The importance of mobile marketing and local SEO are increasing with the rapid deployment of mobile technology and ever increasing subscriber base.
Mobile marketing, broadly is the process of using mobile technology, communication and media to promote a brand, product or business, selling something, through an MARCOM campaign. This encompasses advertising, brand awareness and reputation management, increased visibility/eye-balls, acquiring bigger audience or consumer market, improving conversion rates, website optimization, SMS or text messaging ads, social media, SEO, and much more
The most common forms are mobile web marketing, mobile application marketing and SMS marketing/advertising.
Mobile web marketing focuses upon website creation, visibility and promotion and focus on user access of the mobile web or website through a browser or search engine, working more or less like regular online website marketing, except that strategies are focused solely within mobile communications.
In the case of mobile application marketing, the main focus is on the use of mobile software applications or apps, rather than mobile browsers or search engine. The classic example are the host of apps available on the Apple iPhone ecosystem. The way this is works is the app (client device side software) is downloaded to the mobile device (mobile phone, tablet etc.), and is installed on the device. This is same as downloading software on a PC/desktop. The mobile software application can have thousands of possibilities for functionality, purpose and use, online or offline dependence, and may range from apps with simple functions that can work without the mobile or WiFi network (games, flash apps etc.) to work, to more complex apps that open to a particular online destination (Facebook app, Twitter app, iTunes, Apple Store, Amazon shopping app, eBay app, Weather Channel app etc.).
In April 2010, Steve Jobs launched Apple iAd, a technology built into iPhone iOS, to help developers incorporate advertisements into iPhone Applications (available for iPad and iPod Touch as well, through mobile or WiFi networks). This is an great example of the use of mobile application marketing, for promotion and to draw more mobile consumers to sites for making purchases. iAd uses simple HTML 5 to create interactive in-app ads, with the advantage that one can get back to the app being used, back to where you left, by simply closing the ad. Developers and brands can use the iAds network to make interactive ads, bringing visibility of their products to billions of users of Apple devices and help promote their apps and in turn make revenues as Apple sells, hosts the ads, and gives 60% of the revenue to the developers.
By introducing iAd, Apple has increased the scope of mobile advertising to an enormous extent. Companies are now seeing the potential of this form of advertising, as they are able to tap into a huge audience. Apple iAd has made a great impact on mobile advertising and has changed the way companies regarded this as an effective means of promoting their products.
Such usage of mobile marketing through a process where mobile technology and communications are used to achieve business goals, to increase visibility and consumer market, drive optimized conversion rates and for brand management, is gaining high significance quickly and making it an invaluable service to any business, small or large.
Further, with the iphone 4S launch, apple has introduced the new voice recognition app, the Siri, that allows users to control their iphones, through voice interaction, allowing one to use voice to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, get directions etc. Unlike other traditional voice recognition software that requires one to remember keywords and speak specific commands, Apple’s Siri, understands users natural speech, and even asks the user questions interactively, in case more information is required to complete the requested task.
The bigger impact of Siri, currently in its Beta, is on Mobile SEO, and ability of Siri to mine depth of information by accessing built-in apps, public data sources, use search and location services to provide relevant and variety of service as per the request made. Some of the apps and services that Siri works with are FaceTime, Mail, Messages, Weather, Stocks, Web Search, Find My Friends, Wolfram, and local search with Yelp! (at present available in US). The list of Third party applications and additions to language support is expected to increase in coming months, making usage more widespread, consequently decreasing the traffic to traditional sites. This is significant as there is increase in the percentage of local component in searches, making local SEO more important for businesses.
Such local search automation is expected to change the current SE result pages/pay-per-click business model followed by traditional search engines and hereby diminishing their utility/importance.
