to buy in the end.

Lastly, it’s important that you make the MMS marketing as customer friendly as you can. This includes the ability to filter or unsubscribe completely from the marketing ads being sent to their email or phone. A positively inclined customer will want to receive ads, but if they want to stop getting those ads and the process requires a lot of red tape or time spent on the phone then it’s going to make them very negatively inclined towards you. So while they will still be getting your ads, if they want to be unsubscribed then you’re once again having the exact opposite effect you were hoping for.

Tagged , ,

SMS Promotions

Posted by ingridm on January 5, 2012   |   Comments Off

SMS promotions are undertaken by many members of the internet marketing industry. Some of the ways that SMs promotions are utilized is in the use of messages that are sent to cell phone subscribers by text. SMS marketing comes under the broad rubric of mobile marketing. Mobile marketing used to consist of any sort of media that customers saw on the move, billboards along the highway for instance.

Modern mobile marketing consists of a great deal more marketing directed toward the individual in the method of cell phones, computers, possible interactive surveys and the like. The use of this type of marketing has increased a thousand fold, as has the use of communication devices like cellphones and laptops. The number of cellphones now outnumber people. The use of SMS or short message marketing is increasingly more prevalent with the general population increase.

An SMS message or Short Message Service is a short message, often a text message that can alert the individuals to certain sales or promotions that the company is offering. Some individuals have to have a payment plan in order to receive these messages, other times they may come as a free service from their carrier. Many people will use these messages to get bargains or to take advantage of “freebies” or special deals that might be offered by marketers at any given point in time.

The use of mobile marketing is a legitimate use of marketing in many parts of the world. Individuals who may not have access to a television or computer may own a cellphone or other communication device, and can accept SMS communications. It may be the only way that the individual can get communications from the world at large.

SMS communications overseas began in Europe, but have since traveled to many parts of the world including Asia and Africa.

Businesses like the use of short codes (typically 5 or 6 numbers) in length because they are less expensive than traditional telephone communications. They can be provided by several carriers, and are typically a good way to get their mesages across to potential buyers. Most of the time SMS messages are sent to cellphones, but that is not the only way to market. Short messages can also be sent to email. This is another method of using the practice.

There are many companies that specialize in the use of short code communication for businesses. They are known in the profession as Gateway Providers. A business that is considering the use of one or more of these providers should be prepared to ask a number of questions, chief of which is: What the cost per message is, and how much they cost to send overseas, if that is their target market. They also need to look at companies that are upfront about their fees, and have no hidden costs in their messaging rate. A potential marketer also needs to find out if their are any minimum usage fees that might be a part of a providers rates.

 

Tagged , ,

Advertising SMS

Posted by ingridm on December 28, 2011   |   Comments Off

The telecom boom is not only changing the way people communicate with each other but is also reshaping the terrain of the advertisement world. Even a few years back the cell phone was seen just as a fancy gadget of basic communication, but now it is providing new avenues of revenue generation for a wide array of industries. One sector seeing a boom in business because of its efficient and cost-effective business model is the advertising industry. The probability of a recipient not reading an advertisement SMS is very low, and this effectiveness gives SMS advertising an edge over other forms of advertisements.

SMS advertisement services can generally be divided into three types: those that emphasize the pull aspect of the advertisement, those that focus on the push marketing, and those that are sent to more general audiences. SMS advertising can also be used for cross media advertising since the SMS code is short and easy to remember, allowing companies to advertise through print media or radio stations as well.

SMS advertisement has many advantages over conventional advertisements. Here are eight such examples:

(1) SMS advertisement allows a great level of personalization between recipients. The customers become aware of the various products that a company offers as well as the services it provides since they receive the SMS advertisements directly on their mobile phones. Current television commercials simply cannot compete with this level of personalization.

(2) SMS advertising has the ability to deliver information instantaneously to the potential customers. The advertiser does not have to wait long for the advertisement to be produced and broadcast.

(3) The cost of an advertisement increases as the number of recipients goes up. SMS advertisement is much more profitable for advertisers than traditional methods because permission is required from the recipient before they can be put on the mailing list. This means that only customers who are already interested in receiving the ads will receive them, which means in turn that fewer people will ignore the ads.

(4) Text messages sent for advertisement are short and specific. In today’s fast and competitive world, text messages containing only 160 characters are the most efficient and to the point means of advertisement.

