Nothing stays the same. Everything changes. The market changes too: while it retains the same principles, the realization of those principles changes. Mobile marketing is simply the next step. Those who take that step will progress. Those who don't will be left behind.
Understanding mobile marketing begins with the question: what is it? In truth, it is nothing more than the use of mobile devices to peddle products, and with the increasing amount of devices available, the revenue is growing. It would not be overstating the case to say that this is something of a gold mine. Mobile devices outnumber televisions worldwide at a rate of 3 to 1; they outnumber PCs at a rate of 5 to 1.
This is a maturing market. The percentage of people who receive ads via their phones is growing. And, following the law of large numbers, the more people who have access to the ads, the greater the percentage will be of people who will click through these ads. In Japan, for instance, mobile ad revenues are over $900 million. Mobile ads are slated to have a growth rate of 43% worldwide, growing from a billion euro thing in 2008 to over 8.7 billion euros in 2014.
The US market will not be left out of this. Mobile ad revenues for 2008 hit $160 million, and are on track to reach $3.1 billion by 2013 (Clickz.com). Some say it could even reach as high as $5 billion by 2011 (Informationweek.com). The exact amount of profit is not the point, though. The point is that in the U.S., as well as the rest of the world, the revenue of this form of advertising is going up, and will continue to do so for some time.
Mobile Ads generally come in two types. There is a graphic component, usually at the top or bottom of a page - a Web Banner and Web Poster, respectively. The other kind is an audio-visual component. These include commercials when streaming television online or listening to advertisement messages before being able to access voice mail. Which kinds are best really depends on which mobile platform you are going to use because the ads that are used for one platform can't be used for another?
The newest platforms for this kind of advertising are smartphones. They are a natural fit. They have more computing power than normal 'feature' phones. This increased computing power allows users to download more complex applications, referred to as apps in previous entries. These advancements are probably the primary driving force behind the strong sales that smartphones are seeing in the U.S. As of the end of February this year, over 45 million people in the U.S. own a Smartphone, and it is currently the fastest-growing segment of the market (Informationweek.com).
These apps make a huge difference for users. Smartphones are part of a growing open-source culture, where users are capable of programming their phones for themselves. What this means is that users are capable of tailoring their experiences. This appears to be an obstacle, but the truth is that this presents a real opportunity to reach consumers. Since the consumers are customizing their experiences on their phones, they are announcing to potential advertisers exactly what kinds of ads it would take to sell them.
That is the real potential of apps. Apps are designed for certain non-computer-related tasks. These can vary wildly, anything from video games to word processing to industrial automation, even e-readers. The specific kind of app that is dealt with in this article is referred to as a mobile app. It is exactly what it sounds like - an app that is designed for use on a mobile device. Many of these devices come with apps already installed, but as was mentioned earlier, the devices are open source enough that a given device rarely keeps just the packaged apps. Another key thing to remember is that a given app will only work for one platform. An app designed for iOS will work for an iPad or an iPhone, but will not work on a phone that uses Android as its platform.
Now that ads and apps have been clarified, we have a new question: what difference do these make to a business?
The power of mobile phone reviews is on the rise of smartphones. More and more potential customers are going to be mobile, which means that they are going to conduct their business through their phones. The bottom line is, these mobile ads represent a new avenue for a business to reach potential customers. Businesses such as Pepsi and Papa John's Pizza have realized this. The odds are, if you aren't going to do this, your rivals are.
And as for the apps? The apps represent the fact that more and more users are engaging the Internet through mobile technology. This is despite the fact that much of the advertising on the Internet simply is not tailored for mobile users. Much of the advertising that goes on online is still catering to PC users. These 'traditionalists' are not utilizing apps. As such, a business that does will be able to get a jump on them.
This jump cannot be understated. Apps are new technology. More than that, they represent a new kind of media, a kind that interfaces well with the new social media. Competing along this avenue means that a business can reach customers without having to face off directly against the larger established companies.
