What is Mobile Marketing, Mobile Development and iPhone Development?
Mobile Marketing is used to describe marketing on or with a mobile device, such as a mobile phone. Mobile Marketing is still fairly new to the marketing mix, but has been rapidly increasing in popularity because of the large number of people who have and use mobile phones. Mobile marketing is generally used to introduce the customer to a new participation-based promotional campaign, ultimately directing the consumer to a mobile website.
Advantages of Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing has several advantages, the most important of which are outlined below.
- Mobile marketing is immediate—Mobile marketing campaigns are generally easy to create and execute. Once a mobile marketing campaign is finalized, a message can be delivered to recipients in a matter of seconds.
- Mobile marketing has great reach—Delivery of messages to mobile phones is almost guaranteed, unlike other direct marketing techniques such as email.
- Mobile marketing is portable—Customers can receive messages on their mobile devices anywhere, anytime.
- Mobile marketing is affordable – The cost of sending mobile marketing messages is comparable to that of sending branded email communication to consumers.
- Mobile marketing is effective – The average mobile marketing message response rate is about 5 times greater than traditional promotional methods, such as direct mail.
- Mobile marketing is personal – Messages and or personalized content can be targeted directly to the individuals that have been selected to receive them.
- Mobile marketing is a complementary medium – Mobile marketing is well paired with traditional advertising campaigns, such as radio, print, and television promotions.
- Mobile marketing is viral – Mobile technology encourages viral marketing more than other promotional method, as mobile marketing has built-in tools for forwarding messages to friends and existing social networks.
What is Mobile Development?
Mobile development refers to applications or websites designed specifically for use on mobile devices. Each mobile device has a different mobile development platform. Examples of mobile development include, iPhone, Android and Blackberry.
Mobile Fringe specializes in efficient mobile development for the iPhone, Android, Blackberry and other mobile devices. Select the appropriate mobile platform for your business, and choose from a list of features that will make your mobile application unique.
Our Mobile Marketing Platforms
- Shopping Centre Mobile Platform – Our Shopping Centre Mobile Platform allows you to communicate quickly and easily with shoppers, informing consumers about any upcoming event, sale, or store opening at your mall.
- Retail Mobile Platform – Our Retail Mobile Platform is a mini version of your store that customers can access anytime directly from their mobile phone, so you’re always open for business.
- Mobile Coupons / Mobile Promotions Platform – Our Mobile Coupons / Mobile Promotions Platform delivers your marketing campaigns directly to your customers via their mobile phone, ensuring shoppers have your deals at their fingertips.
- Hospitality Mobile Platform – Our Hospitality Mobile Platform is a way to provide guests at your hotel or resort with their own personal guide, taking them directly to the attractions and establishments that meet their unique tastes.
- Conference Mobile Platform – Our Conference Mobile Marketing Platform connects your convention with those that will be attending the event.
- Event Mobile Platform – Our Event Mobile Marketing Platform ensures that all relevant information about your event will be placed directly in the hands of your audience – literally.
- Advertising Mobile Platform – Our Advertising Mobile Platform means your campaigns can be at the fingertips of consumers around the world.
- Mobile Social Marketing Platform – Our Mobile Social Marketing Platform takes the all the interaction of a social networking site and focuses it directly on your business.
How is mobile marketing different from mobile development?
Mobile development is the action of creating an application that can be used on mobile devices, such as the iPhone, Android, or Blackberry. Mobile Marketing refers to a marketing campaign that uses mobile devices including the iPhone, Android and Blackberry to send a specific promotional message to consumers.
See below for the primary ways in which mobile marketing differs from mobile development.
- Mobile Marketing will increase your ROI, drive sales and help your business engage directly with your customers.
- Mobile Development allows your customer to access your marketing campaigns using their mobile devices anywhere, or anytime.
- Mobile Marketing enhances your multichannel campaign efforts.
- Mobile Development can be used on a variety of different mobile platforms, including the iPhone, Android and Blackberry.
iPhone Development (Mobile Development for the iPhone)
The iPhone is an internet and multimedia-enabled smarthone designed and marketed by Apple. iPhone mobile development refers to mobile applications made specifically for use on the iPhone. The iPhone development applications are distributed via Apple’s Application Store or App Store. iPhone mobile development can be completely customized and can be used for the iPod Touch, and iPad, in addition to the iPhone. Unlike other forms of mobile development, iPhone development requires approval from Apple before the application can be published.
Android Development (Mobile Development for the Android)
Android is a mobile software platform by Google for mobile devices, which includes an operating system, middleware and key applications using a modified version of the Linux Kernel. Android development refers to mobile applications made specifically for use on the Android – a market which has been growing rapidly over the past year. All Android development applications can be found in the Android Market, a catalogue of applications for the Android, and can be downloaded directly onto the mobile device. Initially, only free Android applications were available on the Android Market. However, paid-for applications can now also be downloaded.
Blackberry Development (Mobile Development for the Blackberry)
Blackberry is a line of mobile email and smartphone devices developed by RIM (Research In Motion). The Blackberry is known primarily for its ability to send and receive email wherever it can access a mobile network of specific mobile phone carriers. Blackberry development refers to the development of mobile applications for the Blackberry.
Blackberry mobile applications need to be downloaded and installed on the Blackberry in order to work. There are thousands of Blackberry mobile applications available online – some available for free, while other blackberry mobile applications need to be purchased. Blackberry Mobile Applications can be downloaded on Blackbery AppWorld or from their publishers websites
QR code Campaign Development (QR codes for mobile)
“What are QR codes and how can they help your business? Keep reading to find out.
Quick Response codes (QR codes) and other two-dimensional codes are expected to achieve widespread use this year – and for good reason. Consumers want immediate access to what’s relevant and QR codes are being used to make that possible.
