Mobile Marketing Myths

Mobile marketing is a standalone activity

Marketing decision-makers who believe that a standalone mobile campaign can be successful should think twice. Mobile is an extension of an integrated marketing strategy that involves TV, Online, Print and Outdoor channels. Calls to action should be integrated with “traditional” channels to make it easy for consumers to absorb, understand, and ultimately opt-in to mobile campaign activity. Creating and launching a mobile campaign can cost thousands of dollars and provide little return on this investment if it’s not executed correctly.

Communities don’t drive revenues

An eagerness to form communities is part of human nature, so why not provide customers with an outlet centered on your brand? The ubiquity of mobile devices creates extensive opportunities for marketers to add brand value, inspire customer loyalty and drive revenue. The viral nature of a community causes customers to remain loyal. It also ensures an on-going revenue stream from third party advertisers, the community and, potentially, content revenues. Ongoing activities – primarily through WAP, SMS/MMS and mobile Web – increase ARPU by engaging customers consistently through services delivered on an opt-in basis. Increased relevant customer engagement leads to reduced churn and decreased acquisition costs.

Billions of impressions equate success

Mobile enables marketers to track each impression from a campaign, but too many mobile marketing companies pad their reach with impression numbers at the expense of reaching brands’ and advertisers’ actual goals. Impressions from these blind networks are meaningless. Media planners and ad exchanges need to see beyond the impression numbers; it’s all about accountability. The difference between CPM and CPA is best explained by who has the risk of converting the engagement into an acquisition or product sale. CPA may increase risk, but with a strong campaign engagement strategy and mobile marketing platform, it can provide the highest ROI.

SMS is yesterday’s news

SMS is still the king of message mediums, and the only messaging format that all handsets can accept. According to ABI Research, SMS accounts for 83% of all mobile messaging revenues until 2013. While some believe SMS is old technology, it remains an unrivalled way to reach consumers, adding value at a low-cost. Timely, relevant information that is delivered in the right context can provide a positive impact much like rich mobile experiences. SMS can also act as the call to action that creates a brand community.

Operators will make easy money from mobile advertising

There are many barriers standing in the way of operators looking to capitalize on mobile advertising. Without widespread mobile broadband in the U.S. market, operators will have additional work trying to juggle 2, 2.5 and 3G networks and resources. In a fragmented market with thousands of mobile handset models, operators will also struggle to provide appropriate mobile ads for customers, since a standardized mobile ad format is not yet possible. Optimizing ads for each device will be time consuming and expensive for advertisers. Ultimately, operators will need to address the problem and develop a solution to remain competitive by keeping customers within the On-Deck market.

The credit crunch won’t affect the mobile marketplace

In an economic slowdown, mobile delivers what other channels struggle with – measurable results, which will be increasingly important with ROI and accountability top of mind for marketers. With brands keeping an eye on ad budgets, mobile engages with core audiences, establishes brand loyalty and drives consumer action. Innovative marketers understand the benefits of mobile, so the demand is still growing. However, the tough economy will ultimately reduce the mobile pack and only the fittest will survive. Established mobile companies that are currently profitable can weather the economic downturn and will likely be the winners in this scenario. Still, many of the VC-backed or seed companies will see their funding dry-up. 2009 could spell consolidation for the mobile landscape.

Mobile advertising and mobile marketing is the same thing

Mobile advertising is often considered mobile spamming. Static messages and banner ads are not targeted or engaging and raise privacy concerns associated with mobile devices. Mobile marketing, on the other hand, is the correct approach for brands as it gives marketers the tools to establish relationships and two-way communication with customers. Mobile marketing focuses on what happens “after the click” including incentives, promotions, relevant information, and the opportunity to join a community or network that is beneficial to the consumer and builds brand loyalty.

Complexity of metrics is a barrier to adoption

Many marketers believe mobile ad reporting is lacking. Yet mobile success metrics can already deliver a variety of complex data such as clickthrough rates, brand effectiveness, and interaction and conversion rates, often more in-depth than the metrics and measurement available for traditional campaigns. Mobile metrics go deeper to deliver insight about consumers’ view time and how many times they viewed campaigns. As mobile advertisers develop more effective metrics additional techniques and measurements will evolve into a comprehensive standard set of metrics.