What is Mobile Marketing - Actually?

When asked what I do for a living, and I respond; 'Mobile Media..... Mobile Marketing' which is generally followed by; 'you advertise on trailers? or ah.. bulk sms provider'. Sometimes I dive in headfirst to explain what Mobile is all about and other times I just nod... but today I've decided I'm going to break it down for those that are not in the know.

This piece will be delivered in 3 parts - as the mobile environment is quite complex as one has the ability to engage with over 20 different variables.

I'm going to cover most of the variables that are commercially available and utilised by both users and brands;

Part ONE

Mobile Online
If you have a website and not invested in a Mobi-site I have to ask why not? With the current activity of users in the mobile space it is crucial that you have a mobile version of your online space available to mobile users. The mobile online environment is a little more complex than the traditional online space in that there are 1000's more variances one needs to take into consideration (handset screen size, handset type, operating system, browser type and codec). You also should be aware that because of these variances your provider must be able to demonstrate how they handle device detection, trans-coding and image manipulation – on the fly - which ensures that regardless of who browses your mobile site, everyone will receive the site optimised to the handset with which they are browsing.

You also need to consider what your Mobile environment is going to offer to the user as the browsing habits off a mobile device are very different to those of a traditional online browser.
Keep it succinct and relevant to ensure a quick and easy browsing experience.

Within this environment you can incorporate anything your heart desires; content downloads (video and pictures), competitions, Viral campaigns, SMS (engagement), Mail, Competitions, Research, Vouchers, Portal's, Banner Adverts, Media, applications, CRM, Profiling, Catalogues, Information, and Location Based Services... a mechanism to truly engage with users that at the same time allows you to understand a bit about them.

Your mobile online environment should also be able to plug into your online environment in that if you are facilitating user generated content the mobile and online are asynchronous meaning; that content uploaded on the mobile platform is updated to the online platform and vice versa.

Messaging
There are various types of messaging that are available to be utilised in the mobile marketing space however the key factor here is the relevance of the message.

SMS
SPAM is an absolute no no and I would not recommend trying to use SMS as a medium to advertise with. Utilised effectively SMS is one of the most powerful mechanisms mobile has to offer. I'll give you an example; if you have taken your car in for a service, effective utilisation of this medium would be if you received a message confirming the car will be ready at a specific time together with the cost for the service and who to see when you arrive to pick your vehicle up.
Although there is no advertising per say, this type of engagement enforces a positive experience and indirectly builds brand perception.
SMS can be used to deliver notifications, direct engagement with customers and deliver the URL (link) to your Mobi-site.
Additional commonly utilised applications are premium rated SMS, which are utilised for entry into competitions, participation in events (Idols) for voting, and or contribution/subscription for a specific service.

MMS
This form of media is supposedly superior to SMS however I have my reservations as it is costly by comparison. The medium has the potential to deliver audio, graphics and text which means that you can deliver a high quality, informative bit of media to users. Although we have sent out lots of MMS' for and on behalf of various brands the response is never what we anticipate, the cost is expensive and almost in all cases the MMS is followed up by an SMS. I personally think that more effective utilisation can be delivered by sending the link to your Mobi-site where the user has the choice of engaging and the ability to access far more than an MMS can deliver, at a fraction of the cost. MMS is primarily also user generated so by providing branded MMS type postcards that could be personalised by users would be a relevant way of utilising MMS in the mobile space.

