FREE 411
Another simple advertising device for mobile and landlines phones is Free 411. From any phone, users can dial 1-800-Free411 for directory assistance. There is no fee to the user to get their desired number, but while the number is being located, the user listens to voice advertising. The user is also given the option to press a number on their phone to be immediately connected to the advertiser’s business. When you consider that more than six billion calls are made to 411 each year, you can see that there is a significant advertising market in 411 calling. And, when you consider how expensive it is for users to call traditional 411 – ($1.00-$3.50 per call), you can see how users would flock to a free service. Now, here’s the really cool part about free 411 advertising. The service is highly targeted for the advertiser. Whenever a user dials 411 and asks for the number to a business that is in the same industry category as your business, your ad will play while your competitor’s number is being located. If the user elects to contact you instead of the number they originally requested, they can be immediately connected to you by pressing “1”. Free 411 was created by a company called Jingle back in 2006, and they have been enormously profitable. In fact, they have been so successful that companies like AT&T have made in-roads to get into the same market. AT&T purchased Jingle’s competitor InFreeDA, and is working to roll out their version of the same service a few local areas at a time. It’s easy to see that mobile advertising is already a success story. In the following chapter, we’ll take a look at more applications that have the potential to make advertisers very successful.
