Mobile and gas prices

June 9, 2008

Michelle Eichner is cofounder and vice president of client services at Pivotal Veracity

By Michelle Eichner

Public and mass transit bodies around the country have reported increases in ridership as people try and avoid paying the astronomical fees at the pump.

With the arrival of warmer temperatures and the impending summer holidays, consumers have been given a new tool in their search for the cheapest gas: their mobile phones.

Yes, that's right, that little gem of a device in your purse, pocket or on your belt can do more than connect you with the world -- it can also help you save some money at the pump.

Verizon Wireless and Sprint announced new services that allow users to find the cheapest gas stations in their area for a nominal monthly fee: $1.99 and $4.99 respectively.

The information in Verizon and Sprint's database is updated several times a day by the participating gas stations which number more than 100,000 for both companies' databases.

Need is driving innovation and the mobile device is the perfect platform for such an ingenious service.

Having a map of gas stations in your area with relative prices is nice, but to offer a locator service that takes advantage of GPS and cellular triangulation is a smart response to a subtle but present market force: saving money at the pump.

Mobile phone users are not spending exceptionally long periods of time surfing the Web. Most are paying monthly usage fees based on used bandwidth.

In order to provide relevant content marketers have to take advantage of not only niche markets, like saving money at the pump, but they have to provide content that is direct and free of extraneous or secondary calls to action.

In order to be an effective player in the mobile space you have to understand that the mobile experience is not the same as the desktop or laptop experience. Speed and download time are major factors that will affect the amount of time your mobile site or email will be viewed or read by a consumer.

Traditionally speaking, email marketing has had to ask questions such as what is too much mail, or how do I keep from exhausting my email audience without falling out of sight and out of mind?

Mobile marketers need to offer specific and targeted content that is light weight and to the point. Challenging your audience to find what they want on a screen that can be no more than an inch tall is a surefire way to engender apathy rather than return readership.

Remember the design basics: mobile sites should be less than 20K, have a top-down flow without multiple columns and should present users with your company's core competency or content before any other marketing.

Today's mantra reads, "Shrink yourself, brand yourself and hold yourself to what you do best."

Michelle Eichner is co-founder and vice president of client services for Pivotal Veracity, a Scottsdale, AZ-based deliverability consultancy and service provider. Reach her at .