Mobile Marketing in Twittosphere

By: Tessa Rudd

Editor-in-Chief

Chitika | Pulse

a weekly data analysis medium for the online marketing industry

Issue XI
Chitika | Pulse Archive

Use of real-time, “presence,” communication as a medium is predicted to be a huge trend in future marketing strategies. ClickZ’s Pete Lerma insists that when it comes to marketing, “mobile is ‘it’ in Europe and Asia, but it’s a ‘few years away’ from hitting it big here in the States.”

Europe and Asia have traditionally paved the way when it comes to mobile trends and technology in the States; when combining Lerma’s account with some convincing stats on mobile trends in the US, it is, in fact, apparent that integrated real-time marketing strategies could be coming to a mobile space near you soon.

A marketing message is only as powerful as its audience; the CTIA’s estimated number of current US wireless subscribers is 256,030,009. Among these subscribers, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) reports the number of text messages sent each month are in the billions. eMarketer reports that a total 58% of US adult mobile device users send or receive text messages, 17% send or receive instant messages, and 19% send or receive e-mail.

Similar to web-users in the blogosphere and social media, mobile device users are an attractive audience for marketers. Importantly, we’re aware that this mobile audience has migrated from chatting, to texting and browsing, and we know they spend a lot of time doing so. To target this audience and contrive relative marketing strategies, marketers must pay careful attention to current, and emerging, trends in mobile messaging.

Micro-blogging.

As Search Mobile Computing describes, “micro-blogging is the practice of sending brief posts [14-200 characters] to a personal blog on a micro-blogging website,” in many cases, mobile space sites. Micro-blogging in mobile space, made possible by the utility and availablity of mobile technology, offers marketers immediate and portable access to mobile subscribers.

Many social networking sites are promoting micro-blogging as, “a convergance of several types of presence technology,” and the mass audience (in the case of mobile micro-blogging; anyone with a text messaging supporting cell/smart phone) behind this phenomenon can only grow. The interaction, or media, is boundless; users can send messages as text, video or audio.

Although micro-blogging started as a way for young and technologically savvy users to keep in touch, the practice of this short-hand blogging is going mainstream, and perhaps is heading in a similar direction as Facebook. We all know the Facebook story: What starts off as a friendly, seemingly non-ad-supported social platform, quickly turns to a marketing power-house, with marketers capitalizing off the pre-existing base of social networkers. The marketing potential in micro-blogging space is valuable. Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John Edwards even started micro-blogging details from the campaign trail.

Twitter.

The particular, and most popular, micro-blogging platform, Twitter, promotes itself as, “a global community of friends and strangers answering one simple question: What are you doing?” Users, mobile space and web based, can update their microblogs to keep their network of friends informed as events, large or small, unfold. Twitter exploded on the internet tech scene last year at SXSW Interactive Festival, and has been gaining momentum in the tech scene ever since.

Techno//Marketer Matt Dickman calls Twitter, “the ultimate customer service tool,” explaining, “the underlying technology and architecture is the future of communication.”

Marketers have been following Twitter with a keen eye; as Jeremiah Owyang tells his readers, “if you’re responsible for the direction of you online strategies for your company or organization, you’ve probably been hearing the buzz about Twitter”.

Co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone, explains that media companies also, “see Twitter as a way to tie properties to the Web and beyond”.

The Wall Street Journal reports that network big-guns, NBC, CBS, ABC Family, and MTV, “are among several networks experimenting with the marketing possibilities of Twitter.”

As Chitika’s network has successfully pioneered into the blogosphere, I was intrigued to learn our network’s thoughts on micro-blogging, or furthermore, on the ‘Twitosphere’, and the future of mobile blogging.

In a recent survey, 50% of Chitika’s network reported that they currently use Twitter to communicate with their social network.

Out of those who do not currently use Twitter, 37.50% plan on using Twitter in the near future.

When it comes to the future of mobile blogging, or micro-blogging, 56.67% of those surveyed in Chitika’s network think Twitter will be the predominant future means of mobile blogging.

The blogosphere and social media platforms are huge; the number of Twitter users are expected to reach 1 million before April 1, 2008. “Presence” messaging is the future, and I am excited to see how marketers strategically delve into this valuable mobile space.

About Chitika | Pulse

Chitika | Pulse is a weekly publication that highlights emerging trends in online advertising and merchandising in the blogosphere.

By offering a succinct analysis of online consumer behavior in Chitika’s network, Chitika | Pulse exclusively correlates trends to address a wide range of topics related to online branding, e-commerce, retail in the long tail, and direct merchandising within the blogosphere and social networks.

By Tessa Rudd, Strategic Partnerships Coordinator - Advertising Media Division