Perhaps some of you like my wife, take to cringing as you read this… “You mean I’m gonna get ads on my cellphone too? I already spend a half hour a day cleaning out the junk email my spam filter doesn’t catch…, now I have to do that on my cellphone?”
This knee jerk reaction to the latest frontier in digital marketing is understandable. But like anything new, people have to first learn about the system before they lose their apprehension over it. And in the case of mobile marketing, losing this apprehension has never been easier. Add to that the singular capabilities and effectiveness of this as a promotional vehicle for small business, and you like me will come away with the certainty that Mobile Marketing is here to stay.
Consider this:
• Mobile Marketing is an “Opt-in” system, much like signing up for an email list.
• Unlike in the email world, it is illegal to buy or sell lists of mobile phone numbers. You will never get a message from a vendor you didn’t specifically ask to get one from.
• If you don’t want the messages any more for any reason, you simply text “STOP” to the sender.
• Surveys done by various marketing organizations show that approximately 79% of Americans describe themselves as either neutral or comfortable with mobile marketing.
• There are almost 5 times as many handheld devices in use in the United States as there are computers.
• 95% of text messages are opened and read. (Only 20% – 40% for email)
• Text Messages are opened within 4 minutes on average. ( Email messages are opened in 48 hours on average)
• 89% of the major brands worldwide have plans to use mobile marketing.
• Mobile marketing is the only advertising vehicle in the world that allows you to segment your campaigns based on where the individual is located at the moment you send the promotion! This is essentially, the Marketing director’s dream!
I could go on… and I will! (In a future blog). There are definitely industries that are more appropriate than others for using this kind of marketing, and of course building your list of numbers is an art in itself.
But make no mistake, mobile marketing works, and it’s here to stay.