SHORT CODE
The SHORT CODE is an extension of the SMS family and is utilised primarily in the delivery of information as well as for competition participation.
Delivery of information;
By sending a [key word] + [your name] + [your email address] will result in content you wish to receive being delivered to your email address
By sending a [key word] you get access to content i.e. games, ringtones, wall papers etc.
By sending a [key word] you will receive a return SMS which contains a link to a Mobi-site
By sending a [key word] automatically enters the user into a competition

INSTANT MESSAGING
IM is an interesting element as it is relatively difficult to apply in the mobile online environment however if you have experienced Skype, Gtalk, ICQ, Twitter, Facebook etc and have utilised this from your handset you will know it is possible. The most effective mechanism of delivery is currently through running an application and a few that come to mind are The Grid, Nimbuzz, MxIt and Fring however there are a multitude of companies that offer this. Some companies have the ability to build IM into your Mobi-site which eliminates the need for development of an application and then the cost of marketing that application. IM is a great tool if you have a large user base and would like to afford them the opportunity of communicating with each other off your platform. Running applications and your mobile online environment continually eats significantly into battery time, users generally will revert to SMS unless they have scheduled time to meet up online.

PUSH MAIL
The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Push Mail has to be Blackberry as they have successfully captured the business market with this service and their devices however this service is not limited to or restricted to Blackberry users. Push mail can be a standalone service one provides to mobile users where you can brand the mail address and synchronise with existing mail addresses.
One can also include this service within your mobile strategy and allow users engaging with the brand to have access to this and other services delivered through the Mobi-site.

In this edition of I've covered the online and messaging components - of which I am convinced you are well aware however at the end of the 3rd part I'll demonstrate how these elements can be utilised either stand alone or packaged together to deliver mobile marketing.

Acquiring a new customer base through the Mobile Medium

It's been a while since I have posted anything to this blog and the reason for that is pretty cliched in that we have been exceptionally busy rolling out various mobile initiatives. It has been quite an educational process too as the initiatives we have been involved in deploying have varied from a simple sms short code to full blown campaigns integrating television, radio, print, activations, online and mobile.

We have spent the last 18 months evangelising about the benefits of mobile but to actually see the results by comparison to the traditional media spend has been fantastic and a real testimony to what we have been sharing.

I'm going to talk about two campaigns, one is complete the other is still running however the ad spend has been the same and the resluts have been consistently similar.

Campaign A - used a mix of all media components to fulfill 2 objectives;
1) Get users to purchase the product
2) Get users to log on to the mobile environment

The mobile environment had information about the product, free content downloads in the form of video and wall paper, a kick ass competition as well as other elements such as the ability to refer a friend etc. Mobile advertising spend was allocated to 2 renowned networks - Admob and the other which I won't mention for various reasons which I'll get into a bit later suffice it to say has a specific purpose and a younger target market with phenomenal stats.

All traffic was directed to one point which was the mobile online space so from a measurement point of view it was very easy to track the performance of the 2 mediums.

The Ad spend in the Admob space was very small to say the least - in fact it was 30% less than what we would normally recommend and by comparison to the total media spend probably came in at around the 5% mark... so very low but what was fantastic to see was the level of interaction achieved off this one medium.

The number of unique visitors that visited the site as a direct result of this ad spend - 8442
The total number of unique visitors - 14757
The number of visitors that entered the competition - 7726
The number of referrals that were sent out by the unique visitors - 7839
The number of downloads - 5883

The cost of acquisition has come in at a very low cost by comparison to the total media spend.

Campaign B - used a mix of print, mobile and activations to fulfill 2 objectives
1) Get users to purchase the product
2) Get users to log on to the mobile environment which would generate awareness of the new product.

The mobile environment has very little information about the product, a compelling competition as well as other elements such as the ability to refer a friend, links to instant messaging and location based information etc. Mobile advertising spend was allocated to 2 renowned network - Admob and the The Grid.

As with Campaign A all traffic is directed to one point which is the mobile online space so from a measurement point of view it is very easy to track the performance of the 2 mediums.

I am specifically only going to be referencing Admob here as the Admob spend is complete and the engagement on The Grid is still in infancy however I will report on the outcome at the end of the campaign.

