How To Get Started In Mobile Marketing

Michael Brenner | Feb 08, 2011

Mobile is one of the hottest topics in B2B Marketing in 2011. More businesses are embracing smart-phones and tablets as part of their support and operations. And more people are moving their search and content interaction activities to their mobile devices.

To meet this change in media habits, Marketers will spend upwards of $13 or $14 Billion dollars on Mobile Marketing in 2011 according to the Mobile Marketing Association as we discussed in Mobile Marketing In 2011 – Are You Ready? With all this excitement, B2B Marketers are looking to build mobile into their marketing plans but are facing challenges in how to get started.

SMS, MMS, WAP…There are a ton of acronyms and terms that can seem confusing. And there is not much experience in B2B Marketing with successful mobile campaigns. So here are some things to keep in mind when considering concrete Mobile Marketing activities:

• Presence. You need to be present where your customers are searching for information.
• Relevance. The content needs to meet a specific need and be delivered in the proper context for mobile.
• Keep It Simple. The mobile platform demands simplicity so users aren’t frustrated.
• Real-time. It’s gotta be fast or don’t do it.

What kind of tactics should you consider in order to get started in Mobile Marketing:

1. Mobile Search.With the increases in adoption of 3G and 4G mobile smart-phones, the volume of searches happening on mobile phones is going to continue to increase. According to TechCrunch, Mobile Search is expected to grow to 20% of all searches by 2012. The article suggests two main areas to focus on in mobile search. First, the display area is much smaller. This means each search yields far fewer results and thus higher click-through rates. The other focus should be Local Search, Search marketers need to consider geo-targeting their ads where appropriate.
2. Mobile Display.There are so many different phones and Operating System (OS) configurations that the number of formats can be overwhelming. Marketers need to plan for this in their budgets. There is also a myriad of exchange, network and service providers to chose from including Burstly, InMobi, Apple iAd plus the traditional players like Google’s AdMob, Yahoo and Bing.
3. Text and Video.Both of these content approaches has its unique challenges. For text, permission is a huge concern. And you want to make sure the medium is used in the right context. Updates at trade shows is one good example of how to use SMS and MMS messages. In video, formats is an issue with the Apple OS and any video size and length needs to be throught through very carefully.
4. Games and Apps. Last year it seemed like everyone wanted to develop a game or an ”app.” For B2B, I have already questioned the role of Augmented Reality For B2B Marketing in 2011? While I do believe B2B Marketers need to be testing new ad formats, I’m not sure this will see wide adoption in 2011. However, if B2B marketers want to create a truly unique and highly interactive experience, then this may be an area to explore.

I continue to be very interested in the latest news and tips on Mobile for B2B Marketing . I hope this helps you to start thinking about how to get started. Let me know if I missed anything. This is a compicated and highly evolving space so would love to hear your feedback.

Read the Original Article: Business 2 Community