Now that so many people are using mobile phones to decide where to eat, I wonder – how important is it for a restaurant to have a mobile-friendly menu?
So far, it seems pretty important, according to a LinkedIn poll conducted by mobiEnthusiast’s author, Holly Kolman. Have you voted yet? Read more »
As many of you know, I am very very picky about mobile sitebuilders. I get pitches to write about them all the time on mobienthusiast.mobi, and I have so far turned every one of them down because they are clunky and don’t work or make you use a subdomain or make you pay for the service every month without removing the company’s branding.
Yesterday I attended a webinar [edit: the webinar is over and now links to a product page with a how-to video from the webinar] hosted by my friends and mentors Jason Fladlien and Wilson Mattos. I know them personally, I have been coached by both of them and have paid a lot of money in travel fees and conference fees to see them speak because they are that good. Those of you who know me, know that I rarely attend conferences because I have small children at home and the investment had better be worth it for me to leave town.
The first half of the webinar is all about mobile and marketing and stats. The host, Jason Fladlien, gives slide after slide of marketing tips and techniques for why your clients should buy a true mobile site and not just one that has been modified for mobile with a WordPress plugin. I plan to use these strategies personally, as they make total sense to me.
The second part shows a mobile sitebuilder that has an emulator inside the WordPress dashboard, allows you to create icons on the fly without much editing, and has an interface that looks like the home page of an iPhone.
There will be a second webinar today at 12 noon Pacific Daylight time, and if you are interested in working with local businesses (or online businesses) without mobile sites, there are a lot of strategies here that you won’t want to miss. I would urge you to register for it even if it is the middle of the night in your part of the world, because they will email you a link to the replay.
I don’t remember everything I saw, but here are some of the things Jason touched on in the webinar and will likely cover again in the webinar today:
I am sure I am forgetting something, but the overwhelming feeling I got looking at this mobile sitebuilder is that it has what I need and what I have been wanting personally for a long time. Let’s face it, it is very difficult work to make a mobile site work on a phone, and when you add tablets like the iPad into the mix, it’s very easy to throw your hands up in frustration and say, “ok, it’s just going to look like this.” Well, as a professional web designer, you can’t afford to do that when your reputation is on the line.
Disclosure: I am an affiliate for the product because I believe in the team, their customer support, and their refund policy. I only post products with affiliate links here if I have personally tested them or if I know the developer and have experienced their customer support and refund policy to be valid.
If you see this post after the webinar, contact me and let me know.
My friends and mentors Jason Fladlien and Wilson Mattos make a lot of software for WordPress, and I’ve bought most of it. Not only that, they are world class sales pros, and really know how to put on a webinar.
Now they’ve created a product that uses WordPress to make simple mobile sites, and that could be just what you’re looking for as a mobile marketer, mobile developer, digital media agency or web developer.
Please join me for the mobile webinar and see for yourself if this would be a good way for you to add mobile marketing and mobile sites to your repertoire.
Bonus: mobile sites made with WordPress are a great small business alternative to pricey apps.
Our friends at Bill and Steve Harrison’s Reporter Connection have a request this week for experts who have access to Breaking News About Mobile App, Computer Or Cloud Technology. This opportunity is for a website, and the deadline is ongoing.
Need the latest news about mobile apps, computer and cloud technology. Any product offering must focus on the technical aspects of the product, i.e., something that would interest a programmer or app developer rather than the general public. Surveys of latest technological trends are also needed. Please have images available. News must be an exclusive story for at least a week before it’s released to the general public, allowing my source(s) to publish it first.
This is a great opportunity for those of you who have mobile sites, apps, and other mobile product and services.
If you want something done, go to LinkedIn.
Earlier this week, a fellow mobile marketer, Aurélien Fonteneau, asked for help with his dissertation:
Hi all,
I am currently a business school student and I’m writing a thesis about mobile marketing, the exact management issue being “The added value of mobile marketing compared to internet and traditional marketing for brand’s customer relationship management”.
