Since mobile phones now outnumber TV sets by over 2 to 1 and Internet users by nearly 3 to 1, advertisers across multiple markets are rushing to tap the power of this expanding medium through mobile advertising. These campaigns center around sending spam-free, targeted marketing messages to receptive consumers through their mobile phones or handheld devices. And they’re catching on – fast!

Brad Smith of WirelessWeek noted that mobile advertising was an industry about ready to explode. That was in 2007, and he couldn’t have been more right. According to Brian Wieser, the Global Director of Forecasting at Magna Insights, US advertisers will spend $229 million on mobile ads in 2009, up 26% from 2008.

The biggest boost to this emerging form of advertising was definitely the introduction of Smartphones. Through this handy device, consumers now surf the web everyday no matter where they are. A study by AOL’s Platform-A indicates that Smartphone users are incredibly interested and engaged in mobile campaigns, propelling the industry toward amazing results. They’re clicking on advertisements, requesting more information or coupons, and even making purchases directly via their Smartphones. The potential for mobile marketing appears virtually limitless.

As the mobile sector has skyrocketed, so has the need for a new niche in the industry: mobile ad network aggregators. These aggregators primarily act as a liaison between publishers, advertisers, and carriers to help ease uninformed marketers into mobile campaigns. Since aggregators work with and have an intimate understanding of a wide variety of advertising networks, they can efficiently publish advertisers on multiple, targeted ad servers for a more global campaign reach.

In addition to connecting advertisers with the right mix of mobile ad networks, aggregators fill many other necessary roles in the burgeoning mobile ad industry. For instance, they ensure that mobile ads are properly targeted and personalized – helping advertisers squeeze the most out of each campaign. Ad network aggregators also offer tracking capabilities which enable advertisers to continuously modify and fine-tune their messages. Ongoing transformations in ad network infrastructure and constant evolutions to mobile devices make it clear how important aggregators are to implementing and maintaining mobile advertising campaigns.

Major companies have already recognized the efficacy of using mobile ad network aggregators to help launch effective campaigns. But big, international companies aren’t the only ones who have successfully put aggregators to work. Businesses of all sizes can harness the unique power of advertising through mobile ad network aggregators, too. By utilizing the growing strength of these aggregators, everyone can take advantage of global mobile advertising – from small businesses to major corporations.

Eyetact is a mobile ad network aggregator that connects advertisers with the right mix of ad networks necessary to launch global mobile advertising campaigns. Our targeting and tracking capabilities give advertisers the flexibility they need for a far-reaching, hard-hitting mobile promotions that get results. The combination of our technical expertise, in-depth industry experience, and our network of knowledgeable alliances attracts advertisers from around the world. Visit http://www.eyetact.com for more information.

The Problem

Everyone knows that small businesses are always looking for new ways to boost business, increase the bottom line and all know this is done with advertising.

As many businesses know that unless they advertise, what they have business they are generating, will eventually shrink over time and if not supported through advertising, could disappear totally.

The questions many owners ask themselves is always reduced to ROI, if I spend x amount of dollars, how much will it return in the way of income?

RISK vs REWARD

Unfortunately, many small businesses are still contracting, are evaluating and re-evaluating where to advertise, what to advertise and what are the returns vs the rewards?

From a Business Perspective

Conventional advertising, has become increasingly flawed, and it is becoming especially noticeably in a soft economy. The more businesses advertise, the easier it is to be seen, and or found via these traditional vehicles, such as newspapers, packaged coupons, etc. But, in order to achieve a rate of return of 2% to 5% one needs to place an expensive, larger than life ad, so that it couldn’t possibly be missed or ignored.

“It’s always been a challenge to stand out and pull business for our service company using the mailer and value paks, etc. Returns for our business using some of the conventional means of marketing has always been less then acceptable. At last analysis, we achieved response rates of around.05% to.25% per mailing and we determined these rates of return were poor at best. It’s harder to be found, noticed by a potential customer then was worth pursuing… with the economy in a recession, it becomes exceedingly more difficult to stand out and grab the attention of a potential client.” ~ MT @mobilemaidz.com

Thus the risks for many small business owners, have become greater and the rewards becoming less and less measurable and or for many a small business close to non-existent.

“It’s became similar to throwing good, hard earned money after bad to sustain our staff and to fill our schedules…it just wasn’t working. We needed a new way to go… something inexpensive with measurable returns on our investment” ~ JJ @maidz2clean.com

These are but two small examples of those problems being experienced by and being echoed by many of the small business owners with whom we spoke.

The problem for many a small business owners are the dynamics of setting up a mobile marketing campaign. Many don’t understand the concept, and once explained, think it cumbersome and or simply don’t have the time to work on the medium.

With our system, we have everything prepared for a small business owner to immediately initiate the promotional phase of the service. In addition, once a company decides to join our consortium, we allow them to utilize our geo-targeted database of xxx millions of opted in subscribers.

Targeting is key to this industry, and having a database of highly targeted i.e., interested in consuming products and or services

The Solution

As impressive as mobile marketing portends to be or become, it behooves small business owners to explore it’s utilization.

One solution being offered by SMS Shopping Alert Network, was to help these and other small business owners, was to recommend the utilization of mobile marketing, text message marketing to enhance their reach, readership and response to an advertisement.

The attractive statistics being experienced in the marketplace, by those tracking and employing its use, is impressive at the least and phenomenal at it’s best. “What conventional method of advertising can a small business use that boasts a 95% reach and read rate, with a return or response of 7% – 30%…” ~JJ @mobilemaiz

How it works

A client merely signs up with a company puts together advertising to promote the newly initialized service, print up the documentation, promotional materials, etc., then advertise to customers, usually walk-ins, to get them to opt in to a list.

Timing is Everything

The problem with this strategy is time, it takes time to coordinate, and then initiate the program. It can take time to put together a list of customers, sometimes months to position a list large enough to make it worthwhile to the business owner.

More Mobile Solutions

There is also the use of geo-fencing or proximity marketing, where a business owner purchases a transmitter to broadcast a “permission based” marketing message to any passer-by, in close proximity to the broadcast. If a passer-by has the capability to receive and accepts the advertisement being transmitted the recipient usually visits the broadcasters establishment.

The draw back with this method of mobile marketing of course is the proximity limits associated with the technology. Even with modern technology and equipment, a mobile transmission can only reach out to a 328 circumference. Therefore, if an established businesses storefront is not enjoying a great deal of foot traffic, the return on it’s use, may not be worthwhile.

SMS SHOPPING ALERT NETWORK is a service designed to accommodate small businesses interested in utilizing mobile marketing for their business. SMS has a database of several million consumers, which it’s member businesses can immediately use to market to any geo-targeted area. SMS also supports a fleet of roving ‘proximity’ transmitter vehicles in several US cities, which members can rent and or hire for their location and or ‘roving’ in their city.

Jay Jacobson is a partner of SMS Shopping Alert Network in Las Vegas, NV. Jay can be reached at: info@smsshoppingalertnetwork.com