On November 9, 2011, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) conducted the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The test was conducted at 2:00 pm EST, and during this period, regular television, radio, cable, radio, and satellite programs were interrupted while the system was tested.
The test produced “mixed results” as many people did not know and/or did NOT see or hear the test. FEMA itself was quick to point out that, in hindsight, the test missed the ONLY major communications channel where most Americans currently play or reside: MOBILE, and that mobile devices would be incorporated into the next EAS test.
How could FEMA have missed the fact that there are currently over 350 million cell phones or mobile devices in the US alone? NO Do you have a landline? How could FEMA have missed the fact that the mobile device is the most used communication channel in the US today? How could FEMA have missed the fact that at 2:00 pm, most people would be at work and probably not near a television or radio? Overall, it is estimated that there are more than 2 billion mobile devices currently in operation. Fortunately, FEMA has recognized its error and is taking the necessary steps to correct it.
Now what does this lesson mean to you as a small or medium business owner?
- Have you adapted your communication and/or marketing channels to be in the same space as your current and potential customers?
- What communication/advertising channels do you currently use to reach your current or potential customers?
- Do you primarily use radio, newspapers, television, or direct mail to reach your current and potential customers?
- Are mobile devices even remotely being considered in your future marketing strategy?
- Do you have a multimedia marketing strategy to integrate and link ALL of your various marketing channels into one?
Some compelling statistics:
- About 25% of current mobile Web users in the US are ONLY mobile and growing! They do not use or rarely use desktop computers, laptops, read newspapers, except by mobile.
- Web-enabled phones: By the end of 2011, more than 85 percent of new phones will be able to access the mobile Web. In the US and Western Europe, it has already been surpassed.
- Mobile Marketing/Advertising: SMS or text messaging is the king of mobile messaging. In 2011, more than 8 billion text messages will be sent.
- Worldwide mobile ad spend is projected to be US$3.3 billion in 2011 and skyrocket to US$20.6 billion in 2015.
Note this quote:
“In the past twelve months, customers around the world have ordered more than $1 billion worth of Amazon products using a mobile device,” – Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon.com (July 2010).
Small and medium-sized businesses can still compete:
Recent changes in technology and competition have now made the Internet and mobile text marketing available and affordable for many small businesses. The small business can start establishing a mobile marketing presence with the following minimum functionality and scale accordingly:
- SMS text advertising: Get the long code “keywords” that best describe your company name or products. A shortcode keyword is also an option, but I think shortcodes have big limitations and are more expensive in the long run. A long code is your normal 10-digit phone number. A short code is a special 5- or 6-digit number assigned to you by your provider.
- Multimedia Ad Builder: It is important that the provider or functionality you choose includes a multimedia commercial generator. This functionality allows you to simply select a template that best suits your business, fill in your information, and instantly generate a stunning “TV-like” multimedia ad.
- Mobile Website Builder: This functionality will allow you to automatically generate and publish your “mobile” website to most smartphones. You can now link to this mobile website from all of your text messages that you send to all of your customers.
- Post ads on YouTube and social networks: The functionality to automatically post all of your media ads to YouTube and social media is essential for a small business owner. All of your ads are linked directly to you from your provided contact information.
- Integrate your offline advertising with your multimedia strategy: Your keyword now becomes your link to your websites, TV, radio, or other contact information in your offline ads and directs your customers to the specific coupon or product you’re promoting.
- Measurement and monitoring: Finally, the software must have functionality that allows the monitoring and measurement of marketing effectiveness.
The typical person in a small business is time-constrained, has little or no IT or programming experience, and demands a simple yet effective system to make this work. The functionality should be simple, seamless, and allow the small business owner to master it as quickly as possible. Modules should be easy to learn and build. And all submissions to YouTube, social media, and other search engines should be automated, so that all the potential user has to do is create the mobile web page and submit it.
For more information visit: http://www.MultiMediaAdvertising.biz