My theoretical part is now done, and I have to deal with the empirical one now. I made a qualitative study with some mobile users and mobile industry professionals and I’m now working on my quantitative study, which aim is to understand customers behaviour toward mobile web advertising.
The study is here.
It is really short and it shouldn’t take you more than 2 minutes
I’ll share with you the results of the study and the conclusion of my report.
Thanks!
Aurelien
If you can, take a moment and help him out, especially if you’re a mobile marketer. The survey takes about two minutes. Participants must own a smartphone.
And, if you want to connect with me on LinkedIn to talk about your project, you’ll find me here: LinkedIn.com/in/HollyKolman.
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the $750 million AdMob acquisition by Google could be headed to antitrust court:
Google’s purchase of AdMob would form the largest mobile-advertising company. The companies combined had 21 percent of the U.S. market in 2009, according to Karsten Weide, an analyst with researcher IDC in San Mateo. The market has been doubling or more in size annually, Weide said.
The measure to investigate further has bipartisan support with three democratic and two republican Congressmen.
“The need for a thorough review is particularly pressing given Google’s dominant position in search advertising” and “its growing influence over other forms of online advertising,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman.
We’ll be watching this story as it develops. Personally, I don’t think anything is going to happen. What do you think?
Thanks to Dr. Steven White for the tip via Twitter.
Like most marketers, I’ve been watching the mobile industry for the past few years, waiting for it to gain traction as a marketing discipline. This week my patience led me to Mobile University 101 in Chicago; a one-day dive into the basics of mobile and its potential for marketing. The question on the minds of the well-dressed crowd of marketers attending was: “Is this finally the year of mobile?” The answer is both yes, and no. Here’s what I think has been holding mobile back from being adopted as a wide-spread marketing tactic: perspective.
Note: For additional insights, take some time to read the tweet stream from Mobile University.
If you hang around advertising agency and corporate types (not that there’s anything wrong with that) it won’t be long before you hear the word ‘silo.’ In the real world, a silo is where you store stuff, like grain. In the marketing world, silo is a metaphor for separating things into self-contained units. In silos, things don’t get mixed up. They stand alone and separate. There are company silos, likes sales, marketing and manufacturing all operating independently from each other. There are marketing silos, like online and offline, broadcast and print, TV and Cable. And here’s where mobile doesn’t belong; in a silo.
It’s very tempting to separate mobile from the other marketing storehouses into its own silo, because it mostly all takes place on a mobile device. But mobile marketing is not a silo like television or newspaper. Think of mobile more like a landscape, with several mobile floras combining into a diverse marketing panorama.
How can you possibly stick all these things into the same silo?
First, let me break the bad news: the mobile picture will not get any clearer for a while. The landscape is evolving. The floras are still maturing. New species are being developed. The picture remains blurry. And really, that’s good for you.
Because where there is obscurity and confusion, there is hesitancy. That’s what’s happening right now. A wait-and-see attitude proliferate the general business population because things are difficult to understand. “Let’s just wait until this picture clears up.” “Let’s wait until we understand this better.” But that’s just like saying, “Let’s just wait until we have no tactical advantage.”
The joke in marketing for the past 4-5 years is that we keep waiting for “The Year of Mobile.” What we’re really looking for is permission to move forward into this mysterious new country. “Is it safe yet?” We’re looking for safety in numbers so that our mistakes aren’t so clearly evident. Let someone else be Lewis and Clark, we’ll take the wagon train later.
But Andrew Koven gave us the right perspective on the final panel of the day at Mobile University 101. Koven is the President of E-Commerce and Customer Experience at Steve Madden Shoes. He said that “There is no year of mobile. But it’s time for mobile.”
And it is time. Time for you to jump in. The barriers to entry are minimal, and the cost can be surprisingly low. There are some small business applications available for as little as $20 a month. Don’t just admire the landscape, be the landscaper.
Are you ready to try mobile? What’s your perspective?
