Should you try Mobile Advertising?

If you sell to anyone under about 30 years old (and that number gets bigger every year) you must start looking at mobile advertising.

Mobile advertising is placing your message on mobile phones. It can be as simple as sending text messages to a list of people who have asked you to keep them up to date on specials (How about a weekly special text message?), to as complicated as sending a widget that lets them play a game that features your brand.

Most people who read my stuff will lean towards the lower budget version. And that’s okay as long as you’re doing something to communicate with these people at the street level. Why do I say that? Increasingly, younger people are getting all of their contact with the world through their handheld device. Mobile marketing firm m:metrics says there are 92.5 million mobile phone users who text regularly. Whether you embrace it yourself or not, text messaging is how millions of people communicate. And it’s not just young people. The average age of active texters goes up daily as more people see the convenience and expedience of text messaging.

News, sports, entertainment, communications with their friends, online searches... even online social networking is now enjoyed regularly on what marketers call “the third screen” ( 1=TV, 2=Computer). For many people, their cell phone is their first screen. In fact, it may be the only place to reach them. They don’t watch that much TV. When they do, it’s probably recorded on their DVR so they can skip commercials. They don’t read newspapers. I don’t have to tell you that they don’t look at the yellow pages (they don’t even keep the phone book - it goes straight to the recycle bin).

So what’s your first step? Get educated. This sounds really scary, especially to some of us older folks who don’t even text message yet. Subscribe now to the free ezine at Mobile Marketer. You’ll see what other people are doing, plus see ads from companies that can help you create your mobile strategy and advertising. Start clicking on the ads to learn about all of the options.

As I said, your strategy can be as simple as asking your customer for permission to text them when there’s a special sale or offer. You can also send text messages or banner-type ads through networks that have already obtained the permission from millions of cell phone users. As with email marketing, you can include a link that takes them to your mobile site. I said “mobile site” because you must have a different type of web site if they’re going to be able to see it on their third screen. Your current web site isn't likely to be legible on that smaller screen. You can email coupons. They simply show it on their screen at your business to redeem.

You can target specific groups and even geographically. As things grow, you’ll be able to target people who are walking or driving within a few blocks of your business and offer something special if they stop in "right now" and show you their cell phone.

It all sounds pretty overwhelming right now, I know. But don’t sit back and wait on this technology. It’s already here. And for millions of people, it’s the only way to reach them so you’d better be looking into it. Start small. Start a list of people and their phone numbers so you can text message them with special offers. Like any new technology, you’ll have to walk before you can run. The sooner you start walking, the sooner you’ll be up to a full run. And as you grow in the technology, the number of subscribers who get more and more of their information from the third screen will be growing too. Who doesn't want to grab a piece of the fastest growing medium? Grab a small piece now and you'll be able to grab bigger pieces later.