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Mobile phone marketing, otherwise known as digital marketing, is the modern evolution of direct promotion. Direct promotion has always been favored by businesses as a personalized and focused way of reaching new consumers and, with the popularity of cell phones, mobile marketing has increased in popularity. Digital marketing is perhaps best defined as the practice of advertising products and services using digital distribution channels to reach consumers in a fast, appropriate, personalized and cost-effective way.

The most common example of digital marketing is SMS marketing, which has expanded rapidly in Europe and Asia. It is predicted that several hundred million promotional messages are sent through SMS every month in Europe alone. SMS stands for 'short message service' and is a communication form specific to cell phones where a short message can be simply sent to any mobile user. As well as sending information to customers, promoters can often encourage customers to participate in promotional and brand publicity promotions by encouraging customers to SMS a selected number at an event in order to enter a competition, to receive a prize or to have their text displayed on a multimedia wall at an event. All of these methods involves the customer through the medium of SMS and creates brand awareness.

There are a variety of other examples of digital marketing. One variation is sending messages via MMS, which is a multimedia version of SMS, allowing customers to receive texts with color, pictures and video. There is also mobile web marketing, where businesses advertise marketing aims through websites accessed by mobiles. Publicists often make innovative use of digital marketing such as location-based services where customers are offered tailored promotions and other network-related information and promotional material based on their whereabouts. With the variety of methods and options available to marketers, it is no wonder that a recent marketing survey found that 89% of major brands planned to promote their products through digital marketing by the end of 2008.

Digital marketing is an example of what is known within the industry as "push" marketing. The thought behind push marketing is that that the promoted has to send (push) the material to the consumer in order for the information to be received. This is different to "pull" marketing, a passive form of promotion, where it is customers who seek out the material from sources such as websites or blogs.

There are several advantages to digital marketing. Primarily, the attraction is that this method of promotion can be tailored to the consumer. This is the ideal in marketing as it means getting the campaign specifically to the group it's aimed at, rather than squandering money on an unfocussed campaign. The specificity allowed by this type of promotions, which results in a more cost-effective campaign, is one example why a high return on investment is possible with digital marketing. Another advantage of digital marketing is the detailed tracking and reporting of users it permits. Through this medium, promoters can track how many customers viewed their material and also access detailed data about each subscriber such as their name, their age, their demographic and where they're located. This permits a business to raise profiles of their users; data which then guides future promotional campaigns and, ideally, their success.

It is noted in the industry that push marketing, of which SMS marketing is a type, can help build new revenue and brand exposure if it is implemented correctly and appropriately. This is because it makes customers aware of new additions that they may not know to enquire about already and the way the information is phrased, and even the fact that the information is being sent by a innovative, hip medium such as SMS, can say a lot about a brand and a business.

There are, however, some disadvantages to mobile marketing. Inherently, it needs a mechanism - the mobile - to be able to send content. The business, as well, needs to make use of specific equipment and applications in order to send the content to subscribers, which can mean considerable outlay. Another downside is the fact that mobile marketing is heavily regulated by the telecommunications industry in response to customer concerns about what data and advertising they get shown. Most Western nations have laws in place that compel marketers to get the consent of subscribers before advertising information is received by them and must clearly give them with an 'opt out' clause if they request to stop receiving content. If businesses are found to be in violation of these laws, network providers can block marketing information by marketers.

As mobile technology improves, digital marketing will certainly continue to increase in relevance.

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