The spend in the Admob space has been exactly the same as in Campaign A (although we proposed significant more the client cut budgets drastically) but as you'll see the Admob results are significantly similar;

The number of unique visitors that visited the site as a direct result of this ad spend - 8318
The total number of unique visitors - 14604
The number of visitors that entered the competition - Still ongoing will report back on this at the end of the campaign
The number of referrals sent out to date by the unique visitors - 7709

For 2 completely different products and brands the response for the same amount of ad spend on Admob has been almost exactly the same and the cost of acquisition per customer is encouragingly low. The beauty about mobile is that going forward each of these brands now have close to 8000 new customers with whom they can engage at an absolutely negligible cost.

As a mobile acquisition medium Admob has proved it's metal to us and we will continue to utilise this medium in all acquisition and mobile advertising campaigns we are involved with. If you would like more information on this medium feel free to contact us.

We do hear very good reports on the outcome of Google Ad words and will be incorporating that medium into further campaigns to extend the reach and increase traction for brands.

For most mobile campaigns the question is always how do I attract a base of users or how can I engage with a base of users without spamming them. Each campaign objective and deployment being different;
the strategy applied is crucial to the outcome i.e. a viral campaign is the ultimate where the ad spend is negligible yet the traction huge however these campaigns are very difficult to implement as the uptake can never be guaranteed. It is possible though, to spend a little and include a viral element as a part of the campaign to bolster the acquisition process and reduce your spend.

1. Ensure you mobile online environment is actually a true mobile environment in that the site configures to all handsets. This is your first step.

2. Define the relevance of the mobile online space - without relevance the traction in that environment is going to be poor.

3. Define your acquisition strategy, and ensure you are in a position to manage it.

4. Deploy

5. Engage

Voila!

Powermonkey - eXplorer

I was given a power monkey – explorer kit a couple of months ago which I was thrilled about receiving. I reckon this is the quintessential tool for any mobile user in Africa as yesterday proved to demonstrate how effective this little device is.

Eskom with their newly renewed vigour to clamp down on outstanding payments decided that being 30 days late on a payment warranted switching off our electricity. This left me stranded for about 4 hours whilst I negotiated, pleaded and explained that the bill had been paid – they had just not accounted for it. Be that as it may in this time my phone and laptop ran dry of battery juice.

Ah ha time to test the new Power monkey I thought to myself ... and to my pleasant surprise it works. Well the battery pack recharged my device and the solar unit – well that was a little ineffective but I’m pegging that as a direct result of the weather which was overcast, wet and cold and on top of that it was late in the afternoon.

I have decided to give the tool a full test this morning and although I cannot use the Solar panel (as a result of the weather) the battery pack has proved to be exceptionally useful.

The pack comes with the following;

A battery pack (powermonkey-eXplorer unit)

Solar panel (slave)

Universal mains charger (which works in over 150 countries and has interchangeable heads for UK, USA, Japan, China, Australia and Europe.

Connecters for Nokia, Mini Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Blackberry, iPod, Sony PSP, USB connectivity, mini USB connectivity, female USB connectivity for smartphones, MP3 players, blue tooth headsets and Digital camera’s. Quite significant coverage!

The battery pack and solar power units are water resistant and the battery pack has an LCD display that displays the battery capacity and level of charge in the powermonkey.

It also caters for short circuit protection, over charging protection and over discharging protection.

All of this is packaged very well and can easily fit into my laptop bag... I’m pretty stoked that I have one of these in my arsenal of techno toys.

The good news is that they are pretty well priced so even in this “recession” of ours it’s not going to make too much of a dent.

You can contact Rene Winter or alternatively log on to www.powertraveller.co.za

Indaba 2009

**Indaba 2009 is happening this weekend**.

SA Tourism will be showcasing their wares and deliver exciting news about what they are doing for their local tourist trade partners. The following can be expected;

* You can participate in product workshops and their local and international exhibitions
* You have the opportunity to network with international tourism companies.
* Through the Sho't Left section on their website you can advertise your packages for free.
* Their annual Welcome and Eteya awards showcase the best that South Africa has to offer. By entering, you'll receive additional local and international exposure.
* In preparation for 2010 they are launching a global marketing campaign, which you will benefit from.


http://www.southafrica.net is packed with valuable information for local, international and business travellers, as well as the trade. It's better designed to help increase your business' exposure.

