Marketing through the Mobile Channel, “Mobile Marketing,” consists of a unique, complex, mix of technologies, business skills, and marketing expertise. It is a child born of the Internet revolution, and it is critical that today’s marketers grasp its significance. It is one of the first new channels to arise in over 50 years, and will quickly become a primary means of reaching out to our customers.

People have become more and more comfortable with and reliant on digital communication solutions, including the mobile phone. In fact, there are now more mobile phone subscribers in the world (2.4 billion1), than there are landline phones subscribers. The mobile phone is becoming a primary means of communication, not only for voice but also for digital services, email, digital photos, navigation, etc. Worldwide over 350 billion text messages, also known as “SMS Messages,” are exchanged across the world’s mobile networks every month, with over 15% of these messages, according to the Yankee Group, being classified as commercial, or marketing, messages.

The objectives of mobile marketing campaigns are straightforward: increase brand awareness, generate a customer profile opt-in database, drive up attendance to events or visits to a store, improve customer loyalty and increase revenues. Mobile Marketing does not stand alone; rather it leverages traditional promotional channels, such as the recent Mobile Marketing Campaigns associated with American Idol, The Apprentice, and the 2004 Superbowl MVP campaigns. The traditional marketing promotional value chain consists of campaign sponsor (the brand), marketing agency, content provider, and traditional promotional channel such as TV, radio, paper media or even the Internet.

See Mobile Marketing Ecosystem Overview for more details.