What Do Mobile Phones Have to Do with Affiliate Marketing?

In the spring of 2010, Morgan Stanley put out some fact and figures suggesting trends in mobile phone use of the internet with projections for the future partly based on existing trends and Japan’s somewhat forward trends with respect to the US and other markets.

They start with this little nugget, “State of the Internet … Mobile internet will be bigger than desktop internet within 5 years.”

One graph shows internet usage via mobile phone surpassing desktop use within a couple of years, with the gap only growing after that. And Dan Hollings of Stompernet notes on average mobile phone users of the internet are three times more likely to buy than desktop users while Jack Dorsey of The Square reports processing US$3 million in mobile payments PER DAY.

Meanwhile the Google Adwords Keyword Tool has multiple mobile phone search options and information marketing giant Clickbank offers to tailor offers for mobile phones. At least one web host, Hostpapa, offers software to convert existing desktop-friendly pages into mobile phone friendly ones, even sensing device type and tailoring to each.

Of course the trends actually appear more wrinkled and nuanced than at first blush. Purchases via mobile phone tend to run under $5 and iPhone users tend to be on the internet around 9 percent of the time–much of it watching video–while using a mobile phone versus around 3 percent for other mobile phones. Mobile phone users of the internet also tend to browse far fewer pages than desktop users, presumably partly because of on-the-go distractions and the difficulties (so far) of cumbersome pages never designed for mobile phone sized screens and capabilities.

Mobile phones have already been put to good use for local “instant gratification” markets as Hollings notes. Imagine hungry students or business people searching via mobile phone for the nearest pizza joint or likely lunch spot. Below-cost offers get them in the door. Foursquare, and now Facebook.com/places, specialize in linking people where they are with the nearest available thing for which the are looking.

Indeed in 2010, Google said local intent is behind one third of mobile searches.

But what about online affiliates of health supplement companies, of information products, Amazon, retail brands, or even MLM recruiting and sales? On the whole I see two things.

One, affiliate marketers and MLM folks with an online presence are not without existing assets that could be used in reaching mobile phone users. Two, my wet-finger-to-the-wind assessment of the moment is (and has been) that the trends in mobile phone use of the internet are outstripping the response of online affiliate marketers and MLM folks with an internet presence. We are behind the times.

As of this writing, a Google search in quotes of the long tail phrase “affiliate marketing with cell phones” yields all of 8 competing pages. A search for “affiliate marketing with mobile phones” yields zero results.

Of course this is not the whole story. But in any case, a few practical possibilities come to mind.

One, one can purchase services such as Hostpapa provides to convert websites to mobile-friendly formats when a mobile search is detected or set up mobile-only pages, perhaps including the recent “.mobi” extension. Among other things, this probably requires tweet-sized messages for highly targeted audiences and the simplest and easiest point-and-click means of purchase and delivery (or use of 800 numbers) for the types of products that are popular among such customers.

Second, one can use social media with mobile users in mind–not perhaps to pitch and close a sale, but to engage and gain recognition and trust.

Third, we can change business models somewhat to seek to gain our bread and butter via local means, performing online marketing services in affiliation with chiropractors, dentists, local retail store owners, real estate agents, and so on in our local neighborhoods. Netspaceprofits (with which I am affiliated) offers training and resources in such a model.

And since the trend is still relatively new in the US and many part of the world (albeit more developed in Japan), more practical means of reaching mobile customers will no doubt come to the fore … as ad competition increases.

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