Nearly 9-12% of a business’ total sales goes to its marketing budget, according to LegalZoom. That’s a lot of money spent on efforts to improve brand visibility. And when a business or brand is rolling out a new product or launching a new service, advertising dollars can surely increase. That’s why including affordable mobile marketing as part of an advertising strategy will not only provide unprecedented reach but will undoubtedly improve a business’ ROI.
Whether you’re a Fortune 500 company or a small mom-and-pop store, mobile marketing is for everyone. Why? Because, the mobile economy is growing by leaps and bounds as the number of mobile devices are projected to outnumber the world’s population sometime this year.
With everyone plugged in, businesses have an opportunity to attract a captive audience using creative, engaging content and innovative uses of mobile technology through text and voice broadcast marketing, apps, online ads, etc.
Now more than ever, it’s important for companies not only to transition a large portion of the overall ad spend toward mobile marketing trends, but also to optimize their mobile marketing campaigns based on response analysis and focus their budgets accordingly. Unlike traditional media channels, mobile marketing strategies allow for detailed analytics and tracking, which becomes highly effective in deciding how and where to concentrate the marketing budget.
When considering the efficacy of mobile advertising compared to traditional means, here are some statistics to keep in mind:
Text and Voice Broadcast Marketing
In 2012, text messaging users sent or received an average of 35 messages per day, according to Forrester Research. Those numbers have significantly increased and will continue to do so as more mobile devices saturate the market.
In another study, Direct Marketing Association found that SMS text marketing far exceeds the conversion rates of traditional mediums. Mass text campaigns convert at an average of 8.2%, while both email and direct mail conversion rates have traditionally leveled off at about 1.7%. Additionally, more than 95% of texts are opened, which by far outperforms email open rates at around 10-20%.
Like SMS, Voice Broadcast is a popular and easy way of sending messages. Using a simple platform, voice broadcast provides a personal and affordable solution to a mobile marketing strategy.
Mobile Apps
A recent study by app advertising and analytics firm, Flurry, shows that smartphone users now spend more time on mobile apps than the average internet user spends online. According to Pew Research, more than 50% of cell phone users download apps on their phones. These facts make it imperative for brands to start engaging the growing mobile market with evocative mobile apps, transitioning some of their overall marketing strategy from traditional to app development.
Mobile Advertising
It’s a fact, mobile ads outperform desktop ads. With adults spending more than 10% of their media time on mobile, according to eMarketer.com, mobile has been performing four to five times better than online ads for key metrics such as brand favorability, awareness and purchase intent (Neilsen Study, 2012).
With mobile advertising growing exponentially, marketers are now figuring out the best formats in which to serve mobile ads. Based on a new forecast by JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth, more than half of Facebook’s total ad revenue in Q4 2013 was earned via mobile advertising, with projections to reach 60% of total ad revenue by 2014. Similarly, Twitter announced that roughly 70% of its Q3 2013 revenue was from mobile advertising. With such top tech brands now seeing huge growth in mobile-driven revenue, it’s no wonder other companies are falling in line as well.
The numbers don’t lie. With increasing use of mobile devices, businesses and marketers alike, can’t ignore the power of mobile marketing - reaching consumers on the go, and where they spend an increasing amount of their time. Companies that focus marketing budgets into areas that make consumers’ lives more convenient, fun, and interesting will lead to greater brand awareness, loyalty, and trust. Mobile marketing has become one of the most intimate ways of engaging with customers.