The impact of social media on Egypt has done more than pave the way for political and personal freedom, leading to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak after 30 years in power. It has also opened the door to mobile marketing approaches that — like social media — involve people in the conversation.
This shift is confirmed by news today that Mobinil – Egypt’s leading operator – counts well over one million subscribers opted in to its Mobinil Ads service. The service, which leverages Alcatel-Lucent’s Optism mobile marketing solution, harnesses permission marketing to deliver users relevant advertising from their favorite brands and aligned with their preferences and interests.
By way of background, permission marketing uses question-and-answer exchanges via interactive SMS and MMS to find out more about consumers’ interests and identify the advertising they want to receive. The result is a highly-targeted, receptive audience open to hearing what brands have to say.
Demographics and preferences
Next to the one million subscribers milestone, Mobinil’s Head of Mobile Advertising Ahmed Saber also used today’s Cristal Club local advertising event in Cairo to release new figures revealing more about the make up and interests of the mobile operator’s opted-in audience.
- Millennials in the majority: 41 percent of the opted-in subscriber base is between the ages of 15 and 24; 22 percent are between 25-34
- Cool categories: Subscribers show the highest interest in sports (30 percent), music (23 percent), fashion (23 percent) and technology (14 percent)
- Permission delivers positive results: Response rates to advertising campaigns run on Mobinil’s Mobile Ads service ranged from 12 percent to as high as 54 percent
As Saber put in a statement: “Since the introduction of our Mobile Advertising service, we have been able to further increase our relevance to end-users, brands and advertising agencies.” In addition to being “effectively able to literally put brands in the hands of our mobile subscribers,” Mobinil is also in a position to “provide brands and advertising access to – and a better understanding of – their potential customer base.”
Plans are to extend Mobinil’s mobile marketing service to millions of other customers in the coming months.
Power of permission
The increasing importance of permission marketing also came across in my recent interview with Karim Khalifa, CEO & Co-Founder of Digital Republic, the number one digital and creative advertising agency in Egypt. In it we discussed the central role social media played in bringing about the revolution and the impact of social on mobile marketing.
In his view, the revolution in Egypt made people aware of social media tools, a new awareness that has had a positive knock-on effect on social media marketing and approaches that truly speak to the people. “The revolution has shown us the importance of a cause. A cause plus social media equals a major result.”
My take:
The pivotal role of social media in allowing people to organize protests and accelerate the revolution has also primed the Egyptian market for conversational mobile marketing. People understand the power of mobile in their daily lives, and they expect to be a part of what is happening around them. From having a meaningful dialog with their social networks to conducting a two-way conversation with brands, people want to be involved in what interests them Mobinil’s hitting one million opted in subscribers today is a significant data point that underlines the increasing role permission marketing is likely to play in the mobile marketing mix.