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Biggest Obstacle in Mobile Marketing
I was watching this video (see below) of Laura Marriott, President of the Mobile Marketing Association being interviewed by Michelle Sklar of bnetTV.com at the CTIA Wireless show earlier this year. At one point they begin to discuss what they feel is the biggest obstacle facing mobile marketing right now. While Laura gave a much more detailed answer in this video, her take on it can be summed up in one word - consistency.
She pointed out that mobile campaigns and the way they can be launched and tracked is not consistent across vendors and therefore brands are not able to get apples to apples results in reporting. I agree this is a big obstacle. Do you? What other obstacles do you see and, more importantly, how can we overcome them?
Mobile SEO Resources
So what’s the scoop on Mobile SEO? How do you make sure your mobile site comes up at the top of the mobile search engine listing? Right now there are a lot of shifts and changes happening, so this is not an exact science yet. But there are two people whose advice I value highly in this area: Bena Roberts and Bryson Meunier.
Here’s where to find out more about Mobile SEO:
Natural Search and Mobile SEO Blog
Bryson Meunier
Mobile SEO News
Bena Roberts
Making Money with Mobile Coupons
If you are wondering how to effectively use mobile coupons, especially in the upcoming holiday season, you should sign up for a free webinar being put on by mobileStorm.
The webinar, “Making Money with Mobile Coupons,” is scheduled for November 11, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. (Pacific time) and will be led by Jared Reitzin. The discussion will focus on how the integration of mobile coupons into marketing campaigns can maximize revenue for small- to medium-sized businesses.
Attendees will also receive specifics on how to launch a mobile coupon campaign, expected start-up costs, and success stories of companies using mobile coupons today.
Topics to be addressed include:
• Consumer response to coupon offers sent to mobile phones.
• Using mobile couponing to increase sales and support consumer loyalty programs.
• Best practices for SMS mobile coupon campaigns.
• Choosing the right SMS coupon technology.
To register, please go to https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/846137529.
Make Your Blog Mobile-Friendly in a Few Simple Steps
If you want your blog readers to be able to quickly and easily read your blog from their mobile devices there is a really easy way to make that possible. When you’ve followed the steps I’ve outlined below your readers can simply go to your blog URL from their mobile browser and the mobile version of your site will appear. If they go to your blog from their desktop computer they will see the full-sized version. You’ll also have a specific mobile URL that you can use as well.
Here are the steps to follow (with screenshots). Don’t worry, you don’t even need to take a deep breath or anything, it is so simple.
Step 1
Find your blog’s RSS feed URL and copy it. You will be pasting it in just minute.
If you have any trouble with that, try looking for the RSS icon on your blog or go to Feedburner to create a feed. It shouldn’t be hard to find or create.
Step 2
Go to www.MoFuse.com
As shown in this screen shot, paste your blog’s RSS feed URL into the box where it says Mobilize your blog now. Click on the Mobilize button.
Step 3
Set up your mobile site on MoFuse.
In this step MoFuse will create a mobile web address for you. You will want to use this feature because later you can allow your site visitors to have the mobile URL sent to their phone via SMS text message if you want.
The other thing this step accomplishes for you is creating a listing in the MoFuse mobile site directory. And this will also create your free MoFuse account.
Step 4
Launch a New Mobile Site
This step will seem a bit redundant because you’ll need to input your RSS feed URL in again. But you are also naming your blog as it will show up on your mobile site. I advise going with as short a name as you can. You will put that in where it says Site Name and RSS Feed Title.
At the part on this screen where it asks for you to agree to the Revenue Sharing Policy you will need to check the box and be sure to read the policy because it tells what will happen to advertising revenue from ads on the site. (More on this later.)
Step 5
Set up Automatic Detect & Redirect
This is the step that creates the magic. When this screen pops up, choose the Automatic Detect and Redirect option. You can do the other options later but this is the one you want to get onto your site ASAP so mobile visitors see your mobile site and not your full site through a screen the size of a postage stamp.
Step 6
This page will show you options for working with your WordPress, Blogger or other kind of website. The screenshots below walk you through the WordPress option, but the other choices will be similar.
The general idea is you will grab some code and paste it into your blog’s code. This will allow your site to recognize which kind of browser each individual reader is using when they get there. Your mobile visitors will see the mobile version and the folks using a desktop computer will see the big version. Please don’t worry about this, as it very easy.
