Mobile marketing/ SMS marketing

Mobile marketing, sometimes referred to as "mobile phone content advertising," is the promotion of mobile content (MoCo) usually through SMS (short message service - or "texting"). Mobile marketing has recently taken off - 2005 was an incredible year of growth for mobile marketing, both in terms of industry and association growth. 2006 will see the launch of mobile advertising, mobile search as well as a number of new mobile mediums. The original springboard for mobile marketing's success was the popularity of ringtones promoted through SMS marketing. Valuable opportunities lie in viral marketing aspects of consumer text messaging. Cell phone texting and other mobile entertainment is a means of marketing to the under-20 consumer, a notoriously difficult segment to influence through traditional advertising. A sore spot for the mobile marketing industry is subscriber privacy and user experience. Massive consumer uproar over an inundation of unsolicited promotional material in the form of SMS messages on the handset is the fear of the mobile marketing industry. Similar to the evolution of online advertising, offering "opt-in" features as a means of curtailing these fears is one route the industry is taking, ensuring subscribers give their permission to have promotional materials sent to them. Also, as in the early days of internet marketing, another approach is to allow users to view ads in exchange for services like free text messaging or access to mobile gaming and other sticky content. Even the development of such content, or branded entertainment, reinforces specific products with key demographics seamlessly. The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is an industry group that aims to protect the consumer experience, establish standards and best practices while evangelizing the use of mobile marketing worldwide. According to their website, "MMA members include agencies, advertisers, hand held device manufacturers, carriers and operators, retailers, software providers and service providers, as well as any company focused on the potential of marketing via mobile devices." Bringing these groups together promises to reduce the SPAM issues sooner rather than later. Mobile marketing strategy, cutting-edge advertising ideas, advances in small-screen video & gaming content, and more industry opportunities are covered in the FierceMoco free email bulletin.