Online marketing goes up

Online marketing goes up:

Old media got left behind in the race to go online, in part because the prospects for advertising, traditionally the major revenue generator for newspapers, magazines and television, seemed unclear on the Internet. Then online advertising took off, and old media are still playing catch-up.
Now, with the next iteration of the Internet, the mobile Web, spreading around the world, publishers and other content providers are trying to keep up, lest they get in late on another advertising bonanza.
Last week in London, the Online Publishers Association released a study showing that use of the mobile Internet is on the rise, along with acceptance of mobile advertising.
The survey, conducted by TNS Media and Entertainment in the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, found that 76 percent of cell phone owners in those countries now have access to the Web from mobile devices. The researchers, who polled about 1,000 people in each country, found that more than a third of those with mobile Web access used such services. The Web-using population ranged from 34 percent in France to 54 percent in Britain.
Studies commissioned by trade organizations are sometimes just disguised marketing exercises, and indeed the publishers' group's numbers seem surprisingly high, compared with other recent surveys of Web access by mobile phone users. According to a research firm based in Seattle, 14 percent of British cell phone users accessed the Web for news and information in the fourth quarter. In Germany, a mere 3.2 percent did so, according to the firm.
Still, even if the lower estimates are right, mobile marketing could be a big thing, simply because the numbers are enormous. Some oft-repeated measures: Around one billion mobile phones will be sold around the world this year. Globally, there are more cell phones than PCs.
"I always hear about the cell phone as being the 'third screen,' but I think about it as the first one," In advertising terms, however, the mobile remains very much the third screen, behind television and the PC. Outside Asia, where mobile advertising has grown rapidly in markets like Japan, activity is still dominated by "text and response" campaigns that ask users to send text messages for more information on a product, or to enter a contest, for example.
The personal nature of the link between cell phones and their users has made marketers tread carefully. Some kinds of mobile advertising — unsolicited text-message spam, for instance — are illegal or against advertising regulatory codes in many countries.
The online publishers' survey indicated that consumers remain wary. Only 18 percent of respondents in the United States said they were receptive to the idea of watching ads in exchange for free mobile content. The percentage was higher in Europe, where 37 percent said they would do so.
But the study also showed how effective mobile advertising could be, if the personal space can be entered deftly. Sizable percentages of respondents said they had visited a Web site, for instance, or requested more information about a product, as a result of a mobile ad.
In an effort to get more marketers into mobile, Nokia last week announced two new services that aim to stimulate the development of mobile advertising. One of the new programs will help digital advertising specialists roll out campaigns for cell phone-based media applications like music players and navigation systems. The other will help agencies adapt digital campaigns for the mobile web.
With mobile media embracing an increasingly diverse array of devices and formats, from video game players to portable newspaper readers, that may be no easy task. But, if you believe the marketing, the payoff could be sizable.
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From Road shows to Mobile Marketing

From road shows to Mobile marketing:
The more traditional form involves marketing on the move like moving billboards and road shows. The second type refers to marketing on a mobile phone like cell phone. Since the onset of millennium, mobile marketing though cell phone has become very popular. Short message service popularly known as SMS has made marketing by this method a lot easier.

There were some problems in the beginning as unwanted information was being sent to people. Most of the SMS that was passed around was spam and it received negative media response in all parts of the world. This was because a sector of the advertisers bought list of mobile users and began sending them unsolicited messages. They were later stopped due to strict security measures and laws passed. The marketing industry recognized the potential of mobile marketing and utilized it to the full extent.

The mobile service providers coded guidelines and laws. It then became a legal advertising channel. The Mobile Marketing Association also have laid down guidelines for the proper functioning of mobile marketing.

Mobile marketing has become popular in Asia and Europe as it is a novel idea and in Europe alone hundreds of millions of pounds have been investing in sms advertising. Now SMS has become the most famous part of mobile marketing. Because of the popularity of short codes, SMSing has become a lot easier. This has created a new approach to reach out to potential customers. Now mobile short codes are looked upon as mobile domain name, by many of the brands around the world, when the customers message the brand at any occasion.

In America, the first SMS short code campaign was started in 2002. SMS containing short codes are easier to send a message with complete information. Short codes are usually numbers that are assigned to mobile operators of a particular location, which they use for brand campaigning and other purposes. They are very small, like they contain only four to five words. These numbers are always under scrutiny by the service provider and each and every message is monitored to see that they do not go against the original service description.

Like opt-in emails, customers have to opt for SMSes. This is the biggest criterion, which the advertiser has to follow in order to send a promotional SMS. Some of the mobile operators ask for double opt-in form from the receiver. At the same time opting out is made easy for the customer. When the customer wishes to terminate receiving messages, they have to send the word ‘STOP’ via SMS.
All these guidelines have been laid by the Mobile Marketing Association consumer best practice guidelines and it’s a compulsion to follow those by all the marketers who wish to do mobile marketing in America.

Now, service providers have started to provide the option of sending sms to e-mail addresses. Other than this, other services provided are mobile games, mobile tones etc., which are used for promotional purposes. This has lead to the invention of MMS or Multi-media Message Service, through which short promotional videos and animations can be send. Bluetooth is another good technology. It started in 2003, and many companies in Europe have found it useful. When a message is send via Bluetooth, the receiver should accept request from the sender. So, sending messages by this method is legitimate. The message transfer speed is high and is also a free service as it is a radio-based technology.

The method of sending sms advertisement to mobile phone users based on their geographical location is known as Location based service. The customer is tracked via a GPS chip which is built-in the phone. Radiolocation signals from the nearest cell phone towers are used for this purpose.

Mobile marketing follows a very safe marketing strategy, as it is customer opted. The short message sent through this method is known as mobile originated or MO message. If the advertisement is done through a call, the call is known as mobile terminated or MT message. As there is a phenomenal increase in the number of mobile phone users, this kind of marketing is a sure hit.

www.wire2air.com
(sms gateway and Mobile marketing solutions provider)