Jay Ehret is Chief Officer of Awesomeness at The Marketing Spot, a marketing consulting firm in Waco, Texas. He turns entrepreneurs into marketers and transforms businesses in to brands. He blogs at The Marketing Spot Blog.
Welcome to this week’s Carnival of the Mobilists #221. It’s my first time hosting, and I’m glad to have this opportunity to showcase the best and brightest bloggers covering the mobile space. Thank you to all of the dedicated people who not only blog, but connect with one another to share ideas and introduce their readers to the work of our esteemed colleagues. Without further ado, here we go…
A new Mobile OS from Japan? It looks like it, according to Ajit Jaokar of Open Gardens. Read more at Good news for Japan but bad news for LiMo? Japanese phone makers to develop new operating system AND open it to the world.
Readers are given a cultural lesson on Chinese New Year gift-giving customs as the backdrop for the ‘missing million’ in iPhone sales. Tomi Ahonen explains, “Forecasters predicted over 1 million less iPhone sales (some even 2 million below) what actually happened. I was also wrong obviously as nobody saw the increase in sales for the after-Christmas quarter.” The mystery is solved, along with a lively debate in the comments section in Apple to thank Year of Tiger for China Surprise in iPhone strong quarterly sales on Communities Dominate Brands.
Payment via mobile phone are headed to countries that don’t already have it, and Simon Judge gives his top observations of the Mobile Monday London’s treatment of the subject in Mobile Money on MobilePhoneDevelopment.com. It looks like operators are concerned about liability while third party developers lead the way.
It’s clear from a number of posts this week that many mobile developers and mobile marketers are still coming to grips with mobile, especially when it comes to deciding whether to create apps for particular smartphones vs. mobile websites that can be viewed regardless of which phone or mobile device the audience is likely to have.
A shattered iPhone graces Mobsessed.co.uk‘s Carl Martin’s post Evidence against the iPhone Mobsession. He argues that since there is a scant 4% iPhone ownership in the UK, money spent marketing iPhone apps would be put to better use on a mobile website. He backs up his rationale with a presentation by Ewan MacLeod of Mobile Industry Review. Elsewhere on his site this week, he marvels at a University student’s use of an iPhone adapted via WiFi to run a remote controlled car. Perhaps that iPhone money should go to R&D then, Carl? iPhone + Virtual Reality Headset + Wifi + REMOTE CONTROLLED CAR = WIN
The Carnival welcomes newcomer Helen Lynch of with a pair of articles with a corporate perspective from Amdocs. Are service providers ready for the smartphone revolution? and So Many Devices, So Little Time by Mike Couture. The articles are two sides of the same issue: people who buy smartphones and don’t know how to use them, and the difficulty companies have in supporting smartphone users in their call centers.
When considering mobile design, “accessible” needs to mean more than just accomodations for physical handicaps. Economic and technological differences must also figure into the equation. Belen Pena reminds us that most people accessing the internet – as much as 87% globally – are not using smartphones. There is a distinction between inclusive design and accessible design in Narrow mobile strategies are a terrible form of exclusive design.
James Coop details the difficulty of apps marketing in an ever-changing environment in Mobile marketing for the online casino industry – iphone, ipad or i dont know?. The article is focused on the casino industry, but the struggle to keep up with technology upgrades will be familiar to all.
Andy Favell of mobiThinking.com gives us the numbers on mobile this week, and ought to be required reading for all mobile marketers and decision-makers: Global mobile stats: all latest quality research on mobile Web and marketing in one place. Andy, too, reminds us that the mobile web is not just for smartphones:
Beware: there is a lot of misinformation about the market share of smartphones and some handsets in particular. This doesn’t matter if your mobile strategy targets all phone users equally, but if you are prioritizing one handset, you must know the facts.
Here’s the thumbnail version of this in-depth report:
I throw my hat into the ring with Social Media: Playtime is Officially Over. Since social media is mobile, and concerns mobile marketers, brands and developers, the YouTube video is a very enlightening two minutes for people who think Twitter is just to tell people what you had for lunch. (It’s a little loud, you might like it better with the sound off.)