(5) Sending text messages is extremely cheap. Other forms of advertisement can cost thousands and thousands of dollars, but SMS typically does not cost more than a penny per recipient.

(6) This is a very interactive medium and the potential buyers can respond to the advertisement SMS whenever they want. Thus it is one of the most engaging media that is available today.

(7) Text message advertisement possesses a powerful database consisting of the prospective buyers’ contact information.

(8) SMS advertisements are both cutting-edge and user friendly compared to other means of advertisement.

If you are a business owner, you should try to make SMS advertising part of your business plan.

It could give you the competitive edge over your completion. Because in today’s market a business needs to take advantage of any and all opportunities

Tagged , ,

Mobile Marketing Research

Posted by ingridm on December 22, 2011   |   Comments Off

With the technological advancement of many devices today, many people are relying on these devices to help with their everyday living. A person does not have to stand in line now to pay or bill. They do not even have to stand in line to purchase items. All of these things are made possible by using the internet. Whether they are using the internet on a desktop or even on their cell phone, they can make all of these things possible. But while the era of the mobile phone age was booming, another part of the communications was in need of a spark.

For many years now, companies have relied on giving their customers surveys. This is a way for them to be able to see what is liked about their products as well as other products that are out on the market. But with people having so little time with being able to participate, the companies had to come up with a solution. The solution that they came up with was to use the growth in mobile technology to their advantage. Hence, marketing mobile research was created in established, answering their needs.

The marketing research industry created this form of communication because it was hard to reach out the community like in the past due to the use of mobility allowing the consumer base the ability to perform everyday functions with the need to go to certain places anymore. The researchers decided that they needed to come up with a unique plan to win over the consumers. They did this by using the growth of Smartphone’s and PDA’s to their advantage. One of the positive factors about using this method is that the researcher does not have to depend on place and time. In the past, the researchers had to give their surveys to a certain market at a certain time. Now, with the mobile devices, they do not have to do this.

There are four methods that can be used in doing the mobile survey. The first method is the independent push study where you do not need context. This study can be in the form of an SMS message or and MMS message. The next method that the researchers can use is called the push study with context. The researcher bases their need for feedback based on the location of the respondent. The third method is called the context pull studies where advertisers put a number on something like a receipt where the participants call in their selves to do the survey. The final method is the pull studies that have no relation to market research. When dealing with mobile marketing research, you will be dealing with the independent push study.

No matter what survey you happen to be a part of, they all have the same agenda. And that is to know the feedback of the person or group that they are surveying. With the increasing fast design of the mobile industry, the respondent will see more and more surveys coming to them through their cell phones or PDA’s in the future. Hopefully the data collected will help the many respondents participation in the future.

Tagged , ,

Mobile Ad Networks

Posted by ingridm on December 6, 2011   |   Comments Off

Mobile phones are now being used by almost everybody right from the teenagers to the elderly people in every part of the Globe. In the US alone, more than 96% of people own mobile phones. With such a wide popularity, cell phone advertising is slowly becoming a effective marketing tool for the companies, wholesales, retailers and just about anybody who is interested in selling something to millions of people in a cost effective way.

In order to utilize the power of mobile ad networks, marketers should build a brand trust by continuously being in front of their target audience. They can achieve this effectively by mobile text messaging. Most of the cell phone users carry their phone on almost 24/7 basis and they also open every message (they have 97% open rate) that is received by them, so businesses can continue to remain “on the top of their mind” with successful text marketing campaigns.

Best of all, mobile marketing can easily be tailored according to individual needs and budget and even small and mid scale businesses can compete with “big boys” using mobile ad networks. Mobile text messaging is a real time advertisement, where you are engaging yourself with your target audience on almost daily basis in a highly cost effective way with impressive results.

Global businesses will spend more than $21 billion on mobile marketing alone in 2012 and in the United States, the revenue predictions for mobile advertising in $2.26 billion. Mobile text marketing is highly versatile and avid marketers can use various technologies available for mobile ad networks to reach their intended markets. There are banners ads, text messages, contextual ads, bar codes and QR codes. Cell phone coupons are now becoming highly popular and are hot in the US and European markets.

Mobile advertising is definitely powerful! By sending the content that is user and device relevant, businesses increase the probability of their marketing efficiency. Therefore, the cell phones and mobile ad networks that are serving it are replicating the traditional communication mediums such as radio and television. The biggest advantage of mobile marketing is that a cell phone user may change their mobile device or carrier, but would rarely change their mobile number or logins. This helps marketers in developing a continual relationship with their target audience.

