MMA Mobile Marketing Forum: ‘Why is Mobile Marketing So Effective?’

A few weeks ago, I attended the Mobile Marketing Association’s (MMA) Mobile Marketing Forum in Los Angeles. One of the slides in a presentation by an executive from mobile marketing and advertising company, Hipcricket, was entitled “Why is Mobile Marketing So Effective?”, and featured a graphic which really encapsulated the key drivers of mobile marketing. In this week’s post, I share this graphic with you and some comments on these factors.

Each of them contributes to the unique value proposition of mobile, so as you develop the mobile marketing strategy for your show, think specifically about how you can leverage each of them to maximize benefit from this platform.

Mobile is immediate. When you consider, for example, that most text messages are opened in a matter of minutes, I think you can see how the “immediate” factor can be very beneficial. Knowing when someone is going to actually see your message enables you to execute time-sensitive marketing programs, for example, running at-show SMS/text messaging initiatives to drive traffic to special sessions or sponsor/exhibitor booths.

Mobile is personal. This is a key driver of mobile’s potency. Most people have their mobile device with them at all times leading to a much deeper relationship with this media device than others. This relationship enables you to target and engage people in ways simply not possible with other media.

Mobile is permission based. If people opted-in to your mobile marketing program, they will certainly be much more receptive to your messages than general push media. Open rates for text messages are extremely high.

Mobile is interactive. The two-way communications aspect of mobile enables you to deliver much more compelling marketing experiences than simple, one-directional media, especially by leveraging data gained from these interactions.

Mobile enables you to build a database. When people respond to your mobile campaigns, you can capture contact information that will enable you to remarket to them. Don’t just think of your current show, think of the bigger picture—and maintaining an ongoing relationship via mobile.

Mobile is measurable. The metrics provided by mobile can help you track your initiatives on this platform and best allocate your marketing dollars. Mobile can also help you track adjacent media, for example, by running SMS cross-media overlays with different keywords assigned to different media channels.

Posted on December 2, 2010