Mobile Marketing Trendsand small businesses

LEGAL NOTICE

The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete

as possible in the creation of this report,

notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or

represent at any time that the contents within are

accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the

Internet.

While all attempts have been made to verify information

provided in this publication, the Publisher assumes no

responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary

interpretation of the subject matter herein. Any

perceived slights of specific persons, peoples, or

organizations are unintentional.

In practical advice books, like anything else in life,

there are no guarantees of income made. Readers are

cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their

individual circumstances to act accordingly.

This book is not intended for use as a source of medical,

legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All

readers are advised to seek services of competent

professionals in medical, legal, business, accounting,

and finance field.

Table of contents

Chapter 1 Understanding mobile commerce _______________________________5

Chapter 2 Mobile Marketing goes mainstream- Instigation of mobile marketing___7

Chapter 3 Growth and expansion of Mobile Marketing_______________________9

Chapter 4 Mobile Marketing Reach______________________________________11

Chapter 5 Affordability and Effectiveness of Text Message Marketing __________13

Chapter 6 Challenges faced by mobile marketing from social media marketing ___15

Chapter 7 Integrating mobile strategies with non-mobile strategies____________17

Chapter 8 Mobile Marketing and Viral communication ______________________19

Chapter 9 How does it benefit a small business to go mobile-friendly?__________21

Chapter 10 Breakthrough strategies on how to succeed in a mobile marketingCampaign ________________________________________________23

Chapter 1: Understanding Mobile Commerce

Marketing can simply be defined as the art ofselling products. This implies that marketingaims at understanding the needs of the customersand creating a product or service that thecustomers are ready to buy. Today, marketing isnot as simple as it used to be. Marketing ischanging and so is the marketplace. The mainreasons for change in which marketing is done arechanging technology and globalization. Today, themarketplace is digital rather than physical. Thisis the underlying concept of mobile marketing ormobile commerce.

Traditionally, mobile marketing can be defined asmarketing in a moving fashion whereby companiesmake use of mobile promotional methods forselling their products and services. The bestexample of this is the moving billboards used forselling products and services. However, with theemerging technology, this definition has beenreplaced. Today, mobile marketing means sellingproducts and services to the existing as well asthe potential customers with the help of anymobile device or a network. Mobile commerce is aninteractive form of marketing whereby companiesand organizations are able to remain in touch andcommunicate with their customers as and whenrequired.

Mobile commerce is customer controlled as opposedto traditional marketing and even e-commerce.When an organization or a marketer has to sellproducts and services, he has to wait till thecustomer agrees to take part in the exchange.Even after the exchange of products and serviceshas been agreed upon, it is the customer whocontrols the exchange by defining the rules ofthe transaction. It is the customers who decidewhat information they need, what are they

interested in and what price are they ready topay for a particular product or service. This isperhaps one of the main reasons for mobilemarketing becoming popular.

There are various ways in which mobile marketingcan be achieved. One of the most popular methodsof carrying on mobile commerce is by making useof SMS or short message service. This was perhapsthe very first means using which companies andmarketers would sell their products and services.With the changing technology, the methods ofmobile marketing are rapidly changing. Today,mobile commerce can be carried out using MMS, web,Bluetooth, and even location based services.

Mobile marketing is indeed the most popular andeasy means of marketing which is used bymarketers these days and is gaining more and morepopularity with each passing day.

Chapter 2: Mobile Marketing goes mainstream:Instigation of Mobile Marketing

Marketing for a very long time has been carriedout through traditional media like television,newspapers, radio etc. The changing technologyhas however changed the way marketing is donethese days and has led to the emergence of whatis called mobile marketing. We already know thatmobile marketing makes use of mobile devices forthe purpose of communicating with customers. Whenmobile marketing was first introduced, it wasbelieved to be more of a trend. Today, however,mobile marketing has gone mainstream and it is nolonger a niche but one of the most popular meansof marketing.

There are several reasons of why mobile marketinghas gone mainstream. One of main reasons for thepopularity of mobile marketing is that it iscustomer controlled. The traditional media liketelevision assume that the customers or audienceare passive recipients of the message. This,however, is not true. The customers these daysrule the market and buy what they want to andeven decide the rules of the market. By makingcustomer the king, mobile marketing has emergedas one of the best methods using which companiescan sell their products and services to a largercustomer base.

