Mobile phone marketing, otherwise known as SMS marketing, is the present evolution of direct advertising. Direct advertising has always been favored by companies as a specialized and focused method of reaching potential customers and, with the popularity of mobiles, SMS marketing has risen in usage. Digital marketing is perhaps best defined as the practice of promoting products and services using digital distribution channels to reach consumers in a quick, appropriate, personalized and economic manner.
The most prevalent example of digital marketing is SMS marketing, which has expanded rapidly in Europe and Asia. It is predicted that several hundred million marketing messages are sent through SMS every month in Europe alone. SMS stands for ’short message service’ and is a communication form specific to mobiles where a short message can be quickly sent to any mobile phone owner. As well as sending information to consumers, promoters can often encourage consumers to join in marketing and brand exposure campaigns by encouraging consumers to SMS a specific number at an event in order to enter a competition, to receive a prize or to have their SMS displayed on a multimedia wall at an event. All of these methods engages the customer through the medium of SMS and creates brand awareness.
There are many other forms of digital marketing. One variation is sending messages via MMS, which is a multimedia version of SMS, allowing consumers to receive texts with color, pictures and video. There is also mobile web marketing, where brands publicize marketing goals through websites accessed by mobiles. Marketers often make innovative use of SMS marketing such as location-based services where consumers are offered specific marketing and other network-related information and marketing information based on their whereabouts. With the variety of methods and choices available to promoters, it is no wonder that a recent marketing survey found that 89% of major brands planned to advertise their products through digital marketing by the end of 2008.
Digital marketing is an example of what is known within the industry as “push” marketing. The idea behind push marketing is that that the company has to send (push) the material to the consumer in order for the message to be received. This is different to “pull” marketing, a more unobtrusive form of advertising, where it is customers who seek out the information from sources such as websites or blogs.
There are several positives to SMS marketing. Primarily, the attraction is that this mode of advertising can be personalized to the subscriber. This is the gold standard in marketing as it means getting the campaign specifically to the people it’s aimed at, instead of squandering money on an broad campaign. The personalization allowed by this type of marketing, which results in a more cost-effective campaign, is one reason why a high return on investment is possible with SMS marketing. Another advantage of SMS marketing is the detailed tracking and reporting of users it allows. Through this medium, businesses can track how many subscribers received their message and also access detailed information about each consumer such as their name, their age, their demographic and where they’re located. This allows a marketer to raise profiles of their subscribers; information which then guides future marketing campaigns and, ideally, their success.
It is noted in the industry that push marketing, of which SMS marketing is a type, can help drive new cash flows and brand exposure if it is implemented correctly and sensitively. This is because it makes subscribers aware of recent changes that they may not know to find already and the way the material is written, and even the fact that the message is being delivered by a modern, young medium such as SMS, can say a lot about a brand and a business.
There are, however, some negatives to SMS marketing. Inherently, it needs a mechanism - the mobile phone - in order to send information. The company, as well, must make use of specialized technology and software in order to deliver the content to users, which can mean significant outgoings. Another negative is the fact that SMS marketing is heavily regulated by the telecommunications industry in response to consumer worries about what information and advertising they get shown. Most Western countries have laws in place that compel companies to gain the consent of users before marketing content is received by them and must clearly provide them with an ‘opt out’ clause if they request to stop receiving information. If companies are discovered to be in breach of these laws, network providers can block marketing content by companies.
As mobile technology develops, SMS marketing will surely continue to gather in importance.