As per various studies, users who spend more that two hours on the Internet every week are interested in receiving text-marketing messages on their mobile phones provided they get some tangible benefit. The popularity of cell phone advertising and its tremendous growth lies in its ability to allow various marketers to promote their products both locally and globally on 24/7 basis. Their text marketing campaigns can be tailored according to the necessities of the target audience and allow them to gather valuable data for better planning of future advertising campaigns for much greater return on investment.The mobile marketing industry will grow tremendously in the next four years and now it is the perfect time for businesses to explore this exciting marketing tool and use it effectively for growing their business.

Tagged , ,

Phone Advertising

Posted by ingridm on November 28, 2011   |   Comments Off

Mobile phone advertising is also known as mobile marketing. This is the newest addition in the vast world of advertising where people get to advertise business through mobile marketing. Campaigns are relatively easy to create and offers higher rate of effective responses. Since this method of advertising is kind of new, you will be surprised that there are a lot of fresh ideas that people will surely embrace from this kind of advertising. As a matter of fact, mobile phone advertising is entirely beneficial for business owners to utilize and can be used to boost profits.

You do not need a lot of money to invest in sending numerous SMS for advertising or pay for printing of flyers or billboards. Mobile phone advertising is cheaper there for it is more affordable to use than any other advertising methods. Placing ads over TV or radio commercials are also entirely expensive since you pay for every second that your advertisement is aired. If you have subscribed to any SMS generating software, it can also cost you much. However, with mobile phone advertising, you will have to pay less in marketing through mobile phones yet it still generates volumes of successful responses. The greatest advantage of this is that you will only have to pay a small amount of money to get your ads running through mobile marketing.

Mobile phone advertising is known for its immediacy. It is easy to use as well as fast to spread since text campaigns can be sent to numerous people by just one click. All you need to do is to have a carefully planned text promo and you are all set to do your campaign. Since no other advertising method works this fast compared to mobile marketing, your clients will be informed of a sale, discounts or even a special event shortly after you hit the send button. Immediate responses can also be taken as soon as you have finished sending out messages to every customer. A target market is also another advantage of using mobile marketing. This is because you are certain about the people whom you want to promote your business, product or service. By using this method of advertising, you will be assured that the message you sent will reach people within your target market.

Mobile marketing uses bulk SMS distribution and sends messages simultaneously to numerous
individuals. Since these people usually bring their mobile phones with them, it is guaranteed that they will be able to receive the messages sent through mobile advertising. Not only that mobile phones advertising receive a higher rate of responses which are at 15 percent while its counterparts receive a rate of only 2 to 3 percent of responses. This is because people will be able to see text campaigns out right since they always bring their mobile phones with them and constantly checks for text messages.

There are other numerous advantages that you can derive from mobile phones advertising. In fact, it has become the newest addition to other methods known in advertising that has taken the world by storm since it has been first used.

Tagged

What is Mobile Marketing

Posted by ingridm on November 21, 2011   |   Comments Off

Mobile Marketing Terminology and Jargon

Mobile marketing may not have as much jargon as the uber-high-tech world, but there are phrases that are often used interchangeably, which can become confusing. For instance, what’s the difference between mobile marketing and mobile advertising? What about mobile media advertising? Or mobile web marketing?

Many of these kinds of terms are used synonomously – but there are differences. While marketing and advertising go hand-in-hand, advertising is much more of a sub-set of marketing, whether in regards to internet marketing, search engine marketing or mobile marketing.

Mobile marketing, often referred to as m-marketing, is the overall process of using mobile technology, communication and media to promote a brand, product, business or other entity that has something to sell, through an entire campaign of various strategies. This includes advertising, but it also includes brand awareness and reputation management, increased visibility or establishing industry authority, acquiring bigger audience or consumer market, improving conversion rates, website optimization, SMS or text messaging ads, social media, SEO, and much more. The things that a mobile marketing campaign entails depends wholly upon not only the business, service or product that its being provided for, but the kind of mobile marketing company or services who undertake the campaign.

