Did you know that more than 70%(1) of businesses consider mobile marketing key for their success? Over 80% of web users have a mobile gadget. This makes it the best platform to reach the global audience. More business continues to spend significant parts of their revenue on mobile marketing.
Market research shows that mobile ads now take up half of the advertising budgets. This information gives evidence of how it is a core part of companies. This article will seek to examine the critical aspects of mobile marketing today.
What is Mobile Marketing?
Mobile marketing is the promotion of products to consumers by using smartphones and tablets. Due to the extensive use of mobile gadgets, marketers can reach billions of consumers. Marketers have options such as SMS, in-app advertising, email, or QR codes. Also, they can access consumer data such as location and demographics. This information can help them customize their products to suit their preferences.
Why People use Mobile Marketing?
Here are a few reasons why mobile marketing is widespread.
- First of all, the rapid rise in the number of people using mobile gadgets makes it attractive.
- It’s the easiest and fastest way to reach a global audience. Gone are the days when laptops and desktops were the core gadgets in the digital space. So, for advertisers to access a broader audience they must embrace mobile marketing.
- Next, marketers also enjoy the diverse range of options offered in mobile platforms. In any case, a business can integrate videos into their mobile ads. Such features help companies better engage with their potential customers.
- The personalized nature of mobile devices continues to spark its popularity. Advertisers create closer connections with their customers than any other platform. They can learn more about their psychology. The effect is they can offer products that fit the consumers’ personality.
- It also boosts web traffic. Nowadays, Google penalizes company websites that haven’t embraced it. This move affects a company’s search ranking. What’s more, many consumers prefer buying products from retailers with mobile sites.
Importance of Mobile Marketing for SME Businesses
Mobile marketing can help SMEs reach broader audiences. The platform is essential for SME’s future growth prospects. It cuts across geographical and cultural boundaries. Also, the massive penetration of smartphone users gives SMEs plenty of potential customers.
It also offers diverse channels to reach customers. Strategies such as apps, games, emails, and SMS provide SMEs with excellent options.
These channels give direct access to consumers through their mobile gadgets. So, an SME can pass information to its customers about any new product or update. Also, an SME is not only limited to using a single channel. They can use a multi-channel approach to widen their marketing base.
You can read more on How importance is Mobile Marketing Technology for Business?
Things to Consider while Setting up your Mobile Marketing Strategy
A proper marketing strategy is necessary for a successful campaign. It helps a company achieve its intended goal of driving sales. The tips below include some of the best practices for an effective plan.
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Recognize your target mobile customers
It’s significant to be familiar with your mobile audience’s behavior and personality. The aim is to avoid running generic mobile adds with no intended target in mind. A company should look to know the following details about its customers:
- Age group
- Gender
- Marital status
- Location
- Income bracket
This information will enable a company to craft a tailor-made mobile ad campaign. The message will result in positive conversions if it aligns with the needs of the customers.
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Select the right channel
A marketer must know which channel their target audience uses. This way, your message will reach them. Selecting the right marketing strategy will guarantee an effective campaign. One of the best practices is to use a sample of the target audience to know the best channel. Identifying the channel with the best conversion rates will drive sales.
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Create customized content
It’s helpful to create a friendly and empathetic message to connect with the audience. When marketers show that they understand the mobile user’s needs, they connect. The mobile ad is likely to reach their mind and heart and lead to a conversion.
Also, in the fast-paced mobile world, many mobile users tend to ignore lengthy mobile ads. A marketer needs to develop specific and concise messages. These tailor-made messages get the attention of mobile users.
Best Mobile Marketing Strategies to consider
A marketer must choose a strategy that best suits their industry or target audience. Let’s look at five of the best mobile marketing strategies.
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App-based marketing
In this strategy, advertisers(2) use mobile apps to showcase their products. They are an effective way since mobile users spend a lot of time with apps. By integrating ads into the apps, users can view the retailer’s products. Third-party mobile apps and Facebook are some of the option’s available.
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Location-based marketing
This method uses GPRS to get the exact location of potential customers. While in the area, businesses can alert clients about their products.
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QR codes
These barcodes on a company’s goods can contain links to websites or applications. Scanning the code gives mobile users detailed product information.
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In-game mobile marketing
The increase in smartphones has led to the proliferation of mobile games. This gaming experience offers a perfect opportunity for businesses to market themselves. Some popular tools include using video ads and banner pop-ups in-game.
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SMS marketing
This strategy uses the popular text messaging service to reach consumers. It is useful when a company has access to an extensive database of potential consumers.
Mobile Marketing Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
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Instant message
It relays messages immediately to consumers. Further, mobile stats show that consumers have their smartphones handy. A company with any new product information can transmit it quickly.
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Convenience
The small size of mobile gadgets makes it necessary to create content that fits on these screens. This situation gives companies a more straightforward job of creating simple and basic content.
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Consumer data access
Mobile platforms help companies understand consumer behavior and use. Since they gather consumer information, the business can build their profile. This helps them align their products according to their profile.
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Access to a global market
As seen in this article, there are more than 4 billion mobile users. Mobile devices allow businesses to reach this broad and diverse audience.
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Mobile payments
Mobile devices give companies the chance to integrate payment systems into their gadgets. Any consumer who wants to buy a product doesn’t have to go to the company’s physical store. Transactions can be done using their devices.
Disadvantages
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Consumer privacy issues
Mobile marketing exposes advertisers to the risks of violating consumer privacy. Violating data protection may lead to lawsuits. This may incur a significant business expense.
