MOBILE ADVERTISING AND MARKETING – 5TH EDITION

            I chose to write my blog on Mobile Advertising and Marketing.  This subject hits close to home for me.  What I mean is that I live on my phone.  I would be lost if I didn’t have my phone, but I hate advertisements that come across on it, but on the same note I absolutely love them.  There are several different forms of mobile advertising and marketing.  I am familiar with three of these styles.

            The first style that comes to mind is commercial advertisement.  There are close to 6 billion active mobile subscriptions across the globe (Mobile Advertising and Marketing – 5th Edition, 2011).  That is compared to the merely 2 billion internet users.  So many of us now days have smart phones, Ipads, notebooks, etc.  The one thing each of these has in common is applications (games, music, readings, etc.).  One of the greatest things about some of these applications is that you can pay for the applications (they are usually pretty cheap anywhere from $0.99 to $2.99) or you can get the “free” version of the application.  The free version is the version I always get.  The reason that they are free is because they receive money from companies that advertise with them.  There is some sort of ad that appears on your screen every once in awhile.  They are usually interactive ads.  They consist of a small commercial or print ad and then you can push the screen and it will take you to that company’s website, a place to buy what they are selling, etc.

            One of the greatest advantages to using the applications as a company’s way of advertising is that they can be customized.  A great example of this would be a company that is selling a book.  A great place to advertise this would say be with people that like words, word games, etc.  I would say advertise on a game like words with friends. 

            The second style that I am familiar with is the text message advertisement.  I live for these.  I actually used two of these text messages this weekend.  Both were types of mobile coupons.  I have registered my cell phone number with a couple of companies that I use on a regular basis (i.e. JoAnn Etc. and Redbox)  Once a week I receive some sort of coupon from JoAnn’s its usually a coupon for a discount on a new item or an advertisement about their new sale/clearance item.  Depending on how much I rent out of Redbox that month determines how many coupons I receive the next month and to what extent those coupons are for (anywhere from $0.25 to $1.00).

            One of the large advantages to text message advertising is seeing how many people you are reaching with your advertising, as well as who is using it.  In other words it’s an easy form of advertising to measure.  A lot of the text message advertisements contain some form of discount.  That discount has a code on it.  The codes are usually distinct to the person to the text.  When the person uses it you can then trace the code back to the phone number to see who is using it.  You can also track how many of the text messages codes are used in comparison to some of the other discounts/coupons.

            The third style is one I find the most innovative and the most interesting.  So many of the current phone companies have done aligned themselves with some of the bigger internet names.  An example is the Android that has snapped up Google.  Any Android phone that is purchased is equipped with the Google aps.  This has become a great marketing technique for both the phone and the internet player.  So many internet surfers are pro to one search engine or another.  I myself am partial to Google and love everything that Google has to offer.  When I purchase my smart phone Android had not made the alignment with Google yet.  However, the fact that I could easily hop on Google with the touch of a button is one of the many reasons that I went with the Iphone.

            There are so many different ways to gather information to make your campaign successful.  One of the greatest tools out there for companies to use to determine if internet marketing would be affective for them, where they should advertise, how they should advertise, etc. is the Mobile Advertising and Marketing report.  This strategic report provides pages of unique business intelligence and expert commentary on which to base your business decisions (Anonymous, 2010).

            In short there are many different forms of mobile advertising and it demand for it is growing more and more each day.  Companies need to stay on top of it and take full advantage of it.  It definitely gives them a leg up.  I’m curious to see to see how much advertisement is mobile versus other forms in the next couple years.

 

 

REFRENCES

Mobile advertising and marketing – 5th edition. (2011, Dec 22). PR Newswire, pp. n/a. http://search.proquest.com/docview/912249811?accountid=41205

 

Research and markets: Mobile advertising and marketing 3rd edition says mobiles will account for 11.7 percent of digital ad spend in 2014. (2010, Feb 19). M2 Presswire, pp. n/a.http://search.proquest.com/docview/444434426?accountid=41205