What is mobile marketing?

Mobile marketing is a term that refers to connecting with consumers through their mobile device, often using SMS (text messaging), MMS (multimedia messaging) or voice capabilities. Mobile marketing requires that users specifically give permission to receive messages from marketers. This is intended to eliminate or greatly reduce spam and ensure that consumers are not being bothered by or even charged for unwanted messages.

The upside for marketers is very powerful. Although you don't have to build a list of opted-in consumers (you can run some kinds of promotions without having a list), when you do build a mobile list (a "mob"), you have an ongoing direct and personal connection to someone who has specifically said they'd like to hear from you. From a marketer's perspective, there's not much better than having someone say "yes, please market to me!" And, perhaps best of all, you are able to reach consumers at what Mozes calls "the point of inspiration." That is, when consumers are directly engaged with your brand. Imagine if you're in charge of marketing an NBA basketball team. You can send messages to your mob right there at the game, send them to the merchandise counter with a 10% off coupon, or give them a chance to buy tickets for tomorrow's game right after you win at the final buzzer. Imagine how much more effective those promotions would be relative to the same promotions received by email two days later when the fan is at home or at work. That's one simple example of the power of mobile marketing.

Reaching your audience

Although mobile web and video usage are growing, only a small population of subscribers uses these capabilities regularly. This means that right now the most effective way to reach your audience is via text and voice messaging, since virtually 100% of the phones in operation today have text capabilities.

So how do you get started? The process usually starts with obtaining a keyword. A keyword is a mobile alias. For instance, the band Fall Out Boy has the keyword FOB. If you want to join Fall Out Boy's mob you could join their mob online at www.mozes.com/fob, or you could text their keyword, FOB, to the Mozes shortcode 66937 to join. Once you have a keyword, then you can promote that keyword in any number of ways, usually with some kind of offer that gives fans or consumers a reason to want to join. For example:

• An apparel retailer puts ads in lifestyle magazines giving consumers 20% off anything in their stores by texting their keyword (and joining their mob). When the consumer joins, they're given a promotion code redeemable at their retail stores. Each month, they're given offers of complimentary merchandise or inside information when sales will occur.
• A major hip-hop artist prompts fans to call their phone line from the artist's MySpace page. When fans call, they hear messages from the artist and are given a chance to purchase special ringtones only available to members of their mob.
• A maker of specialized racing bikes does a cross-promotion with an upcoming bike racing movie. In their stores and online ads, they urge consumers to participate in their mobile bike racing trivia contest, with winning fans being entered to win a walk-on part in the movie.

In all of these cases, the marketer created a keyword, provided something of value to the consumer, the consumer opted-in to participate from their mobile device and the marketer now has the opportunity to engage with that fan or consumer and build a long-term relationship.

Measurability

Marketers are always looking to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns and activities, and the mobile environment offers outstanding measurement capabilities. For instance, the Mozes Connect™ platform provides reporting and analytics on:

• What percentage of your mob took part in a campaign
• Participant demographics (age, location, gender, etc.)
• Response rates to specific poll questions
• Mob size and growth over time

The Mozes Connect™ platform also allows for narrowcasting, so if you have good demographic information in your mob data base, you could send one message to, say, females in the Atlanta area and a different message to males under 30 in Seattle.

Why having a mobile strategy is so important

Simply put, mobile is working. Nielsen reports that of 58 million U.S. mobile subscribers have seen an ad on their phone - and a staggering 51% of these subscribers have responded to the ad in some way.

In fact, mobile users have indicated they actually want to receive messages if they offer something truly of value. So there's no surprise that mobile response rates have been exceptional. Not convinced yet? Check out the mobile stats below:

• There are currently 267M US mobile subscribers - that's more than 85% of the US population.
• The number of text messages is up 450% in two years.
• 46% of tweens have mobile phones and 55% send text messages.

Sources: Nielsen Mobile Customer Value Metrics, Q2 2008; Nielsen Mobile Kids Insights, Q2 2008; Mobile Media Measurement bill-panel survey; Nielsen Mobile Advertising Report, Q1 2008

For more information

Mozes is glad to help you with your mobile marketing needs, whether you're just starting out in mobile and need a few questions answered, or a Fortune 1000 brand who needs strategic consulting on best-practices and campaign development. Contact us for more information.