Another reason for the emergence of mobilemarketing as a mainstream marketing concept isthat it is both interactive and involving. Alsocustomers can get in depth and completeinformation about what they are buying. Studiesreveal that customers have a “lean forward”approach to this form of marketing rather thanthe “lean back” approach which they follow fortraditional marketing.

Another imperative reason for the popularity ofmobile marketing is the pervasiveness of mobilephones in the life of people these days. Mobilesfollow people everywhere and greatly affect theway people lead their lives making it necessaryfor the retailers and marketers to shift to thispersonal medium for marketing.

In addition to all this, mobile marketing is costeffective. This form of marketing providesquantifiable results in a shorter time period atmuch lower costs as compared to the traditionalform of marketing. Also this form of marketing asa direct response channel helps an organizationto reach out to a larger number of customersthereby increasing the number of customers thatit acquires.

Mobile marketing is smart marketing and a conceptthat all retailers and marketers need to shift toin order to compete with their counterparts inthis ever volatile economy.

Chapter 3: Growth and Expansionof Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing is the marketing process whereinretailers and marketers communicate with theircustomers using mobile devices, electronic mediaand networks. This also implies that mobilemarketing enables an organization to reach out toa larger number of customers who are spreadacross the globe.

The concept of mobile marketing is new. Thisconcept of marketing has emerged with thechanging technology. The ever improving anddeveloping technology has made it possible formarketers to communicate with their customersthrough mobile devices and at any time.

Over the last few years, the marketplace has seengrowth and expansion in mobile marketing. Thiscan be attributed to the introduction of SMS.Short message service was one of the first meansusing which retailers and marketers reached outto their customers. A short message was sent tothe customers whose numbers marketers hadcollected for the promotion of products andservices. The increased use of this service hasmade it one of the most popular means by whichmobile marketing is carried out today. Thepopularity of this service IS clear from the factthat in Europe alone around 100 million messagesare sent out every month for the purpose ofmarketing.

With changing technology, the means using whichmobile marketing is carried out has also beenchanging. The expansion of mobile marketingglobally can be attributed to the web. Theinternet makes use of several pages that can beaccessed by mobile phones. These pages have

advertisements placed on them and thus a marketeris able to reach out to millions of customers atany given time.

Mobile marketing has benefited not only largeorganizations but also small and medium sizedbusinesses. Small businesses have been able toexpand their operations using mobile marketingstrategy. Mobile marketing, being cost effectivehas made it possible for small and medium sizedbusinesses also to expand the number of customersthat they are able to reach. Using messages andthe web, small businesses can now gain a largernumber of potential customers.

The growth of mobile marketing is clear from thefact that three out of four mobile subscribersreceive text advertisements and respond to themin a positive manner. Also a larger number ofcompanies are integrating mobile devices intotheir marketing campaigns so that they can earnmore profits and gain more customers at a lowercost as compared to traditional marketing methods.

Chapter 4: Mobile Marketing Reach

Mobile marketing by virtue of its name has theability to reach a large number of customersacross the globe. It is the form of marketingwhich follows people everywhere they go becauseit is done with the help of mobile devices.

To reach out to a large customer base, mobilemarketing like conventional form of marketingrequires market research. Market research formobile marketing needs to be carried out in aseries of steps so that the organizations end upcreating products that meet the needs of thecustomers and products which the customer getscompelled to buy.

The first step of mobile marketing research is tostudy the potential market and the customers thatthis form of marketing wants to reach. For such aresearch, the marketers need to collect differenttypes of data and analyze it as per the needs ofmobile marketing campaign. Once the market hasbeen studied and analyzed, the second step is toformulate objectives, analytical models and toidentify the various factors that can have aneffect on customers that mobile marketing istrying to target. Once the basic steps have beenperformed, the marketers need to develop a reportthat gives a detail analysis of the market demand,potential and penetration. It is this report thatforms the basis of the extent of reach thatmobile marketing can have.

Also it has already been stated that mobilemarketing is customer controlled and customeroriented. In order to reach out to the maximumnumber of customers, mobile marketing strategiesneed to understand the needs of the customers. Amobile marketing strategy which has the ability

to identify and satisfy the unfulfilled needs ofcustomers can help an organization surviveprofitably in this competitive marketplace.

