"Está com fome? Como cerca de sushi? Google 'melhor sushi em Miami Beach' em seu telephone." Imagine a Brazilian couple on vacation in South Beach. They spent some time at the beach, walked around town, bought some souvenirs, and now they are getting hungry. They're sick of the expensive tourist traps and want to find a good place to eat at a good value. At home, when they want to discover a new restaurant they Google their search term, do a little research, and go out to try something new. They've brought their smart phone on vacation with them and it has proven to be an invaluable tool in a foreign city - pointing out good deals, giving restaurant reviews, showing maps, and sending photos.
So the question is, "How many local merchants are marketing directly to them with mobile ads?" Definitely not enough. And, if those merchants are located in prime destinations - Miami, New York, L.A. - for American and international travelers then the effectiveness of the ads could be fantastic, but if they aren't using these tools the lost opportunity costs are also high. Mobile marketing has already caught on with Europeans, and based on my interactions with tourists, I notice that wealthy travelers from South America always bring their Blackberry or iPhone on trips and see it as an important status symbol.
There are around 5 billion cell phone users vs. only 1.8 billion internet users, both huge numbers, thus the potential lies with the mobile internet. Although there are only 51 million smart phone users, this is where resources should be focused because the phones offer the best user experience and the ads will be seen by the wealthiest mobile phone users. Take into consideration that smartphone sales will surpass worldwide PC sales by the end of 2011, according to RBC, and it looks like now is the time to start using mobile marketing ads to reach people wherever they may be.
What if someone told you what the internet would be like a year before it got big? Do you think you'd be more successful now? Well, the opportunities with the mobile web could be bigger! The current web gives us immediate gratification, but we have to have a computer and an internet connection. The new mobile web comes to us wirelessly, into our hands through smart phones and mobile devices that are geographically positioned to where we are now. What if you could sell what people want right now, where they are at this moment? Mobile ads provide this functionality, and at a low price.
Print media is still expensive, not measurable enough, and not profitable enough. Too many small local businesses never even took full advantage of using the internet to connect with customers, but if there was a steady stream of tourists it often didn't matter. But now with more competition and less people traveling, it is wise to stop spending money on print ads and flyers that visitors never see or just throw away and pay pennies a click to reach them on the smart phones they won't leave home without.
Small businesses in touristic areas can even reach people before they leave home. For example, a boutique hotel in Miami Beach could run ads on smart phones just for people in New York City that say "Coming to Miami this winter?" It could be released the coldest day of January and offer a free visitors' guide to South Beach in exchange for their email. This costs $.05 a click and now the hotel has the freezing traveler's email address to which they can send the free guide and a special offer to visit the hotel as soon as possible!
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