By now, we all know the importance of being mobile. You can't walk down the street or have a conversation with someone without him or her pulling out a phone to text, check email, or just in the general hope that someone might have tried to contact them.
As with all new technology, mobile marketing has fallen victim to misconceptions. The world of mobile marketing seems to be full of hot air and flatulence: "Yeah, but you have to...," "Haven't you got to...," and "I heard you had to... ." So, let's try and put straight some of this mobile ignorance.
1. What I really need is an app before I start my mobile marketing campaign
No, you don't. You really don't. Unless your app does something spectacular that no other app does, chances are that if people actual download your app, then it will be opened once and never opened again. The keyboard-loving guys at BlackBerry have revealed that 99% of apps only get used once, so don't waste your time or money.
2. Mobile marketing just means selling stuff
It certainly can be used as a channel to sell products but that only tells part of the story. Many billions of pounds, dollars, and euros are thrown away every year by the loss in missed appointments at doctor surgeries, physiotherapists, hairdressers etc. Mobile marketing can help reduce the number of missed appointments with a simple appointment reminder text. But yet again that's not all. Many companies are using mobile marketing as a way to keep in contact with their existing customers and updating them about news, new products, competitions, delivery dates and times, job offers, anything, and everything. Mobile marketing can be as fun and creative or as dull and mundane as you want it to be.
3. Mobile marketing is only for big brands with big budgets
You certainly don't need a big budget. One of the delights of mobile marketing is that you can get the ball rolling on a ludicrously small budget; you shouldn't encounter set up fees, contract terms, or minimum credit orders. For example, when my company Text Marketer sends out 1,000 texts, the company doesn't have expensive bills to pay with designers, publishers, or printers. Mobile marketing is a cost-effective way to communicate with your customers.
Big brands obviously are going to use mobile marketing, but it is in no way limited to them. The fact that mobile marketing is relatively inexpensive, quick, and easy means that it is becoming more and more popular with small ambitious businesses around the world. Businesses that can't afford to appear in the trendy publications or on highest-ranking Google sites are managing to reach thousands of customers for an affordable price.
