The Face of Marketing Has Changed

Mobile marketing is the wave of the future and the future is approaching very quickly. In 1990, 12.4 million people possessed mobile phones. In the ten years that followed, that number swelled to over four billion. In fact, the number of mobile phones may surpass the number of people in the world because many people have more than one. As this technology exploded onto the worldwide scene, the opportunities for direct consumer communications have grown exponentially. Mobile technology has also grown beyond phone calls and SMS or text messaging to include web browsing and even push technology. Push technologies include the ability to push a message to the phone rather than waiting for a request from the phone’s user.

Because the technology has grown so quickly, mobile marketing has struggled to keep up. Most companies big and small have been left behind because the cost of learning the new communications methods has been difficult to absorb for such a new advertising venue. There have been very high profile cases where consumers have taken to the new technology faster than the companies that offer the products and services they purchase. In these cases, the consumer complaints seemed to go viral to other perceptive customers, but were ignored until making the top news story for the day. These companies have discovered the cost of not utilizing the new venues provided through the mobile marketing technology.

Unfortunately, the high profile companies became well known for having poor service or products. In reality, this may not be the case, they were just caught off guard with a new communication tool that their customers used better then the company did. When it comes down to it, companies need to take advantage of the mobile marketing options available through social networking websites. If it seems cost prohibitive to train someone in this technology, the best option is actually outsourcing to a company that already specializes in these services.

Marketing is no longer something that can be planned for years in advance. Due to new communications techniques via mobile technology, companies may find themselves in reaction mode more than expected. In order to make this work well, working with someone who is an expert in the field of immediate mobile marketing can help any company not just react, but also handle situations and turn them into opportunities to grow through consumer advocacy. Do it right and customers will let each other know.