Mobile marketing and its ability to reach to alarger number of customers depends a lot ontechnology. Mobile marketers, therefore, toensure that they can develop a large customerbase need to study some trends in technology.These basically include the pace of change intechnology and opportunities for innovations.

Technology is every emerging and to stand in thecompetitive marketplace, mobile marketers need toimplement new ideas successfully. In addition,mobile marketing has unlimited opportunities forinnovation and the mobile marketers need tointroduce products that are affordable and makeuse of the latest innovative techniques. Oncethese essentials are understood by a marketer,mobile marketing becomes even easier and amarketer has the ability to reach out to millionsof customers at any given time.

Chapter 5: Affordability and Effectivenessof Text Message Marketing

Mobile marketing can easily be achieved using SMS.In fact, short message service was one of thefirst mobile marketing tools to have beensuccessfully used to reach out to potentialcustomers. An SMS is a short text message whichis written in a manner which attracts thecustomers to the products and services thatmobile marketers are trying to sell. Even today,with emerging technology, a text message isconsidered as one of most affordable andeffective means of mobile marketing.

Mobile marketing is both affordable and effective.When compared with traditional forms of marketing,this form of marketing turns out to be lesscostly. In addition, this form of marketing helpsa marketer to get better returns on theinvestment made in a short time period. Textmessage marketing is considered to be moreaffordable as compared to marketing usingconventional marketing media, especially thetelevision. When marketers market their productsthrough television, they have to pay out a hugesum of money for getting the prime spots as theseare spots which are viewed by a larger number ofcustomers. As opposed to this, text messages formarketing and promotion of products and servicescan be sent at any time and to a larger number ofcustomers.

Talking about the effectiveness of text messagemarketing, a marketer is able to reach out to thepotential target audience with more efficiency ascompared to the other forms of marketing media.For instance, when television is used formarketing purposes, there are chances that thepotential and targeted audience is not evenviewing the marketing campaign. This results in a

loss of both money and customers. Text messagemarketing, on the other hand, being a one to onemarketing medium, helps the marketers reach outthe targeted audience and make a larger customerbase.

One of the best things about text messagemarketing is that it is very quick. As opposed tomarketing using television and newspapers whichtake a lot of time, text messages can be sent outquickly to the target audience.

Owing to its effectiveness and affordability,marketing using text messages is becoming moreand more powerful, popular and is being widelyaccepted by customers as well as companies acrossthe globe. It is indeed the most effective way toreach customers in this competitive marketingworld and to get a quantifiable and quickresponse from them.

Chapter 6: Challenges faced by mobile marketingfrom social media marketing

Mobile marketing as the name suggests is the formof marketing where the marketers make use ofmobile devices to sell their products andservices. Social media marketing is the type ofmarketing where marketers make use of socialmedia and networks to market their products andservices. In simple terms, social media marketingis facilitated with the help of internet access.Both forms of marketing are fast gainingimportance and becoming very popular owing to thefact that they can help marketers andorganizations to gain a larger number ofcustomers and earn more profits.

Mobile marketing makes use of mobile devices andweb pages that can be accessed over the mobiledevices for selling products. Social mediamarketing, on the other hand, makes use ofplatforms like facebook, twitter, Youtube etc.for marketing products. With the ever increasinguse of the internet by people across the world,mobile marketing is facing a few challenges bysocial media marketing.

Social media has been adopted by a largepopulation and this is one of the main reasonswhy organizations need to have social mediapresence. This has led to a decrease in thepopularity of mobile marketing.

One of the main aspects of both mobile marketingand social media marketing is that customercontrols the marketing campaign and marketplace.It has, however, been seen that most customersthese days do not rely on mobile messages andadvertisements. In fact, customers these daysaccess the internet themselves and get complete

information on the various products and servicesthat interest them. This, social media marketingposes a threat to the popularity of mobilemarketing in terms of the relationship that hasto be maintained with the customers.

Social media marketing also poses a threat tomobile marketing because the internet is veryeasy to use. Almost all people find it very easyto make use of the various websites on theinternet. Also social media marketing is lesscostly when compared to mobile marketing. Thewide accessibility and reach of social mediamarketing are further making this form ofmarketing more popular than mobile marketing.

