Mobile devices are highly personal, and marketing on the mobile device can be highly personalized and effective when done right.

It presents companies with an exciting means of engaging directly, and cheaply, with their market.

One of the key advantages of mobile marketing is the ability for people to act on advertising immediately - for example, phone numbers can be called at the click of a button; and discounts and incentives can be provided on cellphones in the moment of interest.

Mobile search is emerging as a giant opportunity in marketing As people are becoming more accustomed to searching for information on their cellphones, it becomes a greater opportunity to serve them advertising directly related to what they’re searching for. Hence, the ad is seen at exactly the right time and place when the customer has opted in to receiving more information. You can expect far greater return on investment from advertising delivered in this way.

Above all, however, is the fact that mobile marketing campaigns end up right where companies want to be – in the pockets and handbags of potential consumers throughout the day.

With such a powerful medium now available to business there are some pitfalls to be wary of – companies will do well to avoid the spam tag. Detailed customer databases and willing mobile communication sign-ups are the way to go and with this approach the mobile medium has the potential to talk directly to relevant audiences. Unwelcome marketing, on the other hand, can do more harm than good – cell phones are personal communication devices so there is always the danger that people will feel intruded upon when receiving unwanted messages from irrelevant sources.

At the recent Project Reboot conference presented by the Unilever Institute, Professor John Simpson noted that we have shifted from a “Sellers Market” to a “Buyers Market”.
Marketers thus need well thought-out and executed strategies to be successful in this arena. To date, mobile campaigns have worked best when consumers are prompted to ‘pull’ information themselves – for example, by SMSing a number to enter a competition or request more information on a product or service.

Currently, the ubiquitous ‘bulk SMS’ tactic has overpowered the many other equally valuable opportunities that modern cell phones afford – opportunities that are constantly being adapted and developed to meet and shape consumer demand.

To this end companies would do well to take a cue from the mobile communication explosion that is Twitter. Experts agree that one main reason for its phenomenal growth in recent months is the fact that it developed a service that was well adapted to current mobile user behaviour. The Twitter message is 140 characters long – the same length as a standard SMS. Companies that develop mobile applications or services that require new learning may not be as successful.

Lester Hein of Afrigator, South Africa’s leading blog directory, concurs with this assessment. He also maintains that one area that currently remains underutilized is mobile Internet access – where users browse the Internet directly from their mobile handsets.

“Many websites have not been reconfigured to suit mobile phone viewing and interaction, making the experience of surfing the web from your phone frustrating and confusing for some.

“But mobile is so relevant right now – it is one of the big growth areas at a time when the world economy is stagnating. Mobile platforms are growing as companies look to engage with consumers and add value through the medium,” says Hein.

Mobile uses, however, are definitely not limited to marketing purposes. Businesses can also implement value-adding services at relatively low costs to improve client relationships and retention.

ACSA (Airports Company South Africa), for example, initiated an SMS service whereby people could SMS the word ‘parking’ to a number and then receive information on parking availability at their local airport during the redevelopment phase when parking spaces would be limited, especially during the busy holiday periods.

This represents a simple, but effective and handy service that makes the client’s life easier at no great cost to them or the company. Similar such services are sure to become more common in the months and years ahead.

If marketers are still not convinced, however, and are looking for further proof that mobile marketing is all it’s cracked up to be they need look no further than the resounding success of Barack Obama’s presidential marketing campaign last year.

The mobilemarketing.com website cites Obama’s SMS campaign as a “turning point in mobile marketing history”. More than 2.9 million mobile text messages were said to have been released when Obama announced Senator Joe Biden as his vice presidential candidate – allowing Obama supporters to learn about the news before it was splashed over TV sets and newspapers.

The immediacy of mobile, along with the multiplicity of ways it can be used, make it an extremely potent marketing medium when used correctly. Marketers would do well to start learning about it.