Mobile advertising is increasingly important, as cell phone adoption rates, especially smartphone adoption rates, soar. With a range of mobile advertising options, including SMS, WAP, mobile app display ads, search ads, rich media, video and push notifications, it is essential that advertisers keep up-to-date on their options in the mobile space. Below are some important mobile marketing trends to watch.
- Continued importance of SMS:Text messaging reigns as the most popular mobile activity. Available on almost every mobile phone, from the low-end feature phone to the priciest smart phone, it is the most universal functionality. With approximately 90% of the U.S. population owning cell phones, according to CTIA’s semi-annual wireless industry survey, and 98% of those phones being SMS-enabled out of the box, the texting audience is large and still growing.
- Emergence of location-based services: Check-in services are generating a lot of excitement in mobile marketing and social media environments as millions of people are checking into hotels, cafes, bars, restaurants, retail stores and many other venues. A check in service links a person’s location to places within their immediate locality, using location-based technologies like GPS, Wi-Fi and cell site tracking. In most cases, all the user needs is a mobile phone loaded with the appropriate app. It means that a targeted mobile marketing campaign can hit the right person at the right time, when they are in the right place to respond to a marketing promotion containing trigger SMS or MMS messages. Location-based mobile advertising is expected to become a major marketing tactic. ABI Research forecasts that US businesses are set to spend $1.8bn on location-based ads in 2015 as part of their overall mobile marketing budgets.
- Mobile Commerce: Mobile commerce is growing and it is directly related to the amount of mobile marketing that companies are investing in. A reported 74% of online retailers either have in place or are developing mobile commerce strategies, while 20% have already implemented their complete plans, according to a Federation. SMS coupon marketing and mobile ticketing are two great examples.
SMS Coupon Marketing: Text message marketing, where customers opt-in to receive news about deals or offer coupons, has been a widely adopted practice as it’s a direct way to engage with consumers that has a high likelihood of being read. Retailers are also investing more time and money into creative ways to reach consumers via their mobile phones with campaigns that enhance the brand identity or the shopping experience.
Mobile Ticketing: Mobile ticketing transactions are expected to exceed $100 billion world wide by 2012, according to a study released this month by Juniper Research. The convenience of mobile ticketing, where customers can order, pay for, and validate tickets anywhere or anytime from their cell phones is a driving force in its popularity.
Mobile Ticketing: Mobile ticketing transactions are expected to exceed $100 billion world wide by 2012, according to a study released this month by Juniper Research. The convenience of mobile ticketing, where customers can order, pay for, and validate tickets anywhere or anytime from their cell phones is a driving force in its popularity.
To learn about mobile marketing at ExactTarget, visit www.exacttarget.com/mobile
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