Inside Mobile Marketing
By Michael Becker
About Michael
Michael Becker is the North America Managing Director for the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and a leader in the mobile marketing industry. Michael founded and most recently held the position of VP Mobile Strategies at an industry-leading mobile marketing solutions provider, iLoop Mobile, which earned the MMA's Innovation of the Year Award in 2007. Prior to his current position at the MMA, Michael served on the MMA Global Board of Directors (2008, Director at Large; 2009, Global Board Vice Chair) and served on the MMA North American Board of Directors (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009). He founded and co-chaired both the award-winning MMA Academic Outreach Committee and the MMA International Journal of Mobile Marketing. He is also a member of the dotMobi Mobile Advisory Group Steering Committee and member of the Direct Marketing Association’s Annual Programming Advisory and Mobile councils.
15 Minutes Ahead
Tearing Down the CRM Barriers
Aug 5, 2010In networked CRM, there's no tightly defined “conversion path.” Instead, every social media touchpoint serves as a point of entry,...
The View From Here
Digital Marketers Abuzz About WSJ Article Slamming Web Tracking
Aug 5, 2010Unless you live under a rock, you've probably already heard about or read a July 30 Wall Street Journal article...
Engagement Matters
A 'Back-to-Business' Email Optimization Checklist
Sep 2, 2010Back to school is also back-to-business time. Set aside a few hours this final week of summer to freshen up...
Ways of Thinking
A Facebook Fan is $136 in Lifetime Value, $3.60 in Media Impressions
Jun 29, 2010The lifetime value of a Facebook fan is about $136 to top brands, according to this study on Facebook fan...
Redefining Performance Marketing
Affiliates: Redefining the Original Performance Marketing Channel
Aug 26, 2010As the original performance marketing channel, affiliate marketing has been effectively driving performance-based sales since the mid-90s. But the characteristics...
Mobile Marketing's Must-Attend Events for Fall 2010
Mobile phone sales continue to defy the global economic slump. Smartphone sales grew nearly 49 percent between Q1 2009 and Q2 2010, according to analyst firm Gartner. More than 314 million smartphones and feature phones shipped in Q1 2010 alone, 17 percent more than one year earlier.
All of those figures add up to an enormous opportunity for brands and marketers, including those looking to add interactivity to advertising campaigns that center around traditional media such as print, broadcast and billboards. That’s because whether consumers are buying their first Java ME feature phone or upgrading from an older smartphone to the latest Apple iPhone, that handset is now one of the most effective ways to build a brand, promote products and distribute coupons, to name just a few ways that mobile marketing is used today.
But there are no slam dunks in mobile marketing. Success depends on understanding factors such as the types of mobile phones used in a particular market and how that affects campaign strategies.
For example, at the most recent Mobile Marketing Forum (MMA Forum), held June 7-9 during Internet Week New York, one speaker noted that in India, 33 percent of SMS traffic is media content and/or advertising. Why do so many mobile marketing campaigns there use SMS? Because virtually every handset and network in India supports text messaging, and because SMS is affordable for more of the population than other types of data services.
If you missed the New York MMA Forum, there are plenty of other opportunities to get up to speed on mobile marketing. The first is by checking out some of the success stories presented at the New York MMA Forum, such as Lipton Tea’s mobile campaign that grew sales 47 percent, or the several brands — from florist chains to detergents — that reported 20 percent response rates for their mobile campaigns. Those and other highlights are recapped on the blog of one of the event’s many renowned speakers, author Tomi Ahonen.
The second opportunity is to attend one or more of the upcoming MMA Forum events. Each one provides an overview of mobile marketing, along with actionable insights into the world region where the event is held. The next three MMA Forum events are:
Latin America: Coming Sept. 2 in São Paulo, Brazil, this event will feature case studies of successful campaigns in Brazil and other regional countries.
Europe, Middle East and Africa: On Oct. 5-6, MMA’s Forum series will bring together leading marketers from across the world to share their experiences, challenges and successes with the mobile channel.
North America: The final 2010 Forum on Nov. 17 in Los Angeles will feature speakers from across the mobile ecosystem, including many leading global brands and agencies.
The diversity of locations reflects the fact that although the mobile channel's reach and effectiveness spans the globe, each region has unique market conditions, opportunities and needs. The New York event highlighted those by featuring insights from all four MMA regional directors, who represent Asia Pacific (APAC); Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); Latin America; and North America.
All of the MMA regional directors provided plenty of real-world examples of mobile marketing's bottom-line benefits. For instance, in the U.K., the Ariel detergent brand sent text messages to 400,000 housewives, achieving a 20 percent response rate and boosting in-store sales. In Japan, the AXE Wake-Up Girls mobile campaign increased deodorant sales 300 percent, a success that’s been duplicated in countries such as Turkey, too.
But don't just take my word for it; see for yourself this fall.
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