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Mobile marketing can be classified into
two types based on the technology involved. 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 the people. Most of the
SMS that were 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. 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 and Interactive Advertising Bureau 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 STOP word
by 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 email 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.
When using your website to add to your mobile marketing you can
make use of search
engine optimization in South Africa for your local
websites.
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