Finally, this week’s Carnival post of the week is awarded to a post with heart, announcing an initiative that will undoubtably change many lives for the better. Carnival of the Mobilists’ very own Peggy Anne Salz of MSearchGroove.com presents THE MOBILE MOVEMENT Launches, Brings Mobile To Non-Profits; MSG Joins Advisory Board. Here’s what the new initiative will do:
Our mission is to support non-profits by bringing mobile capabilities to non-profits, helping them to reach millions more people in need by leveraging mobile devices, networks and innovative applications they will create in partnership with social entrepreneurs.
Thanks for reading, and be sure to visit the links of our contributors to expand your knowledge of what’s going on in mobile today. To see a complete list of archives, or to submit your site in the future, please visit Mobili.st (not .com).
All the Best,
Holly Kolman
Founder, Editor & Publisher,
mobiEnthusiast.mobi
Holly Kolman on LinkedIn
@mobiEnthusiast on Twitter
mobiEnthusiast’s Facebook Page
Business owners and developers who are serious about making money on the mobile web need a product to sell and a way to collect payments. Paypal has an entire section in their Paypal Developer Network devoted to answering questions about adding the famous “pay now” button to mobile sites and apps.
The Paypal Mobile Payment Library contains sample code and a Paypal Mobile demo site.
There’s also documentation for Paypal mobile, which includes:
If you are viewing this post from a phone or computer that can access youtube, here is a video featuring Osama Bedier of Paypal demonstrating mobile payment integration:
Guest post from Mark Jaffe www.mobilemandala.com
Back when I was dating, the cardinal rule was to never phone after the first date until at least three days had passed. The phone was too personal for such a quick contact and you could be seen as too aggressive or worse, too desperate.
Times have changed. Now it is OK to use your phone for contact immediately after the first date, provided you don’t speak into it. Texting something pithy or witty that night, or the following day, can often be viewed as a positive addition to the dating experience.
Now let’s move to the end of the relationship. Breaking up over the phone is not as good as breaking up in person, but not nearly as bad as – OMG! – breaking up via text. Same phone. Same message. Completely different level of cultural acceptability.
We respond to text messages faster than emails, and BBMs faster than texts. Same Phone. Same message. Same textual appearance. Different accepted practice.
It is OK to whip out the phone (among some dining parties) at a restaurant to perform certain tasks – like looking up a sticking point in the conversation – but not others, like answering an email or playing a game. Same phone. Same amount of time “away” from the conversation. Different effect on your friends.
The list goes on and on. What is it about the mobile phone that generates this long list of rules and practices that is not present on our other media?
The mobile phone is not “the third screen.” It is a very personal, interactive, communication ecosystem of which the screen is just one visual component. The mobile phone has developed, and is continually developing, behavioral mores and cultural norms that have very serious implications for marketers. Violate one of those norms, and the consequences can be severe.
Marketers who continue to treat the mobile phone as yet another screen to “repurpose content” or as a quick campaign add-on to “target a hard to reach audience”, do so at their peril. It will be the brands that actively leverage the behavioral use patterns of the mobile phone and their attendant cultural norms that will succeed.
Marshall McLuhan said “The medium is the message” and he couldn’t be more right as it pertains to the mobile phone. The emerging customs, lifestyle behaviors and prevailing standards associated with the use of the mobile phone are unique, real and significant.
When mobile-specific behavior and culture is taken into account, the mobile phone shines as a brilliant addition to a well crafted overall brand marketing strategy – witness AT&T and American Idol.
When ignored, it can have the potential to undo the hard earned trust of the very same brand. AT&T found that out when it violated customer privacy expectations by using the American Idol list. And worst of all, most of the customers who chose to break up with the AT&T brand as a result, didn’t even bother to inform them by sending a text.
This post is one of the ten reasons why mobile advertising has not reached its potential. You can access the other nine at www.mobilemandala.com
