For the past few years, mobile has been positioned as the next big thing in interactive marketing and advertising. In reality, however, global mobile ad spend is small compared to most other channels, although rapid growth is expected over the next few years.

According to Strategy Analytics, global mobile ad spending was worth US$1.4-billion in 2007, a number that is forecast to climb to $14.4-billion in 2011. While it's fair to say that mobile advertising hasn't yet delivered on some of the loftier promises, it's equally true that mobile has matured into a medium that can play a vital role in nearly any company's marketing mix.

For South African marketers, the mobile channel has the obvious attraction of reach. With cellular penetration in the country estimated to be more than 80%, mobile is an ideal way to reach many of the customers you cannot reach through the fixed-line internet.

Many of the obstacles to mobile marketing are falling away as even entry-level phones become equipped with multimedia functions and internet connectivity, and as prices for mobile data continue to fall. South Africa has some of the world's lowest mobile data tariffs, with local users paying about a tenth of what their counterparts in most Western European countries do to access the mobile internet.

About 62% of phones currently in the market and 90% of all new phones entering the market are internet ready. And the user experience of the mobile internet has improved dramatically, thanks to interface improvements and larger displays on smartphones.

Benefits of mobile marketing

Apart from its reach, mobile marketing in its many forms offers advertisers a wide range of benefits. It's a cost-effective flexible medium that offers marketers a range of tools and tactics to reach their audiences. From opt-in SMS and MMS campaigns, through to mobile internet search, mobile pay-per-click campaigns and mobile ad networks, marketers can choose an appropriate mechanism for every campaign and audience.

Like online advertising, mobile advertising delivers highly measurable results, allowing marketers to constantly optimise their campaigns and achieve the maximum return on investment. It also allows advertisers to target consumers with messages tailored to their needs and interests, with potential in future even to deliver location-based messaging.

The mobile phone is a personal device, which means that marketers also need to take great care to ensure that their messages are not experienced as intrusive by the user. Mobile campaigns must be opt-in and they must deliver a good experience to the user - rich media ads that takes too long to load on a mobile phone, for example, are definitely out.

Integrated strategy

Of course, the potential of mobile advertising doesn't mean that companies should neglect the other online and offline channels they have at their disposal.

The mobile channel isn't likely to replace any other online or offline medium, but will complement them instead. It makes sense to treat mobile as part of the overall digital strategy. The way that it can be targeted and measured, and the technology that drives it means that it has much in common with online media.

In conclusion

Marketers should start off by defining clear campaign objectives and matching them to the multiple channels they will use to reach customers and prospects. It's all about reaching customers, wherever they are, with a consistent message that meets their needs as well as your business objectives, whether these are branding, customer conversion or creating customer loyalty.