Like mobile marketing, social media marketingalso enables the marketers to target the desiredaudience but in a better manner and on a widerscale.

For organizations who want the best of mobile andsocial media marketing, the best thing to do isto integrate mobile marketing with social mediato stay connected with a large number of existingand potential customers.

Chapter 7: Integrating mobile strategieswith non mobile strategies

Marketing of products and services can be carriedout using different means and methods. Marketingstrategies aim at developing marketing campaignsthat help the organizations reach the targetedaudience effectively and efficiently.Organizations these days make use of severaltypes of media for marketing their products andservices. The traditional marketing mediaincludes television, radio, newspapers, brochures,magazines etc. Mobile marketing media makes useof mobile devices to market products and socialmedia marketing makes use of the internet formarketing purposes. On this basis, the marketingstrategies that organizations develop can bebroadly classified into mobile marketingstrategies and non mobile marketing strategies.

The mobile marketing strategies are marketingplans which aim to sell products and services tocustomers using mobile devices. This type ofstrategy assumes that all existing and potentialcustomers make use of mobile devices. The otherform of marketing strategy i.e. the non mobilestrategies are the ones which involve marketingplans that make use of media like newspapers,television, internet etc.

Any mobile marketing campaign, to be successful,needs to integrate mobile marketing strategiesand non mobile marketing strategies. This meansthat the mobile marketing must be used with anorganization’s ongoing marketing strategies andadvertising efforts instead of this form ofmarketing completely taking over the ongoingmarketing plan.

The main reason for integrating a mobilemarketing strategy with the non mobile andongoing marketing strategies is the fact thatmobiles are being used by all people across theworld. Also with the increase in mobile usage andthe use of mobiles to their fullest potential,making use of mobiles for marketing becomesalmost imperative for different organizations.Another reason for this integration is that mostsearches take place on mobiles these days. Usersthese days are actively using their mobile phonesfor different purposes. In addition to this, mostmobile users do not treat mobile marketingadvertisements as intrusive and respond in apositive manner to these advertisements.

There are several advantages of integratingmobile strategies with non mobile marketingstrategies. One of the main benefits of thisintegration is that it helps the marketers toreach out to a larger number of customers withgreater efficiency. Also this type of integrationhelps to reach out the customers easily anywhereand anytime. In addition, this type of amarketing strategy is affordable and veryeffective. An integrated marketing strategy alsohelps the marketers to communicate with existingas well as potential customers with ease.

Chapter 8: Mobile Marketingand Viral Communication

Viral communication is used for marketingpurposes. This type of communication makes use ofthe existing social networks to helporganizations and marketers achieve theirmarketing objectives. Marketing via viralcommunication began when people started usingemails to share their ideas with others. Viralcommunication can be used for marketing purposesusing different types of promotional methods liketext messages, video clips, images, interactivegames etc.

Mobile marketing using viral communication can beachieved using text messages. In other words,when it comes to viral marketing using mobiles,text messages are the most important tools.

There are several reasons as to why text messagesplay a significant role in viral communicationfor mobile marketing. One of the main reasons isthat all mobile users make use of text messages.Also it has been reported that most mobile usersread the text messages and respond to them.Another reason is that mobile users make use ofmobiles for almost all purposes, be it forsearching the internet or for sharing content.This makes the marketers target a larger numberof customers by placing their advertisements andpromotional strategies in the form of messages onthe internet pages that people access using theirmobile devices.

When mobile marketing is carried out using viralcommunication, it is very cost effective. Sendingmessages not only involves low costs but alsoensures that there is a good response from

customers in a short time period. This helps themarketers to get high returns on investments made.

However, before making use of viral communicationfor mobile marketing, it is very important todevelop an effective marketing strategy. Themarketing strategy for mobile marketing must besuch that customers feel compelled to buy theproducts and services marketed. When designingmessages in the marketing strategy, it becomesvery important that the viral messages are shortand simple. This makes the transmission ofmessages over the social networks and mobiledevices very easy. In addition, messages gettransmitted without degradation.