Mobile Marketing Basics

The most common forms of mobile marketing are mobile web marketing, mobile application marketing and perhaps SMS marketing/advertising, although this is a much more limited method. Mobile applications and mobile browsers are the two ways mobile users access the mobile web or websites. Some applications are downloaded and then independently functional, and do not rely upon a mobile web destination to operate or perform.

Mobile web marketing focuses upon website creation, visibility and promotion. Marketing a mobile website can include m-SEO (mobile search engine optimization) and m-PPC (mobile pay-per-click) management, mobile website optimization, increased mobile visibility strategies, mobile ad management, branding and awareness management, and so on. These things focus on user access of the mobile web or website through a browser or search engine. It works much like it does for regular online marketing of a business website, except that strategies are focused solely within mobile communications.

Mobile application marketing focuses on the use of mobile software applications, rather than mobile browsers or search engine. An application is a piece of software that is downloaded to a mobile device – usually a mobile phone or tablet – and then stays on the device, just like downloading software on a PC. Any given mobile software application (usually just called an “app”) can have thousands of possibilities for functionality, purpose and use, online or offline dependence, and so on. Some applications are simple functions that are downloaded without reliance upon the mobile web to work, such as a flashlight application, simple music instrument simulation, or even plenty of mobile games. Most mobile marketing campaigns are concerned only with apps that open to a particular online destination, such as a Facebook app, an Amazon shopping app, an eBay app, or a Weather Channel app. These are basic examples of mobile application marketing, in order to promote the sights, and draw more mobile consumers to these sites for making purchases.

In a nutshell, then, mobile marketing is the process of using mobile technology and communications to achieve the business goals of the customer. Whether it is increased visibility and consumer market, optimized conversion rates, brand management, or a combination of all of those, mobile marketing sees to it that these things are accomplished, which makes it an invaluable service to any business, small or large.

Tagged , ,

iAd Mobile Advertising

Posted by ingridm on November 11, 2011   |   Comments Off

In April 2010, Steve Jobs of Apple launched Apple iAd, a technology built into their iPhone iOS 4 to help developers incorporate advertisements into iPhone Applications. iAd is now available for iPad and iPod Touch as well. iAd uses simple HTML 5 to create highly interactive in-app ads, which have many features making them interesting and fun. Until now the ads took you away from the app you were using, making it difficult to come back. With iAd you can get back to your app by simply closing the ad with a single touch and come back to you exactly where you left.

Some of the features that Jobs displayed through the “Toy Story 3″ ad are:

- Seeing & listening to your favourite characters
- Watch videos and movie trailers
- Play some mini-games
- Select from a range of posters and use them as wall paper for your device
- Location of theatres nearby
- And also download games directly from within the ad without going to an app
Similarly, the Nike ad has a pretty navigator, which gives you the option to see the history or evolution of the Nike shoe over the years, create your own custom shoes, order them from Nike, and locate a store nearby.

The Target ad helps you build your own dorm and find a Target store.
Other features that can be incorporated into your ads are adding reminders directly into your calendar, send branded emails from within an ad, see immersive 3D graphics, save coupons, barcodes and recipes and share content. Download the app called iAd Gallery, which gives you a host of ads incorporated in the apps to see the range of features.

Loaded with so many characteristics, developers can use their creativity to make highly interactive ads, bringing visibility of the products to billions of users of Apple devices. It helps the developers promote their apps. Apple’s advertising program helps to present ads to the best audience of the app. Apple sells, hosts the ads, and gives 60% of the revenue to the developers. Developers can easily embed ads within their apps, which are dynamically delivered to the various Apple devices.

The iAd Network reaches out to 15 billion application users and uses highly effective targeting techniques to present your ad to the user relevant to your ad. The many targeting options available are demographic, application preference, music passion, movie, TV interests, device and network. iAd campaign reporting gives in-depth information about the average time spent on your ads, pages viewed and visitor metrics. This helps the product companies to understand their audience and develop a marketing strategy, which will bring big benefits to their company.

By introducing iAd, Apple has increased the scope of mobile advertising to an enormous extent. Companies are now seeing the potential of this form of advertising, as they are able to tap into a huge audience. Apple iAd has made a great impact on mobile advertising and has changed the way companies regarded this as an effective means of promoting their products.