QR Codes 101
If you’re not yet familiar with QR codes, they’re similar to the barcodes used by retailers to track inventory and price products at the point of sale. The key difference between the two is the amount of data they can hold or share
QR code to the Social Media Examiner home page.
Bar codes are linear one-dimensional codes and can only hold up to 20 numerical digits, whereas QR codes are two-dimensional (2D) matrix barcodes that can hold thousands of alphanumeric characters of information. Their ability to hold more information and their ease of use makes them practical for small businesses.
When you scan or read a QR code with your iPhone, Android or other camera-enabled Smartphone, you can link to digital content on the web; activate a number of phone functions including email, IM and SMS; and connect the mobile device to a web browser.
Any of these desired functions are easily achieved by properly creating your QR code. It’s a simple process of entering the appropriate data into the QR code generator, described below, and it all takes just a few minutes.
The ability of QR codes to connect people with each other and to multimedia digital content is very useful for businesses and consumers alike.
The Origins of QR Codes
While QR codes are still considered a novelty here in the United States, they’ve been actively used for over a decade in Japan where they were invented. QR is a registered trademark of Denso Wave, a subsidiary of Toyota. Denso Wave has elected not to exercise their patent rights of QR codes and that has encouraged their widespread use.
There are other software companies that have created 2D codes that work much like QR codes, with Microsoft being the most notable. Microsoft developed their own proprietary software to create codes known as MS tags. Unlike QR codes, which can be read by a number of different readers, MS tags can only be read by the Microsoft Tag Reader.
Choosing to use QR codes or MS tags is a personal choice. It seems that MS tags presently allow for more possibilities for creative graphic designs, such as incorporating images and logos into the tag. Nevertheless, those capabilities have to be weighed against the reach and ease of use of open-source QR codes.
How QR Codes Work
QR code Generators – There are a number of sites for generating QR codes and they’re all free. An Internet search for QR code generator will offer many choices.
You can use it to create QR codes that link to a web page, text, phone numbers, or SMS. QR code Readers – The QR code reader app that works well on my iPhone is i-nigma, which claims to be the most widely used reader in the world. It accommodates virtually any type of camera phone. For the android, you can also try Barcode Scanner. If you already own the popular price-checking app Red Laser, they’ve recently adapted their technology to accommodate QR code reading.
Applications for QR Codes
Sharing – There’s no limit to how, or even how much, you can share with QR codes. While a video or landing page is easily shared, you could go further and share an entire eBook and even multiple pieces of content that share a common link.
QR code Like button to the author’s Facebook page.
Community – Sharing is how you build community, and one of the favorite arenas for doing this is Facebook. You can use Likify to create a QR code that links your mobile device to a fully functioning LIKE button for your Facebook page.
This greatly simplifies the process of merging your other communities with your Facebook page – and it is all accomplished in one click.
Additionally, the accompanying signature “thumbs-up” clearly suggests the purpose of the code.
Calls to Action – After building a community, the next logical step is to mobilize them to take action. What are you trying to accomplish? You can alternate special offers by simply linking your QR codes to new landing pages, and you can combine then with email opt-ins to build your list.
The QR code above takes visitors to a Facebook page welcome tab where the calls to action are Liking the page and a list opt-in.
Social Proof – To help build a community offline, it can be helpful to use your vibrant online communities as social proof of your influence and expertise. As one example, you can use QR codes to link to specific blog posts that have earned an abundance of activity”. Jeff Korhan
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Why You Should Not Send People To Your Full Website for your QR Code marketing campaign, but to a QR Code Landing Page Get the best QR Code Stats.
Marketing Usability with QR Code Campaigns and Landing Pages to get the best stats
Websites are optimized to be displayed nicely on a computer screen not a smartphone. They are built for monitors that are normally 15-20 inches in size. Taking one of these sites and scaling it down to fit on a mobile screen doesn’t help your QR Code Campaign, it makes it hard on the user to read and find information. If you don’t send to a QR Code Landing page, your users will have to zoom then scroll left, right, up and down to try and locate the QR Code Campaign information which can hurt the overall QR Code marketing campaign stats. They should instead be sent to a proper QR Code landing page for a clear QR Code marketing campaign message.
What A QR Code Landing Page Should Be - Keep It Simple to get the best stats for your QR Code Campaign message
You know what most visitors to your website are looking for, they looking for the same thing from a QR Code Landing page. Make it easy for them to find this information. Your landing page should be page should be simple and quick to navigate. Consider using large “touch friendly” buttons on your QR Code Landing page that lead the visitors directly to the QR Code Campaign content they are looking for a successful QR Code marketing campaign – more button pushes means getting better QR Code stats for QR Code marketing campaigns. Your QR code landing page should include a logo and then these simple navigation buttons for the best QR code campaign.
No Need For Data Overload on your QR Code Marketing Campaign
There is no need to publish all of the content of your website to your QR code landing page. There should be a simple QR Code marketing message for your QR code campaign which will help you get the QR code stats you are looking for. This page should have a brief QR Code campaign description rather than a long drawn out essay. Your QR Code marketing campaign material should be short and sweet on the landing page. Many will be reading your QR Code landing page on the go and just want to find the info they need quickly, and you’ll want to give people that scan your QR Code a clear marketing message and help you get the QR stats that make it a successful campaign.
Link To Your Full Site from your QR Code Landing page – Help your QR Code Landing page stats as well as your website stats.
You should always provide a link back to your full site from the QR code landing page. This allows those that do want more info than what your QR code marketing campaign is offering on your mobile friendly landing website, they can visit the full site and find what they are looking for.
Building your mobile landing site can be challenging. There are many options to building out a mobile friendly landing site that Mobile Fringe can help you with.
