It’s 2015 and you walk down the street and find it rare to see anyone without a mobile device, with reportedly 1,900 million users worldwide (Bosomworth, 2015). People my age can’t live without them and “the escalation and convergence of distributed networks and wireless telecommunications has created a tremendous potential platform for providing business services” (Barnes & Scornavacca, 2004). So how have companies used this new channel to tap into a new marketing strategy, and should all businesses follow suit?!
Here we will have a look at some of the positives and negatives, as well as the reasons why mobile marketing has become so successful. Check out this think to start with, as it highlights why Mobile Marketing is going to be big in 2015: http://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2015/jan/05/eight-reasons-why-2015-will-be-huge-year-mobile-marketers/
There are many positives for companies to use mobile marketing, as these devices are location specific with it “providing marketers the opportunity to target location- sensitive promotional offers to mobile device users” (Shankar & Balasubramanian, 2009). This means that companies can detect if a person is near a shop or certain place and can send promotions accordingly, thus increasing the directness of the marketing campaign. But wouldn’t you get annoyed if you were sent text messages every time you walked past a shop?!
Additionally, it offers the company a simple way to get in touch with consumers. As the devices are usually small, it limits the amount of content that needs to be created, as well as meaning the “simpler content will adapt itself better to various mobile platforms” reaching even more of the companies demographic in one hit (Viswanathan, 2015).
Take a look at the following examples of great mobile marketing campaigns and she how easy they can be to create: https://econsultancy.com/blog/62971-six-great-examples-of-mobile-marketing-campaigns/
A major reservation with mobile marketing is the confidentiality aspect, as “respect for privacy and permission is exceptionally important in all aspects of marketing, and particularly so when it comes to mobile phones” (Quirk, 2015). This is further illustrated as “mobile marketing is fragmented and complex because of many different handsets and carriers, different types of functionality, and different preloaded apps (i.e. Google Maps on iPhone)” (Koppel, 2007).
A key is also how the content available on mobile devices is smaller and therefore can be harder to navigate, “in such a case, most ads may go untouched, as the user may find it too tedious to look in detail through each one of them” (Viswanathan, 2015). Sometimes when you receive marketing on your phone, the text is so small that you may leave it until later to have a look on your tablet or computer.
So, with technology moving so quickly, it looks as though the mobile channel is the way forward. Tap into this industry and reap the rewards of marketing to these personal devices.
If you would like to know more, check out the latest mobile marketing news, there’s some great tips and advice on: http://marketingland.com/library/mobile-marketing-news
References
Barnes, S. & Scornavacca, E. (2004) ‘Mobile Marketing: The Role of Permission and Acceptance’. International Journal of Mobile Communications. Iss 2. Vol. 2
Bosonworth, D. (2015) ‘Statistics on mobile usage and adoption to inform your mobile marketing strategy’ [Online] <http://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-marketing-statistics/> [accessed 25 April 2015]
Koppel, M. (2007) ‘Advantages and Disadvantages of Mobile Marketing’ [Online] <https://blog.fortumo.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-mobile-marketing/> [accessed 25 April 2015]
Quirk. (2015) ‘Pros and Cons of Mobile Marketing’ [Online] <http://www.quirk.biz/resources/mobile101/282/Pros-and-Cons-of-Mobile-Marketing> [accessed 25 April 2015]
Shankar, V. & Balasubramanian, S. (2009) ‘Mobile Marketing: A Synthesis and Prognosis’. Journal of Interactive Marketing. Iss 23
Viswanathan, P. (2015) ‘Advantages and Disadvantages of Mobile Marketing’ [Online] <http://mobiledevices.about.com/od/additionalresources/a/Advantages-And-Disadvantages-Of-Mobile-Marketing.htm> [accessed 26 April 2015]