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Limited standardization
Companies face the challenge of a lack of a standard operating system for mobile devices. Businesses can’t use a one-size fit approach to reach all devices. Further, mobile gadgets come with different functionality and compatibility. These variations make it challenging to create a single marketing campaign for all.
(Also Read: Benefits and Challenges of Mobile Marketing)
Mobile Marketing Trends to Watch out in 2020
2020 promises to be a game-changing year for mobile marketing promotions. The emergence of more sophisticated technologies means better marketing opportunities. Here are four trends to look out in 2020.
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5G network
The launch of the super-fast 5G network late 2019 elevates the mobile internet. The extensive roll-out in 2020 means significant opportunities in mobile marketing. The super-fast network speeds give marketers the chance to present elaborate mobile adds. Marketers can create immersive media content that will enhance the customer experience.
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M-commerce
Mobile driven sales continue to rise. Statistics state that more than 40% of electronic transactions happen over mobile phones. This trend leads to the rise of sophisticated shopping apps. Many companies continue to upgrade their sites. This helps clients enjoy seamless transactions across their mobile devices.
B2B Mobile Marketing Trends
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Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI is revolutionizing B2B mobile marketing. This emerging technology presents crucial information to marketers globally. AI generates data about consumer behaviors. This allows businesses to gain deeper consumer insights. Many companies are leveraging on AI in their operations by using the power of big data.
This technology helps them gain actionable marketing insights. 2020 will see further explosion in big data. The trend means marketers will create hyper-personalized content for their target audience. So, mobile marketing promotions will be more customized due to better consumer knowledge.
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Conversational Selling
Many companies have adopted conversational selling strategies to improve customer retention rates. The approach uses popular messaging platforms such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Businesses use live chats in these apps to attract their target audience. Also, companies can get immediate feedback from their clients about product quality.
For effective conversational selling, a business needs to integrate a customer management solution. This platform will help in delivering a personalized experience that suits customer’s preferences.
Best Mobile Marketing Platforms
Software solutions meant to study consumer behavior have optimized marketing campaigns. Here are three of the best platforms to consider.
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Adestra
This mobile platform is ideal for SMEs with a focus on email marketing campaigns. It’s compatible with many popular apps. The solution performs powerful consumer analytics to give market insights. Consumer behavior trends help to send automated emails to generate leads.
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Adobe Marketing Cloud
It’s suitable for any business, regardless of size. This is an integrated marketing and online analytics platform. It uses social media, consumer targeting, online experience management, among others. The tools enhance marketing and promotional campaigns.
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Sharpspring
This is a unified mobile marketing suite. It uses a range of robust tools to hasten the flow of marketing information. The automation solution works well with most third-party tools and legacy systems. It’s affordable making it suitable for SMEs.
Mobile Marketing vs. Social media
Rapid intake of smartphones boosted social media users. The latest data indicates that over 85% of these people use a mobile device to access social media. Mobile marketing is sometimes synonymous with social media marketing. Yet, let’s take a look at the link between these two forms of digital marketing.
Social media allows businesses to market using sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Two conventional methods used in social media marketing campaigns include:
- Use of paid advertisements: for example, Google Ads and Facebook ads.
- Use of followers: companies can engage with social media users to build connections. Influential followers can help companies promote their products on social media.
Based on the mobile marketing definition, this form promotes products through mobile gadgets. As seen above, it’s through platforms such as SMS, MMS, games, apps, and QR codes. Mobiles encourage many companies to use social media to reach their target market.
Brief Analysis of Mobile Marketing Statistics
The integration of AI technologies has enabled companies to discover amazing facts about consumers’ mobile habits. Below are a few of them. Over 40% of smartphone users sleep next to them at night.
The purpose is to keep in touch with any update. Such statistics give evidence of how personal smartphones have become. It provides marketers the impetus to establish a personal connection with its potential customers. More than half of consumers discover new products from their mobile devices.
This stat shows the significance of companies using mobile ads to promote their products. Nearly 70% of consumers are likely to buy from companies that address their concerns in their mobile sites. It highlights the importance of companies targeting a personalized approach to attract more customers.
(Also Read: 4 Reasons You Should Invest in Mobile Marketing)
Interesting Facts about Mobile Marketing
- More than half of users purchase products after using their smartphones
- 60% of LinkedIn traffic is from mobile gadgets.
- China transacted close to $1T e-commerce sales over mobile devices.
- Nearly 70% of global advertising is on Android.
- Almost three-quarters of users discover product information from their smartphones.
- In 2018, 68% of companies incorporated mobile marketing into their overall marketing strategy.
Final Thoughts
Many brands will continue to compete with the mobile user’s attention. Keeping up with the latest consumer trends will help a business move ahead of the competition. Statistics state that almost 90% of consumer’s mobile media time is taken up by apps. Think about it; apps take up a lot of our time from messaging, music, movie, browsing, or watching. Therefore, a business would do well to enhance its mobile application advertising.
This way, it can be one of the companies that enjoy seamless interactions with their customers. So, for a business to take advantage of this mobile marketing space now and in the future, they must choose the best mobile channel.
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Allen Cranston is an analyst and writer in resume services. Allen committed to helping talented professionals show the world what he is truly capable of. Since launching in 2012, Allen has helped over 4,000 job applicants land their dream jobs for resumethatworks.com. He is constantly looking for new ways to help people achieve their career goals. Connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.
Other Useful Resources:
7 Ideas to Achieve Better Mobile Marketing Success
How to Use Mobile Marketing for Small Business Profits
Innovative Mobile Marketing Campaigns That You Need to Know about
6 Top Mobile Marketing Statistics to Consider in 2019
