Introduction to Mobile Marketing
What is mobile marketing?
Mobile marketing is a type of digital marketing aimed at reaching specific audiences on their cell phones, smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices via SMS, MMS, email, social media, and mobile applications.
Considering the rapid pace of technological advancement, mobile marketing is becoming an indispensable part of an effective marketing strategy. Some companies have been slower in adopting this concept, mainly due to the belief that this type of marketing only targets the younger population. But the truth is that people of all ages are using smartphones and other mobile devices, and this trend will continue in the future.
According to a statistic by Express Pigeon, “over 50% of smartphone users grab their smartphone immediately after waking up.” This shows how much people are attached to their devices, and this type of information should encourage companies to direct more of their efforts towards mobile marketing.
Companies need to constantly improve and adjust their strategies to succeed in the mobile world. Although effective, it’s no longer enough to connect with customers only by sending text messages, because people now use smartphones to engage in all the kind of online activities they can engage on desktop and laptop computers. This means that companies need to catch up with the times and evolve their mobile strategies to fit the current wishes, needs, and habits of their customers.
Benefits of using mobile marketing
Reach – Majority of people nowadays own smartphones, and spend a lot of time online, so mobile marketing can help companies reach very wide and diverse audiences. It’s also very important to be present on social media, since people regularly check into their social media networks on their smartphones. People share stuff they like online, so good social media presence will increase your brand awareness as well.
Immediacy – You can get immediate responses from your customers when you reach them by mobile, because people carry their smartphones with them almost all the time. If you send them a text message or an email, they will immediately receive it. If in your message or email you include a link to your new product, they might like it and decide to make a purchase right away.
Enhanced customer experience – Many businesses still don’t have optimized websites for smaller screens, and that results in inconvenience for users who surf the internet on their smartphones and other mobile devices. Adjusting your web content to fit on smaller screens will enhance the experience of your customers and increase engagement.
Location awareness – If you own an app for your business, you can track the location of your users by technologies such as GPS or beacons. You can deliver different information to your users by sending push notifications, at any time. With analytics, you can gather different types of data for your users, such as the time they visit a certain location, how long they stay there, and more. The location insights can help you create more personalized marketing strategies, and boost the odds of engagement and conversions.
Cost-effectiveness – Compared to other marketing techniques, mobile marketing is very affordable. You don’t need a big budget for an SMS campaign, and you can create any other kind of mobile marketing campaign at a relatively low cost. This makes mobile marketing a good option for small businesses that have a limited budget.
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Mobile marketing brings companies many opportunities for development and improvement of their business endeavors. It helps them reach many people at the same time, inexpensively, easy and fast. Think of all the benefits mobile marketing can bring to your business, and make it a part of your marketing strategy, if you haven’t done so already.