Tagged , ,

Mobile Web SEO

Posted by ingridm on November 4, 2011   |   Comments Off

Advertising on the web is one of the most effective ways to get exposure of a website. Businesses and individuals advertise their website in order to get traffic. With this traffic they will be able to get more customers, get more viewers and improve whatever results they seek to achieve. This process is known as search engine optimization. With search engine optimization, website owners will have a way of getting their site to the top of the search engines and therefore getting as much exposure as possible. Listing a website online is usually aimed at people using a PC or laptop. However due to recent technological trends people are now able to access the internet on a mobile device such as a cell phone, iPhone, iPad and smartphone. With these new devices, mobile web SEO has become one of the standard ways of gaining internet search engine exposure.

When using mobile SEO there are some things that a website owner must take into account. First they need to understand that mobile web user requirements operate differently from non mobile devices. When participating in mobile web SEO, it is important to know that mobile devices aren’t structured like PC’s and laptops. The mobile devices are often used for different reasons and for different tasks than computers. Since users are often using one hand to type information on a small keypad while being in the middle of another task it is important to make sure that you content can be found quickly and easily.

Mobile SEO has some key differences to PC and laptop search engines. As a result there are some parameters that website owners keep in mind to make their site exposure prevalent. First in order maximize the effectiveness of a website and gain the maximum amount of exposure, a website owner will have to use keywords with few characters. With computers it is always good to have keywords that expand up to 40 characters. When it comes to using mobile SEO a site owner will need to narrow it down to 15 keywords so that people can locate the site more quickly. Location is another parameter to go by in mobile SEO.

It is very important to make sure that the site is easily accessible in a convenient location that is quick to find. The location is much more important with mobile devices than it is with computers. Another factor is the browsers and with mobile devices they are varied. Having a website that can be found on multiple browsers will always be the most beneficial way to go. On mobile devices the content is very mediocre so when using mobile SEO you will need to make sure that the quality of your site is clear, concise and easy to navigate.

Mobile SEO is yet another way to get a website found but a site owner will need to make sure that their site is of the highest quality so that this form of SEO can be the most effective. Due to the fact that the internet is being accessed on mobile devices more often, it is imperative and very valuable to have a site that is easily accessible and provides quality information quickly for users.

Tagged

Mobile Phone Marketing Strategy

Posted by ingridm on November 4, 2011   |   Comments Off

Marketing can be a difficult process, but when marketing a mobile phone, the process is made easier. Today’s busy lifestyle has made it next to impossible for most Americans to coordinate anything without assistance from a mobile phone. Selling the idea that a mobile phone is more than an accessory is not a difficult thing when presented correctly.

Imagine a big city, where it makes more sense to rely on public transportation than to wrestle with traffic. Imagine trying to make an appointment, or pick up a child, or get to work on time, only to discover that you’ve missed your connecting bus by a minute and you’ll now be an hour late. Now picture having no way of being able to tell anyone that you’ll be late because you have no mobile phone and can’t find a pay phone. What if the lack of communication means that you lose your job?

Let’s try a simpler idea. What if you’e out of the house alone, and you get hurt but have no phone? How long before someone finds you? Or what if someone is trying to hurt you and you need help?

Even in a tough economy, that would be enough to scare anyone. Now the target consumer understands that they need a mobile phone, that it’s not a luxury. It can make all the difference. Sometimes it’s a convenience, but sometimes it’s a lifeline. Once they start to see it as a necessity, the questions change. How much do the phones cost? How much does the phone plan cost? How can I fit it into the budget?

After the consumer has accepted the need for a phone, marketing becomes slightly more difficult. In most cases the consumer will want a cheap phone, and now marketing turns into a negotiation. Telling a consumer who barely understands how to operate a desktop computer all about the phone’s 4G capabilities and GPS tracking systems will only confuse them. In those cases, emphasise quality. The point of a mobile phone is to have reliable communication in a crisis, but if you buy a phone with a short battery life that gets a lousy signal, it’s almost as bad as having no phone at all. Some less than tech savvy consumers will understand the idea of signal strength, but some won’t.

Marketing is the selling of an idea. Any idea can be sold if it is put in terms the target consumer can understand, and analogies are easy for most people to understand. Find out what sort of phone would best suit the consumer’s needs, and defeat the cheaper competition with an easy to understand analogy. The idea to sell is the difference between bargain brand aluminum foil, that tears far too easily, and the high-quality stuff that you can use to wrap shards of glass. Even someone with little technological understanding will be able to see the difference between a second-rate phone and something with an actual warranty if it’s put like that.

Tagged ,
Page 1 of 212