mobile marketing


Mobile Marketing – Formal Definition

Mobile marketing is a digital marketing technique that involves promoting products, services, or brands through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets by leveraging features like SMS, MMS, mobile applications, push notifications, in-app advertising, QR codes, and location-based services to deliver personalized and real-time marketing messages to customers.

Location-Based Marketing – Formal Definition

Location-based marketing is a marketing strategy that uses the geographical location data of customers obtained through mobile devices, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or IP addresses to deliver targeted, contextually relevant, and timely advertisements or promotional messages, thereby connecting digital interactions with the customer’s physical presence at specific locations.

3.5 Mobile Marketing

Definition:
Mobile marketing is any advertising activity that promotes products and services through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. It makes use of features like location services to tailor campaigns based on an individual’s location. As mobile devices have become an integral part of life, mobile marketing has gained significance in the overall marketing mix.

3.5.1 How Does Mobile Marketing Work?

Mobile marketing works by answering the following strategic questions:

  • What Attitude?
  • What Message?
  • Customer – Who/Where?
  • When & How Often?
  • Measure – How/What?
  • What Action?

It may include promotions sent via SMS, MMS, push notifications, in-app or in-game marketing, mobile websites, and QR codes.
Proximity systems and location-based services alert users based on their geographic location.

Key players are brands, companies, and service providers enabling mobile advertising. Unlike traditional marketing, mobile marketing targets customers based on behavior (e.g., “snacking” behavior—users checking phones for brief periods).

3.5.2 Benefits of Mobile Marketing

  • Results in a flash.
  • Convenient to use.
  • Tracking user response.
  • Mass communication made easy.
  • Boosts search engine rankings.
  • Portable and flexible advertising.

3.5.3 Disadvantages of Mobile Marketing

  • Privacy concerns.
  • Navigation difficulties on mobile phones.

3.5.4 Types of Mobile Marketing Strategy

  1. In-game marketing: Ads shown during mobile games (banner ads, full-page ads, or video ads).
  2. App-based marketing: Ads delivered through apps using services like Google AdMob or Facebook Ads.
  3. Location-based marketing: Ads triggered based on a user’s current business or area.
  4. QR codes: Scanning QR codes redirects to a linked website.
  5. Mobile image ads: Image-based designs displayed on mobile devices.
  6. Mobile search ads: Google search ads optimized for mobile with extensions (maps, click-to-call).
  7. SMS marketing: Promotional offers sent via text messages.


3.7 Location-Based Marketing

Definition:
Location-based marketing uses customer location data from mobile devices to send messages about nearby businesses. It connects the digital world of mobile devices with the customer’s physical location.

For example: When a customer is near a store, they may receive promotional offers encouraging them to visit. It can also be used in competitor locations to divert customers.

3.7.1 Types of Location-Based Marketing

  • Geotargeting: Uses IP addresses to determine user location and deliver relevant messages.
    Example: Google search shows “coffee shops” near the user’s location.

  • Geofencing: Sets virtual boundaries using GPS. When customers enter/exit, they receive notifications.
    Example: Customer notified when a product they viewed online is available nearby.

  • Beaconing: Uses Wi-Fi/Bluetooth to target users in small areas.
    Example: Grocery store beacons send ice cream offers when a user is in the ice cream aisle.

  • Geo-Conquesting: Targets customers near competitor locations.
    Example: Burger King used geo-conquesting to send a 1 cent Whopper deal to customers near McDonald’s.

3.7.2 Benefits of Location-Based Marketing

  • Increases traffic to stores.
  • Provides relevant and personalized ads.
  • Enhances user experience.
  • Allows valuable data collection for future campaigns.

Disadvantages of Location-Based Marketing

  • Users must opt-in to share location data (privacy concerns).
  • Cannot target non-smartphone users.
  • May deliver irrelevant content if segmentation is poor.
  • Requires accurate location data.
  • Hard to get customer attention due to notification overload.