Archive for August 27th, 2009

According to reports, at the end of December 2008, the US has approximately 271 million cell phones in use, which is about 88.04% of the population. That is a large market waiting to be tapped.

But with mobile marketing, it’s different. As opposed to just sending your message out there in the form of traditional advertising and marketing and hoping that it reaches someone in your target market, you could have your target audience come to you with mobile marketing. With mobile marketing, the end-user has to opt-in – that is, they choose to receive your message.

But, in what ways can these platforms enhance my marketing, you ask.

Below are some of the latest trends in mobile marketing and ways they might work for your company:

Apps (or applications) are third-party software programs developed specifically for the end-user to download to their mobile device. Apps typically do not work across all smartphone technologies and can only be used with the hardware it was designed for.

Apps:
     – Take time and money to create
     – Must be submitted and approved by that particular smartphone provider (i.e. Apple)
     – End-user must download and utilize the application
     – Provide little to no interaction between the company and client
     – Allow for no interaction between the company and the end-user

Example: Apps like i-Clickr enables the user to use their iPhone/iPod Touch as a PowerPoint remote clicker allowing them to view the slide and slide notes right from the Apple mobile device as they present. This app is great for day-to-day business use, and your company can incorporate its logo, theme or marketing message into it to brand the app.

QR (or Quick Response) Bar Codes are two-dimensional bar codes that can store addresses and URLs. The bar code may appear in magazines, on signs, business cards or any other form of print media. Users equipped with a QR bar code reader on their mobile phone and an on-board camera can “scan” the bar code by taking a picture of the bar code to receive information embedded in the bar code.

QR Code Pictogram

QR Bar Codes:
     – Are fairly simple to create with any QR Bar Code Generator
     – Requires the user to have a QR Bar Code Reader (which is available as an
        iPhone app)
     – Requires development and placement of the bar code on a print
        marketing piece
     – Provides one message to the user per bar code
     – Allows for no interaction between the company and the end-user

Example: The QR Bar Code to the right takes the user to marion.com.

SMS:
     – Are simple and relatively inexpensive to create
     – Requires the user to opt-in for the marketing campaign by texting a keyword to a short code
     – Requires development and placement of the keyword and short code on a marketing piece
     – Provides a fast response and tailored message for the end-user
     – Allows for interaction between the company and the end-user

Example: A company at a trade show is handing out a brochure that prompts the reader to send a text message with the keyword “tool” to “12345” to receive a free consultation and more information about the services they provide.

MMS (or Multimedia Messaging Services) are messages sent to a mobile device that contain images, audio, video or rich text. For use in mobile marketing, the end-user takes a picture with their camera phone and sends the image to a short code or submits it via an app.

MMS:
     – Takes time and money to create
     – Requires the user to have a camera phone and ability to send multimedia messages
     – Provides one message to the user per image
     – Allows for no interaction between the company and the end-user

Example: The Barnes & Noble Bookstore App identifies a book when you take a picture of the cover with your mobile phone and the app directs you to an overview of the book and its price, gives you the ability to order the book online, find a store, download their e-reader and check out new releases.

For more information on Mobile Marketing and ways it could enhance your marketing, please contact The Marion Group at 713-623-6444 or email us at info2@marion.com.