Mobile marketing

Thanks to the Internet potential, marketing strategies have made a huge step in terms of development and technology. The World Wide Web has basically created a single virtual global market, breaking down geographical barriers. The World Wide Web has substantially created a unique virtual global market overcoming any geographic barrier: through websites and on-line stores, companies can now reach potential clients that are on the other side of the world. However, today, there are even better strategies apart from theAnd as more and more people gain access to the internet , the population of your target market also increases. But today, there are even better strategies aside from the computer based media.apaap computer based media ones. One of most recent advertising developments isOne of the latest developments in advertising strategy is mobile marketing. mobile marketing. Mobile marketing is yet another form of marketing that makes use of mobile phone gadgets to send out advertising messages to your target market.Mobile marketing is yet another form of marketing that uses the mobile phone to send advertisements to the market of reference. The ads are sent through sms, mms, App, mobile sites and geo-localization services. But if you are unsure of the number of people that can be reached through this kind of media then don‘t worry, the numbers of people acquiring mobile devices are rapidly increasing which means the population of your market is increasing also.

Even according to Tim Brooks, managing director, Guardian News & Media, the business area to invest in is the mobile where for now The Guardian (one of the main newspapers in the United Kingdom) has less than 10% of users but is exponentially growing year after year. It has been estimated that this autumn in UK  80% of phones sold will be Smartphones: practically, in two or three years the entire English population will be online with their mobiles.

At present, it is possible to read thenews on The Guardian  free of charge through its website, but recently a application, to be downloaded on phones at a cost, has been launched. Tim Brooks analyses the behavior of users who reads the newspaper through the browser and who download the application on their phones: “ there is a behavior engagement difference: the web reader is a hasty, very quick and superficial, while those who download the application tend to thoroughly read the news”.

From a commercial point of view, the above also reflects on the proclivity that advertisers have for advertising through browsers rather than mobile. Many advertisers are not yet convinced of the potential of mobile advertising and prefer to plan only on the web. The goal is to find more effective means to get advertisers closer to the use of this communication channel and, have them understand that the digital world is endless as endless are the possibilities to create new things through strategic synergies. The success of the free “The Guardian Eyewitness” application for iPad, that The Guardian has developed in collaboration with Canon, is a clear example: 300.000 downloads of images among the most important and suggestive with an optimized interface exclusively for iPad. In reality, such application reproduces what is already on the digital page format: it is an alternative way to inform with (in) a new and contemporary “suit”.

However, it is necessary to underline that there are things to be considered before investing in this type of marketing strategy. But keep in mind that there are some things you need to consider first before investing in this kind of marketing strategy. When working on a specific market, it is necessary to be able to reach that exact portion of potential consumers so as to save time and money; the sending of messages to people that do not need that specific product could even be counterproductive. This way, you are able to make the most out of the money you invest in this kind of advertising media.

Besides the fact, the creation of advertising messages must be interesting enough for the target of reference: the message sent must be appealing to those who receive it, therefore no to tergiversating, yes to expressing the idea as fast as possible. This way, your recipient would not need to scroll down several times before getting the gist of your message. This way, the addressee will not need to scroll down several times to get the gist of the message. At present, mobile advertising is considered among the best and most innovative advertising strategies, even better than web marketing. There are now several companies who offer this service and they are not hard to find at all!

In 2010, investments in mobile advertising have increased by 15% compared to 2009, taking the market to a value of 38 million euros (source: Osservatorio Mobile Marketing & Service). The rapid diffusion of smartphones also in Italy (now 35% of mobile phones) is at the basis of the growth of mobile marketing: 10% more compared to the European average, with a positive trend of 12% compared to 2009.The sectors affected bythe “mobile revolution” are, besides the traditional finance and automotive (70% of the market), clothing and retail. Moreover, 41 leading investors have developed at least one branded App. Though, in spite of it all, the budgets set aside for mobile are still residual on the total of investments with a share of barely 0,5% in 2010 (source: stefanominguzzi.com): this demonstrates that though it is a niche sector the mobile sector may still achieve great results given the remarkable expansion of the market.

Try it to believe it..

Federica Mariotti