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The next big thing in mass media and what will most likely become the most dominant form of media is mobile media, or in other words: cell phones. This is not a “want” to include in your advertising plan; it’s a “need,” a “must-have.”

I get this view from Tomi Ahonen, author of Mobile as 7th of the Mass Media: Cell phone, Cameraphone, iPhone, smartphone. You can download a 30-page excerpt of the book from this site: http://mobilemarketingprofits.com/232/mobile-as-7th-of-the-mass-media-excerpt/. The book has a ton of stats, and here’s a brief and summarized rundown: “Twice as many cell phones as TV sets, three times as many cell phone subscribers as Internet users, four times as many cell phones as PC sets, five times as many cell phones as automobiles. 31 percent of all music dollars spent worldwide already goes to a wide array of cell phone based music services.” Also, 20 percent of video gaming software revenues go toward cell phone services. That’s a mouthful about cell phones if I’ve ever seen one.

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t know what the other 6 forms of mass media were, although I could gather TV and radio. The others are print, recordings, cinema and the Internet. Ahonen thinks that “all forms of content will ultimately converge around the cell phone.” The cell phone can do all of the things the previous 6 forms of mass media can do, and it does it within a form that is easy to take with you. And, no one leaves home without their cell phone anymore.

This means that if you aren’t doing any mobile marketing, and if you don’t have a mobile Web site, you need to get one and soon.

Some Numbers on Why You Should Get Into the Mobile Game Now

• Emarketer forecasts that worldwide mobile marketing and advertising will reach $19 billion by 2012.
• Gartner estimates the worldwide mobile advertising market will be worth more than $12 billion by 2011.
• The Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) expects the U.S. market for ad funded mobile entertainment will grow to $336.35 million by 2013.
• ABI Research reckons the global mobile marketing industry was worth $1.8 billion in 2007 and is expected to grow to $24 billion by 2013.

How to Set Up a Mobile Campaign
There are plenty of Web sites to choose from to set up a mobile campaign. Google (of course), Decktrade and Mo’Jiva are the big three that are showcased in a white paper provided by Bango. It’s called “Mobile Advertising for Newbies” and is a 35-page intro and step-by-step guide to setting up your mobile campaign at the big three sites. The stats listed in this blog were provided by the white paper. You can download the white paper for free from www.bango.com/whitepaper. You have to give your name, phone number and email address, but this guide is very informative and probably the most detailed guide out there for starting in mobile advertising. I’d highly recommend it if you are new to mobile advertising.

Category: Marketing, Print Advertising by admin