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Understanding Differences Between Mobile & Other Forms of Marketing Media Channels

January 27th, 2010

Mobile Phone

The practice of mobile marketing, as Michael Becker repeated several times in his podcast interviews with me, clearly distinguished between mobile and other media, such as the Internet, print, broadcast and email. The mobile ecosystem is very different from traditional and digital marketing ecosystems.

Mobile isn’t ONE communication channel; it’s many. Each mobile phone, due to its operating system (Symbian, Java, Android, iPhone, etc.) type of browser, screen size and other factors makes each handset a separate communications channel. And they’re thousands of mobile handsets, hundreds of different browsers and a multitude of other differences from handset to handset.

Email, radio, television, the Internet and print media are singular media channels. Brands, marketers and advertisers recognize media placement requirements, but a commercial that appears on a 24 inch TV set will likely display correctly on a 32 inch TV. A 4 inch by 6 inch print ad in a magazine or newspaper only differs by type of paper and maybe color or black and white.

Understanding mobile handset and carrier differences is essential before mounting a mobile campaign. A mobile ad designed for an iPhone or BlackBerry may not display correctly on a Samsung phone’s screen. In fact, the ad may not appear at all if text, graphics and pictures are not correctly sized for the browser and screen size.

Compare a mobile phone to a Windows PC or Mac computer. Although they’re some differences in Internet ad displays using Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari on either a Windows or Mac computer, they’re really only a few major browsers used by millions of personal computer users worldwide. Mobile, again, is different.

The second difference between mobile and other media is understanding how mobile ads are delivered to a mobile handset.  Mobile marketing firms have relationships with aggregators who, in turn, work with mobile carriers to generate “shortcodes” necessary for SMS mobile advertising, the most common type of mobile ad. Shortcodes (“text 12345 to receive information about our widget”) for many marketers are most frequently rented through aggregators.

Large brands, on the other hand,  usually purchase shortcodes specific to each marketing campaign and carrier. You might even consider a shortcode part of a brand. If McDonald’s, for example, owns 46695, no other brand can use that shortcode for mobile campaigns. It’s proprietary to McDonalds.

Finally, the third difference between mobile and other media is regulatory. Marketers and advertisers can’t “buy” mobile lists as with email. They must build their own list of cell phone numbers one-by-one using other means. Some common ways to build mobile phone lists is by promoting shortcodes to customers and non-customers via company websites, retail POS displays, bill inserts and other media like radio and TV.

Only after consumers opt-in to receive promotional text messages can marketers launch mobile campaigns. (They’re also regulatory requirements by industry associations, such as the Mobile Marketing and Direct Marketing Associations and the FCC to control spam.)  This protects consumers from receiving text messages they haven’t requested on their mobile phones.

Finally, mobile marketers generally work with mobile marketing firms that have relationships with mobile aggregators who deal directly with the carriers in obtaining shortcodes and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations.

Before you throw yourself off a cliff as you ponder these added requirements impacting mobile marketing and advertising, understand that these requirements protect consumers who own mobile phones from a barrage of unwanted text messages. Since the mobile operators charge their customers for text messaging, it’s critical that standards and laws protect consumers from text message spam.

For a more comprehensive explanation of the mobile ecosystem, listen to Michael Becker’s YouTube videos, some of which I’ve inserted on the new MobiMarketing Club website.

Another great source of information, especially for SMB’s, is Kim Dushinski’s book “The Mobile Marketing Handbook: A Step by Step Guide to Creating Dynamic Mobile Mobile Marketing Campaigns.” Check out her Mobile Marketing Profits website and her podcast interview with me as well.

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Posted in Digital Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Marketing Best Practices

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