Mobile Marketing: What Is It?

Have you, at any point, heard about the term “Mobile Marketing?” You probably have, hence, why you’re reading this article. This time, we will discuss what exactly is mobile marketing and how you can use it to its full potential.

With today’s fast-paced technological world, it is safe to say that most people are on mobile. As a matter of fact, statistics say, six out of seven individuals on the planet utilize a cell phone. That means 6 billion people worldwide are on their phones most of the time,

That also means that you can reach up to six billion people worldwide in your marketing efforts. Unlike desktops, mobile phones or smartphones are easily accessible. They are also compact and you can practically bring them anywhere.

According to the Mobile Marketing Association or MMA, mobile marketing is, by definition, a progression of endeavors that empowers associations to impart and draw in with their crowd. This is done in an intuitive and pertinent way by methods for any cell phone or organization.

You’re probably on your cell phone at the present time. That’s a testament to how far our technology has come, and how far it will reach into the future. As they say, the future is now, so let’s get to it.

Why Is Mobile Marketing Important

As we have previously mentioned, you can reach a worldwide audience through mobile marketing. It is important to include this type of marketing in your strategies; especially as part of an engagement strategy.

If you believe that mobile engagement only happens on mobile phones and SMS marketing, think again. It couldn’t be further from the truth. Mobile Marketing is a mindset, it is not just a specific tactic.

This class of marketing is all about context. Strategize different ways to reach your target market at precisely the correct time. Not only that, but you also have to think about reaching them at the right place and mood to tend to their needs.

In mobile marketing, you need to provide your audience with a convenient touchpoint and encourage them to convert. It is also crucial to know that this type of marketing is a lot more different in the developed world.

The developed world is where smartphones dominate. This delivers rich web and app user experiences for everyone. There’s also the developing world where a lot of phones still rely on SMS and text messages. The developing world have crude WAP browsers, radio, USSD and SMS.

The Mobile Hierarchy of Needs

This is what the mobile hierarchy of needs look like:

Entertainment > Convenience & Life Advancement > Belonging > Basic Communication

As you can see, basic communication is at the foundation. This is because most people use these mobile devices to communicate. Luckily, there are a ton of ways to do that nowadays. People can either call, text, or use the internet to communicate.

The second tier, belonging, addresses people’s social needs. This refers to forming communities through social networks.

Convenience refers to the use of mobile devices for life advancement. This includes shopping online, studying, doing research, mobile banking, working on mobile, and more.

Last but definitely not least, mobile devices can also be used for entertainment. Streaming services, online videos, gaming, apps, rich media are all available through smartphones.

As a marketer or a business, you need to understand where your target market falls in this hierarchy. This arrangement will help you structure a system on the best way to impart all the more viably with your objective market. It will also allow you to use the correct mobile channels and approaches.

What You Will Learn

This will be a series of articles, as always, where you can learn all the things you need to know about mobile marketing. Here are some of the lessons we will go over in detail, and what you can expect:

• The Importance of Mobile Marketing
• Why it is the most important channel of communication marketers use
• Mobile Messaging Channels and Applications
• This ranges from SMS marketing to advance mobile commerce
• What Mobile Marketing Does to Holistic Marketing Strategies
• Advantages and Unique Features
• Tracking and Measuring Mobile Activity

Mobile Marketing Key Terms & Concepts

Below are some of the most common key terminologies and concepts about mobile marketing. Observe these terms as you will see them a great deal in this series.

Key Term (Meaning or Definition)

Application or Apps

This refers to software developed specifically for mobile or smartphones. It’s known commonly as an app. There are two types of apps: mobile web apps and native apps

5G

This refers to the fifth generation technology standard for broadband and cellular networks. Its predecessor, the 4G will also be mentioned a lot in this series

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a short-distance remote exchange protocol. It works between connecting devices

Augmented Reality or AR

This refers to a variation of virtual reality that takes computer graphics and superimposes them onto the physical space around the person operating an AR device

WiFi or Wireless Fidelity

Wireless Fidelity or WiFi is the transfer of information from one device to another without using wires

Wireless Application Protocol or WAP

This refers to a set of conventions used to associate cell phones to the web through a remote organization

Supplementary Service Data or USSD

This alludes to the informing convention used to interface cell phones with a specialist organization’s PCs. USSD enables multiple applications and it also is handy for creating a real-time connection which allows an interaction that goes two-ways.

The key wordings recorded above are just the absolute most normal expressions you will hear or find out about in this arrangement of articles. There are significantly more points to cover and we will experience them individually.

In the next discussion, we will look at the role of mobile in personal communication and the unique features of mobile that marketers need to know. This will help you create a more structured strategy based on facts. We will also provide you with a detailed overview of mobile and smartphone devices and how they rule today’s world.

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