kimbayne.com: Published Works:
Publish magazine
The Future of Wireless Marketing
I can remember when being on vacation meant just that–no telephones, no computer, no interruptions and no work. Those days are long gone. With the aid of wireless devices, today you can take your entire office with you whether you like it or not.
But if you listen to the hype, it seems instant access to information and communications is what the average businessperson wanted all along. TV commercials portray wireless devices as an essential and accepted part of everyday life. For example, a mother takes her children to the beach and takes a call from a client while relaxing on the sand. What could be more convenient…or more annoying? Personally, if I conducted business while basking in the sun with my ten-year-old daughter, I think she’d be justified in flinging my cell phone into the tide.
But despite my personal idiosyncrasies, it’s obvious to anyone who has heard the barrage of phone-ringing on the subways that there is a real future in wireless. What does it hold for marketers who want to tap into this revolution? For one, more and more devices are being redesigned to include Internet-ready capabilities, opening up a world of opportunity for potential wireless marketers. Such devices include personal digital assistants, handheld computers, pagers, telephones and, coming soon to a dealer near you, automobiles–with many more products under consideration. Wireless users can now access limited content and services through their choice of several service providers. In the next three to five years, we’ll see even more wireless media outlets for reaching opt-in customers on the go.
But before you begin to salivate at the thought of reaching your customers 24/7/365, take a moment to reflect on the current reality of wireless marketing. Wireless tools represent learning curves for companies that plan to incorporate more new media into the marketing mix. Delivering content and mobile commerce to wireless devices doesn’t come easy. It certainly doesn’t resemble the comparatively simple task of coding and uploading a Web page. There are new technical protocols to observe. A business often has to start from scratch in finding or designing an application for delivering its unique message and content to wireless users. That’s why so many businesses are signing strategic alliances with wireless developers. Your company may have already overcome this hurdle. If so, you’re currently in the minority.
Reaching all of your customers through wireless marketing isn’t "a given," either. If you’ve been marketing on the Web for the past five years, you know this fact of digital life all too intimately. Even after incorporating wireless devices into your marketing arsenal, you’ll have to get the word out to your established customers that you can be found on an Internet-enabled phone. Meanwhile, if you’re smart, you’re still grasping firmly onto the Web and more traditional marketing media. There is still large percentage of customers who haven’t and won’t switch their information-gathering habits to wireless devices for years to come, if at all.
So how will wireless devices enable you to reach your mobile customer? We’ve already seen how simple short text messages, such as news briefs, can be sent to the most basic of digital phones. With the potential of cellular telephone locator devices on the horizon, location-specific wireless marketing tactics aren’t far behind. Imagine being able to send digital coupons to passersby. If I were exhibiting at a trade show and looking for a place to photocopy a last-minute news release, I might appreciate getting a discount for driving an extra block to Kinko’s. But then again, if that wireless m-coupon arrived unsolicited, I might also be annoyed that someone knew where I was–almost as if Big Brother were looking over my shoulder.
After several wireless broadcasts interrupting my real-world time, I’d be inclined to shut my telephone off and go back to relative anonymity. And I think it’s safe to say that most customers prefer to call the shots on how and when they receive electronic information. Image-conscious and customer-oriented marketers won’t want to be associated with what has the potential to become wireless spam. Instead, they’ll empower their users with personalized content delivery tools to build trust and maintain loyalty.
In a world where personal bandwidth is now at a premium, deciding how and when to deliver your wireless message is paramount to connecting with the right customer at the right time. Ultimately, all reputable marketers will understand that poorly executed wireless marketing campaigns will estrange rather than entice buyers. Mastering wireless devices could be the final marketing challenge that few businesses survive.
Article COPYRIGHT 2001 Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. Reprinted with permission.
by Kim M. Bayne
Publish magazine
January 25, 2001
Web Site Copyright © 1994-present, Kim M. Bayne, wolfBayne Communications, P.O. Box 30208, Tucson, AZ 85751-0208 USA. All rights reserved. All other copyrights are the property of their respective holders. The contents of this document and any other document residing on this site may NOT be published, broadcast, copied, rewritten, transmitted, translated or otherwise distributed, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the prior written authority of the copyright holder. This Web site is protected by U.S. Federal and International Copyright Law.