Here's how:

* They'll market your business through our new website, this gives you global and local exposure at no cost.
* Your biz will be listed in the "Your Concierge" product search, available on +200 pages across the site and will appear in any main site searches that match either your name or service type.
* Relevant products are displayed alongside associated articles.
* Users can add your products to their Trip Planner, your contact details then appear in their Wish list - this is sent to the travel agent to book.


So, now that you know how they're taking your business places, here are some reasons to plan your next trip with southafrica.net:

* Trip Planner recommends best possible experiences in SA, based on your interests.
* National Product Database will help you locate the finest accommodation, activities and restaurants.
* Contact expert travel consultants online to plan your trip.
* Save your Wish list, share it with family and friends and send it to your travel agent for quotes.


So you may be wondering why I'm posting an article about Indaba 2009? Well we have had the pleasure of delivering a couple of elements on the mobile side which all focuses around this event and what you can expect to receive from SA Tourism.

If you cannot make it to the event there are 2 things you can do;

1) sms your name and email address to 34743 to register with the National Tourism Product Database

2) Log in to www.indaba2009.mobi where you can;

View what's on at the event

View the exhibitors at the event

Download the 2010 advert as well as

Experience the diski dance (also a download) and an brilliant concept which has huge potential for user generated content to be added.

In addition Garmin introduces Garmap for Mobile which can be downloaded off the site.


1. Launch your mobile internet browser.

2. Launch the application from the folder that it installed to.

3. Follow the onscreen prompts to start using the application.


Please note that roaming data charges will apply whilst using Garmap for Mobile

*Join the growing network of Indaba delegates on LinkedIn: http://events.linkedin.com/Indaba-2009/pub/34772.

So what are you waiting for.... go, register and check it out.

The Mobile Marketing edition

I was recently honoured to be asked to participate in the 17th edition of the Digital Edge podcast interviews - which is all about the Mobile Marketing.

"The Digital Edge is a new weekly podcast brought to you by Cambrient which will expose you to the inner workings of digital marketing, and profile some of the biggest stories in the business."

The list of contributors to this edition rank exceptionally high in the SA market space and all from different areas within the mobile marketing arena which makes for an interesting listen with various opinions relative to the spaces being worked in.

Michael Laws:
Michael is a Portfolio Manager for Mobile Marketing at Vodacom. He runs the "Adme" division, another part of the massive Vodacom mobile advertising offering.

Angus Robinson:
Angus is the founder of Brandsh Media -- a specialist mobile and social media agency -- and is closely involved with Cerebra Communications. He is active in the mobile industry and sits on Waspa's management committee, the mobile VAS industry's self-regulation authority. He has been in the mobile, media and internet industries since 1994 with the likes of MTN, MIH/Multichoice, Metropolis, Striata, and most recently iTouch.

Simon Davis:
Simon has a diverse background, including work on pioneering mobile social networks, launching B2B and Consumer e-commerce websites and working on commodity trading systems for a variety of companies including Socialight, AngloGold-Ashanti, MKS Finance and JPMorgan. FMBA Columbia University (USA), BA Philosophy (University Witwatersrand SA).

Jason Xenopoulos:
Jason is a filmmaker and entrepreneur whose media ventures have covered the areas of film, television, music and the Internet. His first feature film as writer-director, Promised Land, was released in January 2003 in Cinema Nouveau and Ster-Kinekor theatres across South Africa.

Saul Kropman and Jarred Cinman have delivered exceptionally well with this initiative and if you are working in the digital space I'd highly recommend subscribing to their feed.

Download the podcast here (view all relative links) and pass on your feedback - it would be great to stimulate more of a discussion around this topic as there are so many various areas of focus with so much scope and not to mention lessons to be learn't.