Also when developing a viral communication mobilemarketing strategy, it must be ensured thatmarketers make use of the existing communicationand social networks. This helps the marketers tospread their messages quickly and to a largernumber of people. Also one must take advantage ofother’s resources to be successful in viralcommunication mobile marketing. This is perhapsthe best way of relaying the marketing message tocustomers.

Chapter 9: How does it benefit a smallbusiness to go mobile friendly?

Mobile marketing as a marketing concept suits alltypes of businesses. Where a large businessorganization has many alternatives when it comesto marketing, a small business organization has afew options. The main reason for a small businessto have few marketing options is that a smallbusiness organization has a limited budget formarketing. In such a case, mobile marketing suitsthe needs of a small scale business organizationbecause this type of marketing is the one whichinvolves the lowest possible cost.

There are several reasons as to why mobilemarketing is considered the best for a smallbusiness. Mobiles are being used by all types ofpeople these days for all purposes. Therefore,for a small business, a mobile becomes the bestmedium to convey marketing messages to variouscustomers. A mobile is always carried along. Thisensures that when marketers send a message, itcan be easily read anytime, anywhere and can beacted upon almost immediately.

For a small business, it is very important thatthe right kind of audience be targeted. It hasalready been said that small businesses havelimited marketing budgets which means they cannotmiss any opportunity of targeting the rightaudience. Mobile marketing ensures that thetarget audience receives the message. This helpsa small business to establish a customer basethat enables the business to earn better returnson investments made.

There are many advantages for a small business togo mobile friendly. These are:

Affordable- The cost of sending messagesover a mobile for marketing purposes isquite less, especially when it iscompared with other types of marketingmedia.

Effectiveness- Mobile marketing isconsidered to be very effective forsmall businesses in the sense that mostmobile users respond to the messages.This may not be the case when a smallbusiness makes use of other types ofmarketing media, say the television ordirect mailing.

Integration- When a small business makesuse of mobile devices for marketing, itdoes not mean that it has to refrainitself from using other marketing media.In fact, mobile devices can beintegrated with other forms oftraditional marketing media liketelevision, newspaper, radio etc.

Viral communication- The use of mobiledevices for marketing by smallbusinesses also helps them to reach outto a larger customer base when themessages are relayed over existingsocial networks. This helps thebusinesses to earn better profits.

So, mobile marketing can be considered the mostviable for a small business.

Chapter 10: Breakthrough strategies in how tosucceed in a mobile marketing campaign

All types of businesses these days are going infor mobile marketing because of the advantages itoffers. Mobile marketing or marketing via mobiledevices and networks is cost effective, efficientand helps organizations earn more profits asopposed to traditional marketing practices.Whenever an organization goes in for a mobilemarketing campaign, it is necessary that it knowshow to succeed in the campaign.

To get the desired results from a mobilemarketing campaign, it becomes imperative for anorganization to formulate a strategy for the same.A mobile marketing strategy must be carefullythought of and planned so that the targetedcustomers get the desired product or service. Amobile marketing strategy must focus on thecustomers as the customers control and influencethe mobile marketing marketplace.

A mobile marketing strategy must be planned wellin advance by any organization that plans toundertake such a campaign. In addition, thestrategy must be implemented as thought of sothat the desired results can be achieved.

Given below are some tips which help anorganization to develop breakthrough strategiesin mobile marketing that ensure a high successrate.

The first thing that needs to be done isto decide the goals of the organizationin the sense what the organization wantsto achieve from the mobile marketing

campaign. When the goals are clearlydefined, everybody works to achieve themresulting in a successful marketingcampaign.

An organization must think SMART. Whenwe talk of mobile marketing SMART meansspecific, measurable, achievable,realistic and timely. This implies thatwhen a marketing strategy has beenspecifically stated with measurable,achievable and realistic goals and isimplemented in a timely manner, there isno chance of the marketing campaignfailing.

Market research and understanding arenecessary parts of a mobile marketingstrategy to ensure that the campaignsucceeds. This is important so that anorganization knows the customers that itis dealing with.

A mobile marketing strategy where themediums to be used are properly definedis always successful.

Any mobile marketing campaign becomessuccessful only when the marketingmessage that has been designed in thestrategy is able to inspire the targetaudience.

The best way to succeed in a mobile marketingcampaign is to ensure that the right channels areused to reach the targeted customers. This is theonly way in which an organization can earn betterreturns on investments made.