Mobile Marketing - The Inside Scoop

Today’s BlogTalkRadio broadcast on “Mobile Marketing” consisted of an expert panel of nationally renowned mobile marketing industry insiders, including: Kim Graham Lee, CEO of Vontoo; Matt Silk, Sr. VP of Waterfall Mobile; Kim Dushinski, President/Founder of Mobile Marketing Profits and author of ‘The Mobile Marketing Handbook’; and Michael Becker, Co-founder and VP of Mobile Strategies at iLoop Mobile and co-author of ‘Mobile Internet for Dummies’ and ‘Web Marketing All-in-One for Dummies’.

Our panel provided a wealth of information on the different types of mobile marketing options, best practices, choosing vendors, industry trends, mobile strategies that perform the best, and examples of clients that have utilized mobile marketing effectively. The consistent theme throughout the broadcast - “just get started, stick your toe in and try it out to figure what works best for your firm”.

Hear the completed broadcast at http://blogtalkradio.com/strategicgrowthconcepts.

Kroger Offers Mobile Coupons Nationally

As someone who has worked within the mobile industry, I have been fascinated to watch the continuing evolution of wireless technology applications. I have long felt that the wireless equipment manufacturers and retailers have not been doing a very good job of educating consumers about the applications available, how to utilize the applications, and how the applications can benefit them. I'm a strong believer that in the not very distant future our cell phones will be as useful to us as our laptop computers in that they will have all sorts of software on them that we use as part of our everyday lives. Today, this is simply not the case; while consumers are purchasing increasingly high-function cellphone devices, most have no idea how to use that functionality.

However, at long last a major national grocery retailer is making available a mobile coupon program and since everyone needs groceries, I believe if enough people find out about the program it can go a long way toward increasing the awareness of consumers on this convenient, useful application for their cellphones. In the following link you can read about Kroger's new mobile coupon program. http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/commerce/2417.html

Once I read the article, I decided to try it out to see how well it worked and I have to say, I was quite impressed! It took about a minute and a half to register for the program, about 30 seconds to download the software into my phone, another 10 seconds to register my Kroger card into the program, and VOILA! I began receiving coupons that were valid in my zip code! I then scrolled thru the offers, selected those I wanted and opted to save them. Once saved, they were automatically loaded onto my Kroger card and I saw photos of the product selected on my phone. Now when I go to the grocery store this weekend and purchase those products, the discount coupons will automatically register from my Kroger card as I am checking out! In this economy where every penny counts, what could be easier?

As you read this article, do yourself a favor and start thinking of ways that your company might be able to start utilizing mobile technology to your advantage – and your customers!

Mobile Marketers Guide to Mobile Commerce

I read an interesting article recently in the Mobile Marketers trade association newsletter regarding the use of Mobile Commerce as an advertising channel. The article provided examples of firms that had used Mobile advertising quite effectively, made reference to the fact that consumers took awhile to warm up to eCommerce as an advertising/purchasing channel and that the same was likely with Mobile Commerce, and it also contained links to excellent Mobile Commerce educational tools. Among the tools available via this article is a PDF copy of the Mobile Marketer's Classic Guide to Mobile Commerce, an excellent overview of this emerging industry. The link below will take you to the article on the trade association's website.

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/commerce/2173.html

While you're there, I also encourage you to review the website for additional industry white papers and educational materials, as well as a section where you can sign up for a free educational newsletter. I have found this site to be quite full of very useful information and refer to it often.

Now is the time to learn everything you can about Mobile Marketing and Mobile Commerce as it's becoming obvious that this is likely the next big advertising/purchasing channel. Though this channel is still in its infancy, due to the high penetration of cell phone users in the U.S. (approximately 85% market penetration) and higher-still penetration in Europe (140% market penetration – meaning that users have multiple devices), it is highly likely that Mobile Marketing/Mobile Commerce is not going away but rather will become an integral part of our everyday lives.

Let me know if you find this article link of value; if so, I will continue to seek out similar educational tools and opportunities to make available to you.