by anton | Nov 26, 2014 |
Did you know that Twitter and email are highly interactive mediums, but so is mobile advertising. With mobile advertising, you can send coupons, targeted text messages, event alerts, special offers and other marketing content to targeted people. Even though it shares similarities than Twitter and email marketing, it’s quite different in execution, deliver, and service. Take note that in this example we are only using one mobile advertising channel which is text/sms advertising. The most notable difference between mobile advertising (text/sms messages) and email and Twitter is all of these mediums uses different content lengths that can be sent. Email content can basically be any length, but if you are targeting mobile users, shorter means better. With Twitter you are restricted to 140 characters so if you want to add a shortened URL in your message, you are restricted to 119 characters – 20 characters for the URL and 1 for a space. Text messages have a 160 character limit, but you can send text/sms messages that are spread across more than 1 message. The second biggest difference is that Twitter and email are sent through an internet service provider whilst an sms is then through a carrier or a wireless service provider. Another difference is that an email message is sent directly to another email address and an sms is sent to a cellphone number. Twitter has always taken the mobile first approach and can be configured so that the messages are delivered via sms, but by default it’s via email. Email has been the longest running medium out of these three and they do differ considerably. Email is a...
by anton | Nov 20, 2014 |
Did you know that old school traditional marketing and advertising is focused on reaching an audience usually through one medium such as radio, print, or TV. To give you an example, the billboards next to the road, magazines, newspapers, direct mail and the yellow pages use only one medium. With mobile advertising in Africa, you can reach your targeted audience through multiple mediums which can increase your reach and footprint in the digital space considerably. What mobile advertising options are available? Some mobile advertising mediums Mobile web: The mobile web allows people to access information on the go and view content directly from their mobile device such as featurephones, smartphones and tablets. A mobile optimised website allows businesses to run specific campaigns such as content marketing or banner campaigns. SMS/Text messages: This mediums allows you to send sms messages to your target audience. Even though you are restricted by only using a number of characters in the sms, it’s actually a very interactive medium where you can be sure that your audience will receive your message. You can send coupons, promotions or any other interactive message through this medium. MMS: With Multimedia Messaging you can send rich text and images on mobile phones. These items can include coupons that can be scanned, animated gifs, short video and audio or other rich text formats to grab the attention of your recipients. Even though these are just a couple of mobile advertising mediums, there are many more which we will explain in great detail within the next few weeks on our blog. There are many other mobile advertising options available but...
by anton | Nov 18, 2014 |
It’s nearing the end of 2014 and everywhere you look you will see people staring down at their mobile devices. In coffee shops, on the train, taxis, and even while driving, being connected everyday everywhere is a reality for many. Even though there are many who still believe that mobile is just a fad and the craze will subside, now is the time to target people that are always connected through their mobile devices. The benefits of mobile advertising is massive and it keeps on evolving with no sign of stopping anytime soon. If you still need convincing that your business should start with a mobile advertising campaign, here’s a couple of points that should convince you if you aren’t already convinced. Mobile advertising is huge Always connected: I don’t know about you, but personally I never leave home without my mobile device. It’s part of me and is always present wherever I go. There’s absolutely no other marketing medium that can integrate in our daily lives so naturally than a mobile device. It’s always on and always connected. Get your message read: Email marketing was the bomb a couple of years ago and still is to many, but in my experience it has become diluted. It’s getting more difficult everyday to get your content read, but with text messaging, that problem is solved. Even though it can be disruptive to a certain extent, you can be sure that your message will be read through mobile advertising. Touch people emotionally: It’s a fact that the best marketing campaigns are the ones that touches people emotionally. A well crafted mobile advertising message...
by anton | Nov 12, 2014 |
Did you know that by 2015 one in two mobile phones will be a smartphone? Feature phones are still prominent in Africa, but with all the low cost smartphones entering the market such as the MTN Steppa, the adoption rate for smartphone usage is rapidly increasing. With this, just imagine what impact this will have on mobile web consumption, search, and marketing in the future. Mobile phone carriers all around the world are busy encouraging users to upgrade to a smartphone for a number of reasons than just pure revenue. Data mining, mobile advertising, and market segmentation to name but a few provides huge value to mobile service carriers to understand their clients better and to provide them with services to fit their needs. Mobile advertising and your brand What does this mean for your business? You should be ready and prepared for the explosion in mobile advertising which can open up your business to a highly engaged mobile market. It’s a fact that more people are accessing the web from their mobile devices than traditional desktop browsers. Why? Because it’s more cost effective and many households – especially in Africa doesn’t have access to the internet other than their mobile device. It’s an always on connected device so it will be foolish not to take advantage of this opportunity while it’s still young and brands are still focused on traditional advertising methods. Online you will already find many big brands taking advantage of various mobile advertising campaigns like KFC, MTN, Vodacom, InTarget and other big players. These brands have mobile optimised responsive websites and applications. They are also busy with...
by anton | Nov 10, 2014 |
With millions of mobile devices being used in Africa and the world everyday, more and more brands are starting to increase their marketing budget to take advantage of mobile advertising. Mobile device usage is rapidly increasing by around 20-25% annually which means that there’s a very good chance that your advertising ads could be in front of a larger audience than now. It’s a fact that businesses needs to start right now taking advantage of mobile advertising if you haven’t already so that you can have access to a larger segment of business while this is still relatively new to many. Here’s a couple of reasons why there’s no better time than now to start integrating a mobile marketing and advertising campaign with your business. Tips to start with mobile advertising It’s not expensive: You can create an awesome mobile banner or a simple but effective text message for far less money than what it costs for a print or television advertisement. By directing your marketing budget to focus on mobile advertising, you can target your specific audience directly by reminding them of your existence every time that they browse to a mobile website or use an app with in app advertising. It’s effective: You can get a great return on your investment when joining a mobile ad network. Most of the time the analytics provided by these networks can enable you to optimise your campaigns to perform even better. With any new marketing campaign, test everything with enhanced split testing so that you can change your campaign so that you get the most out of it. This will give you...
