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Comms Day Interview: Search to usher in the mobile marketing revolution?

Before SMX Sydney, I had the opportunity to talk to Laraine Davis from CommsDay, which is an Australian publication that focuses on the telecom industry. Petroc Wilton did a great write up on the conversation. I can’t find a version of it live on the web, so I included it below. Enjoy!

Search to usher in the mobile marketing revolution?

The unique properties of mobile search could be a key piece of the mobile marketing puzzle – but it risks being stymied in Australia by high mobile data charges, according to Rank-Mobile founder Cindy Krum. Ahead of her presentation at the Search Marketing Expo next week in Sydney, Krum spoke to CommsDay about the marketing potential of mobile search and future directions the technology might take.

Because the mobile platform can offer carrier-specific ‘on-deck’ content search and specialised search applications in addition to transposing conventional web search engines, argued Krum, advertisers must open their eyes to a gamut of new ways to channel users to their sites. But they also have new opportunities to tailor their content. “Mobile is one of the most personal marketing platforms,” she told CommsDay. “It knows who you’re calling, it knows your calendar… and it knows what you’re searching for online. That makes it really great for marketers because we can really take that information and tailor our marketing message with it.”

In addition, Krum continued, mobile search is frequently employed outdoors, opening up opportunities for industries that see little benefit from conventional search activity on home PCs. “People like restaurant [owners] are really missing out on the mobile opportunities…people use mobile search when they have an immediate need to fill,” she said. “Companies that haven’t done a particularly good job with internet marketing really have a huge opportunity with mobile… there’s a lot of market share to be moved.”

However, Krum warned that high data charges in Australia are likely to be a real stumbling block, with users wary of big bills for browsing. “That’s going to really slow down the adoption of mobile marketing, because there’s such a disincentive to search,” she said. “In the US, we’ve just got all of the carriers offering flat-rate data pricing… that’s kind of the tipping point.”

Looking to the future, Krum forecast a more device-agnostic search paradigm. “I see mobile search going to a lot of different devices, because I see more and more devices becoming webenabled,” she said. “I see the search engine starting to take those devices into account more. Even within that, different devices have different demographics… the search engines can detect what device you’re on, so they could start to include that in the algorithm as a means of personalisation.”

Petroc Wilton, March 2009

Tags: commsday, Integrated Mobile Marketing, interview, Mobile Marketing, smx sydney
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