FAQ

In a nut shell, Mobile Marketing is engaging your customers and/or potential customers through a mobile device...primarily, their mobile phone (ex. cellphone, iPhone, Blackberry, etc.). You may also hear the terms "Text-Message Marketing" or "SMS Marketing"; these mean basically the same thing. With Mobile Marketing, your messages are being sent directly to Canadians via text message.

Absolutely not. One thing that sets Mobile Marketing apart from other forms of marketing (such as radio or newspaper) is that it is permission based. People "opt in", giving you permission to market to them. In other words, they want to hear your marketing messages! AND, if they change their mind at any time they are free to opt-out.

This is a good question! Let's take a look at a couple industries with an example:

• Retail - Let's say you own a retail store - wouldn't your loyal customers, your raving fans appreciate knowing when you're having a sale? You betcha! So you create a VIP list and invite them to join. It's win-win, they find out when their favorite store is having a big sale and you get the message out to those most likely to shop your sale and spread the word - they are your raving fans after all!


• Restaurants - Restaurants use Mobile Marketing in much the same way as retail. You invite people to join your VIP list to receive coupons twice a month. Anyone who dines or would like to dine at your restaurant will love this! In fact, according to the National Restaurant Association, "22% of all adults would choose to receive cell-phone notice of daily specials from their favorite full service restaurant if they had the option."


• Real-Estate Agents - Home buyers will happily opt-in to receive information from you via text. Picture this, a home buyer is driving through their preferred neighborhood and they see a house you have listed. On your sign is a rider inviting them to text your MLS # for more information and photos. When they send the text, our system automatically sends them details about the home and sends you their phone number so you can follow-up. This is what we call 'Information on Demand" marketing, used as a one-time event.

A QR (Quick Response) Code is a graphic, much like a barcode, that has information encoded into it. The information could be a website address, phone number, contact details or text message. These days you see QR codes in magazine ads, on billboards, business cards and signs...just to name a few. (If scanned, the QR code to the left will take you to BigFishMedia.ca)

Many new smartphones come equipped with a QR reader app. If you don't have one there are many free readers available in the app store accessible through your phone. We use, and recommend ScanLife, simply visit http://scanlife.com from your mobile phone browser and you will see links to download the app for free.

It depends on the information stored in the code. For example, it may open a website, open a text message, type a phone number so you can dial with one click, it could create a new contact ready to save.

QR codes allow you to link offline content (a newspaper ad, a brochure, a sign, a business card) to online content (a webpage, photos, signup form). Without having to open their mobile phone browser and tediously (oh soooo tediously!) type a URL into their browser, you can give people a quick and easy way to get more information about your event, your product or your company.

Real-Estate Agents put the code on their for sale sign to take drive-by visitors to the home's listing page on their website

Car Dealerships put them on the windows of their pre-owned vehicles so people walking the lot after hours (or during hours) can see more information about the vehicle they are looking at

Event Planners put them on posters to drive traffic to the event website or ticket sales page

Tourism Departments put them on interpretive panels to direct visitors to a related video

Advertisers put them in their print ads to drive traffic to their website

Mobile marketing will look different for different industries. The strategies that work for a Realtor^® won't work for a Restaurant. Give us a call at Big Fish Media and we'd be happy to learn about your business and goals, then walk you through the options. Call us today to speak with a Mobile Marketing Specialist: 1-800-634-7470.

SMS stands for "Short Message Service". It allows short text messages to be sent between mobile devices. In other words...it's the technology that allows you to send a text message.

Your keyword is the unique word that clients use to join one of your mobile distribution lists or request information. If you are a restaurant you may have a distribution list of customers who want to receive coupons and special offers, and you may have another for customers who want to be notified when you are having an event. Each list would have its own keyword to identify it, such as "Vitos" and "VitosEvents". Those who want to join simply send a text to your shortcode with your keyword in the message field.

You may hear the term "Short Code" from time to time in the mobile marketing world. A short code is simply the 5 or 6 digit number that people send a text message to in order to join your list or request information. It's like a phone number, but less digits...hence the name "shortcode". Big Fish Media clients can choose to use our shared short code or a private shortcode at a higher cost.