Mobile marketing could turn out to be one of the biggest opportunities for marketers. Sending a message (whether it is a text or an email) to a PDA, cell phone, smart phone or MP3 player is a controversial topic; but it can also be very effective.
Mobile marketing has many benefits to marketers; firstly, there are no restrictions on location. The consumer or user can be reached anywhere (assuming there is service with their device). Marketers can also use the geographical aspects as an advantage; for example, if you know a user is in a certain high volume shopping area (or planning on being near one) a company can send a coupon or special offer via their cell phone. Privacy is another advantage; a user’s cell phone is a very personal device. No one but the user has access to the cell phone. This advantage also relates to marketers making the message very personalized. For example, if a user signs up for free alerts via their cell phone, companies can send a personalized greeting.
Even though there may be a lot of opportunities in mobile marketing, marketers must be aware of the liabilities. Firstly, there is a large security issue with mobile marketing. If a user’s cell phone is stolen or lost anyone who has the cell phone will be able to view any personal information. It can very scary for a user to have their cell phone lost knowing that banking information is on it. The second concern is related to privacy. This type of privacy relates to the user of the cell phone. Marketers must be aware that any unsolicited messages to a cell phone can be viewed as very intrusive. These intrusive messages will not be treated as ‘junk mail’; they will be viewed as much worse. Unsolicited messages could ruin or sabotage any opportunity a company may have of targeting that person; or in some extreme cases that demographic.
I’m sure we will see some form of mobile marketing hit the mainstream sooner or later. Mobile marketing is a great opportunity for marketers and they should take advantage of it. In doing so, marketers must be aware of the challenges they face. They must consider the security issues; marketers must also take the user’s privacy into consideration.
