One of the major differences between mobile marketing and other forms is that it’s considered a form of user-controlled media. What this means is that mobile media is entirely based on an opt-in scheme. With other forms of advertising, customers usually don’t have much of a choice about whether or not the advertising is going to turn up in their lives. For example, should a consumer be watching television, commercials are considered an inevitable part of the process. The consumer can always mute the television or change the channel when the advertisements come on, of course, but there’s nothing the consumer can do about the commercial break taking place. Print ads and radio ads are similar – consumers can avoid them if they so wish, but there’s no way that they can “opt out” of the radio playing commercials or the magazine advertising products.
With mobile marketing, however, the entire premise is based off of opt-in services. Should a consumer wish to join your text marketing campaign, they’re the ones that have to dial your company’s number to start receiving information. If the customer never does so, then you as the company can never send them advertisements through mobile means. Thanks to privacy concerns as well as the popularity of the “do not call list” in addition to other anti-advertising factors that have become prevalent on phones in the past few years, it’s entirely impossible to go about sending unsolicited advertisements to customers through mobile devices and have it be a legal operation.
This presents a unique challenge to the company that is trying to get its message out through mobile media – namely, often companies must advertise the fact that they’re doing a mobile media campaign. This might seems somewhat counterintuitive given that this boils down to advertising the advertising, but the gains that can be reaped from using mobile media advertising are so attractive that any startup with the money to spend on a mobile media campaign will almost certainly see results.
The great thing about mobile media is that it allows companies to get in contact with users the way that friends contact each other. Texting is considered a non formal medium of contacting, and being able to establish a rapport with customers on this personal level goes a long way toward building brand affinity and a more personal relationship with the customer.
If you’re a startup looking to get into the area of mobile marketing, understand that the benefits might not be as immediate as those you might experience with other kinds of marketing. However, this avenue can give you a long-lasting personal relationship with customers. It really helps if you can find another company to help waylay the costs with you and enter into mobile marketing as a joint venture. If you do this, then you’re likely to see more immediate returns on your investment sooner.
