Mobile marketing data points that will blow your mind

Mobile is no longer a separate bucket when brands think about marketing – it is now at the core of

every marketing strategy. Brands know that the key to its future is to adapt and optimize future campaigns for the mobile first world that we live in.

This ever-changing mobile landscape requires marketers to determine the best ways to connect with their mobile consumers with interactions that will resonate across varying screen sizes.

If you still aren’t convinced, check out these 8 mind blowing mobile marketing facts that truly tell the story of how important mobile will be to your brands success.

1. Wireless penetration in the US is currently at 104%, with 75% of those being SMS enabled. (Source: CTIA, 2014)

This data point essentially highlights the fact that mobile devices are the future and it will be vital for brands to integrate a mobile experience in to all of their marketing programs.

2. Over 90% of all text messages are read within three minutes of being received (Source: GigaOm, 2015)

The fact that a brand can reach 90% of its consumers in a 3-minute span - is huge. No other marketing tool can offer a similar rate, making SMS Marketing one of the most effective ways to get your message to your customer. Especially when you consider that email only has a 1% open rate on average in comparison to the open rate of 98% open rate SMS receives.

3. 91% of people in the U.S. have their mobile device within reach 24/7 (Source: Morgan Stanley).

Our mobile devices are very personal to us so much so that we rarely let them out of our site. This in conjunction with the fact that consumers have to opt-in to text messages sent by brands means your message will certainly be received and read.

4. People spend on average 2 hours and 57 minutes on their smartphone or tablet daily, surpassing the amount of time spent watching TV. (Source: Bloomberg.com)

If TV and print is still the heart of your marketing initiatives, you are not going to engage audiences in a way that resonates with them which is via their mobile phone and tablet.

5. 64% of consumers who subscribe to mobile marketing have made a purchase as a direct result of receiving a highly relevant mobile message. (Source: Responsys)

This number will only increase as brands become more savvy with their mobile marketing initiatives. When you consider the open rate on mobile and the percent of consumers who end up with something in their cart that is a fairly substantial ROI.

6. Text messages have huge response rates – 20x the rate of email or direct mail. (Source: Gravit8)

Giving a brand your mobile number and approval to send you text messages comes with great responsibility to send personalized offers that are relevant and what your consumers expects to receive from you. By doing so brands are able to significantly increase the response rate and keep consumers opt-in.

7. Consumers spend 15+ hours per week researching on their smartphone and on average visit mobile websites 6 times. (Source: Google)

Design your mobile marketing experiences by first considering the entire campaign, starting with the screen size and device type. This will help drive consumers down the path to purchase more quickly.

8. 93% of people who use mobile to research go on to complete a purchase of a product or service. (Source: Google)

Create seamless experiences across touch points and measure conversions across channels that originate from mobile. Take advantage of cross-device conversion tracking and new methods to measure store visits and purchases.

Mobile has changed the game for marketers – it’s more personal than ever. It’s no longer acceptable to be a bullhorn of a company, blasting out messages without taking in to consideration the consumers interests or what they have opt-in to.

Personalizing your mobile interactions will immediately increase consumer engagement and loyalty with your brand. Mobile marketing, done with personalization and relevancy in mind, has tremendous potential to reach customers on devices that they always have within arm’s reach.

Stop talking about the potential of mobile marketing and start realizing the value

Brands are finally realizing the value of adding mobile marketing to their overall marketing strategy. It’s clear the way consumers engage and make purchases is changing requiring brands to find a way

to interact with them in a personalized and relevant way via the mobile device.

If you aren’t currently engaging your customers through mobile marketing, consider the following:

• Wireless penetration in the U.S. now exceeds 104% according to CTIA, while 45 million Americans use their mobile device as their primary internet access device.
• 98% of text messages are read within 90 seconds of their arrival.
• SMS produces engagement rates 6-8x’s higher than email marketing.
• According to eMarketer,by 2016, mobile coupon users will represent nearly 83% of all digital coupon users.

Mobile will continue to grow as will the use of it as a way for brands to interact with customers. Fortunately, there are a handful of ways to jumpstart your mobile marketing strategy. Understanding each will help you market to your customers and in turn, see fast returns on your investment.

Building your SMS database is key

Your mobile engagement efforts won’t get very far if we don’t have a strong opt-in list of customers to communicate with. There are several ways to build a targeted database. For example, if you're attending a trade show, create signage that instructs attendees to text a keyword or scan a QR Code to receive special offers, product information or sign up for a drawing.

In addition, be sure to leverage in-store collateral. You can enroll your customers into your loyalty program or get product information via their mobile either by scanning a QR code or texting a unique keyword to a specific number. These are both fairly easy ways to get the word out since education is still a major roadblock for many retailers.

Don’t forget to utilize your social media channels, such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as in your email messages and company newsletters. By including a call-to-action, keyword or short code via these different channels you will be able to increase targeted opt-ins.

As with any kind of marketing, testing is crucial and will show you which types of messages are the most effective. SMS text messaging gives you many options to attract more customers. Over time, you'll find out what messages work best for you.

What type of messages should you focus on?

The volume of email messages that customers receive on a daily basis is staggering, so it’s easy to get lost in all the noise. Many of those messages are important and relate to some type of interaction you have had with a brand such as shipping info, delivery notifications, or event reminders. Customers frequently want to know when their order has been shipped and delivered, especially if they are not home during the day, or if their service appointment has been delayed.  By explicitly offering opt-in to service alert notifications you can ensure that your SMS is not an unwanted disruption on a customers phone, but rather a value driver for your business.

Coupons and incentives can be delivered to segmented audiences based on purchase behaviors and preferences, activated to encourage repeat purchases and shared via social networks to extend your reach. It’s important to tailor mobile coupons to the buyer behavior and preferences to improve response rates and get more shoppers in your store.

To learn more about SMS marketing trends and best practices, check out the Mobile Marketing Association Best Practices guide (PDF).

In today's dynamic and fast-evolving world, it is important to be able to reach your customers at the right time, in the right place, on the right device. SMS marketing is an effective and economical marketing strategy for businesses to increase customer loyalty and brand awareness. Mobile marketing coupled with traditional marketing efforts delivers a more holistic marketing approach enabling businesses to engage with an audience they otherwise might not reach.