Mobile marketing or mobile advertising is built up of several individual entities. From SMS and MMS alerts through to Mobile internet search and creative display not to mention long and short code marketing.

Each of these individual channels has different disciplines which can generate a desired outcome. Though not a fully mature market today, it is fast becoming am excellent platform that can deliver an impactful and personal message directly to a user.

SMS and MMS

The acronym SMS stands for short message service. SMS is also often referred to as text messages or text messaging. The service allows for short text messages to be sent from one cell phone to another cell phone or from the Web to another cell phone. Please also see BBC Guide to SMS

The benefit of using these methods is to alert customers or re-engage with returning customers on an offer, deal, marketing message which prompts an action.
This action can be either to respond to the message, click through to a link or call a number or simply take the message as a reference to something.

Mobile Search Marketing

The mobile internet or access to the internet via a cell phone differs from PC usage; the page and display is smaller and therefore the creative advertising and wording must differ to execute the same strategy.

SEO for mobile also works in a different way to regular SEO. Being picked up by the search engines is one half of the story, making you website display in the best format for mobile is the other.

• Over 25% of mobile phone and PDA users access the Internet from their wireless devices
• US mobile search ad revenues will grow from $39 million in 2008 to $2.3 billion in 2013.
• US mobile local search ad revenues will increase from $20 million in 2008 to $1.3 billion in 2013.
• US mobile display ad revenues will grow from $21 million in 2008 to $567 million in 2013.

Short Codes

Using a dedicated shot number to engage with consumers, either to track other marketing response rates or to increase exposure and customer interaction Short codes can be used to get feedback, run competitions and more importantly track response rates on advertising spend.

An example of this would be Text ‘Win’ to 800800, by choosing a response keyword and allocating a unique short code number the advertiser can monitor how many responses are received and from which numbers, allowing them to further enhance their database.

A simple yet effective advertising platform if used in the correct way.