On this screen you will copy the code as described for your kind of blog platform.
IMPORTANT:
Before you copy the code, go ahead and open up your blogging admin panel. For WordPress this is where you login at yougblogname.com/wp-admin.
Once there locate where you are supposed to copy the code. In WordPress that will be in the Theme Editor. You’ll be looking for the header.php file. When you find it, copy it and paste it into Notepad as a back up. Not that anything is likely to go wrong, but it is always a good idea to back up your code before you do anything with it.
Step 7
Paste the Automatic Detect & Redirect Code into Your Blog
Following the direction that MoFuse gave you in Step 6, carefully paste the code you copied from there and paste it where directed. In WordPress that is at the very top of your header.php file. Be sure to save your changes.
After you have done this, go to your blog on your desktop browser and hit refresh. Make sure it looks exactly the same. If anything messed up, grab that code you copied into Notepad and repaste it in the header.php file. Save and recheck.
If your blog looks fine, then grab your mobile browser and go directly to your blog site. You should see your mobile site.
WARNING: This might not work. When working with mobile web stuff you are not dealing with an exact science. Some themes work a bit differently than others. Mobile phones work differently as well. But hopefully it will work for you. It is OK to leave the code there. Maybe other people are seeing the mobile site.
For me, it worked perfectly for this blog (MobileMarketingProfits) and I had a bit of trouble with MobiBlueprint Blog which I am still working on.
Now you can work your way through MoFuse and find more exciting things to do with your mobile blog. Have fun.
A Note About Revenue Sharing:
If you select the Revenue Sharing / Monetize option on MoFuse and want to display ads on your blog, be sure to sign up for your own Google Adwords and/or AdMob account. That way you will get to keep 50% of the ad revenues from your site. MoFuse makes it really easy to just pste in your publisher IDs and it will work automatically.
Please let me know how this worked for you. Did you run into any snags? Did you understand my directions? If you need someone to test out your mobile blog, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll check it for you to see how it looks.
Mobile Media Investor Conference
The Strategy Institute Announces the Mobile Media Investor Conference
December 9 & 10, 2008, San Francisco
To bring together ingenious minds in the mobile media industry, from start-up to investor, Strategy Institute presents the Mobile Media Investor Conference, supported by numerous industry experts in the emerging mobile media arena. The event will be held December 9 & 10, 2008, at Hotel Nikko in San Francisco.
“The goal of the event is to bring forth the realities and economics of mobile media, educate the investment community, and to create a forum for emerging growth mobile media companies to connect with other key players in the mobile ecosystem,” stated Vijay S. Chattha, Chief Talker of VSC Consulting, and Chairperson of Strategy Institute’s Mobile Media Conference.
Among the many industry leading presentations during the two-day event are:
Eric Ver Ploeg, Managing Director, VantagePoint Venture Partners moderates the panel discussion on “Monetizing the Third Screen” with key panelists including:
Cheryl Dalrymple, CFO, AdMob;
Zaw Thet, CEO, 4INFO;
Scott Dunlap, CEO, NearByNow;
Jason Gruber, VP of US Mobile Strategic Development, AOL
Rhonda Wickham, Editor-in-Chief, Wireless Week moderates a panel discussion on “Scenarios and Predictions” in the Mobile Channel with leading content providers:
Jeffery Litvack, Global Director, New Media Markets, Associate Press;
Louis Gump, VP, Mobile, The Weather Channel Interactive;
John Smelzer, SVP & GM of Mobile, Fox Interactive Media
Leading Venture firms discuss “Deals Being Funded, Where Money is Flowing, and Industry Trends” with:
Sharon Wienbar, Managing Director, Scale Venture Partners;
Ben Choi, Senior Associate & Kaufman Fellow, Storm Ventures
Blake Warner, Managing Director, Software, Media & Telecom Investment Banking, Thomas Weisel Partners moderates the CEO and Founders’ Roundtable Discussion on “Raising Money” featuring:
Dorrian Porter, Founder & CEO, Mozes;
Brian Cowley, President & CEO, Ad Infuse;
Zohar Levkovitz, CEO, Amobee Media System
Strategy Institute works to provide decision-makers with strategic business information and executive education to enhance their business judgment. With focus on emerging markets, technologies, and applications within various segments, Strategy Institute offers annual conferences that provide practical solutions to business challenges.
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