The future is mobile friendly. For marketers, embracing this reality opens the door to tremendous opportunity.
Mobile phones are the way people connect to the outside world. They are not just talking or texting. Smartphones are being used to engage with social media, access the news, stream and create videos. A growing body of research is coming to the same conclusion: mobile phones are more than the preferred way to connect – people are depending on them in their daily lives.
One recent study conducted by the U.S.-based not-for-profit research organization reviews.org polled 1,000 Americans about their mobile phone use. Here’s what they found:
- More than half of respondents (56.9 per cent) consider themselves addicted to their mobile phones.
- 88.6 per cent check their phone within the first 10 minutes of waking up.
- 60.1 per cent sleep with their mobile phones at night.
- On average, Americans spend 4 hours and 25 minutes a day on their mobile devices. This is up from 2 hours and 54 minutes in 2022.
For marketers, the world’s fixation with mobile phones opens the door to important opportunities to engage with target audiences – if you embrace mobile marketing.
What is mobile marketing?
Mobile marketing, also known as application to person (A2P) marketing, is a multichannel digital marketing strategy designed to reach a target audience on their smartphones and mobile devices. It includes everything from ads that appear in mobile apps and mobile games to promotional offers and exclusive codes to appointment reminders and shipping notifications. This marketing content is delivered via short message service (SMS) text messaging, multimedia messaging service (MMS) multimedia messaging (e.g., pictures, audio, video) downloaded apps, mobile websites and QR codes.
Benefits of mobile marketing
- Mobile marketing reaches target customers in real time wherever they are.
- Mobile marketing boosts visibility.
- Mobile marketing allows you to gain insights into shopping behaviours, products of interest and more.
- Mobile marketing campaigns are easy to access for the targeted users and easy to monitor and measure for brands.
- Mobile marketing allows brands to offer targeted promotions based on location and a customer’s proximity to their favourite stores.
- Mobile marketing is cost effective with options for any budget.
These advantages can open the door to important opportunities to connect with your target market and drive sales – if you take the time to understand and address the challenges that also come with a mobile marketing strategy.
Challenges of mobile marketing
- Mobile marketing introduces potential privacy issues around the collection of data and how it is used. For example, does the brand have the right to collect the data without explicit consent? It’s important to know the regulatory requirements in your jurisdiction.
- The data collected from mobile devices may be breached, leading to identity theft, fraud, spam or other harm.
- Some users may not be comfortable with location tracking.
- Mobile marketing, and specifically the use of multimedia such as videos, may increase data usage and costs for users who do not have unlimited data plans.
Fast fact: A McKinsey survey asked 1,000 consumers in North America about data collection and privacy. Some 87 per cent of respondents reported they would not do business with a company if they were concerned about its security practices.
Mobile marketing best practices
Prioritize security
Stay current with the latest privacy regulations and security measures and commit to only work with platforms and third-party apps that prioritize security. Collect relevant data and nothing more. Have a strategy to deal with cyber breaches. Make your customers aware that you are doing all you can to keep their data safe.
Know your value proposition and your customer
Take the time to identify your unique value proposition and understand your target audience – their pain points, interests, where they conduct online research and how they like to consume information. This will allow you to create and deliver the right messaging, at the right time and on the right channels that will speak to them in a way that resonates and encourages them to engage.
Leverage first-party data
The best and soon-to-be only way to gain insights about your target audience is to ask them directly. With third-party data on its way out, creating opportunities for your customers and new visitors to your digital sites and social channels to provide feedback and engage has never been more important. Create a robust first-party data strategy designed to improve the overall customer experience.
Embracing mobile marketing will help you reach customer audiences with highly targeted, personalized and relevant campaigns. It can be a huge competitive advantage – as long as you are aware of the challenges and address them. Brands that are still hesitant to create mobile marketing strategies risk being left behind.
