By Anthony Lambrianos – s3668693 – Digital Marketing Week 7
Mobile Marketing is becoming more and more important for brands going forward, the reason for this is because the actual use of mobile phones has increased substantially. Statistics for 2019 shown by 99firms states that 80% of internet users own a smart phone and Statista states that 52.2% of worldwide website traffic is through mobile devices. This shows us that the use of mobile phones by consumers is increasing at an alarming rate and opens up huge opportunities for marketers to engage with consumers and push their product and service.
Source: Smart Insights
The ability to connect with consumers has become easier then ever for a business, with 80% of consumers being likely to read a message sent to their mobile within the first 5 minutes of getting it. In the current path of technology and the fact that approximately 5.13 Billion people have mobile phones which equates to 66.53% of the worlds population, its evident that mobile marketing is one of the biggest opportunity’s for organisations to reach consumers world wide.
Over 80% of US consumers state that SMS marketing was a positive and helpful part of the consumer experience, showing us that consumers are willing to receive this type of marketing and that it should be used in future marketing campaigns. However, the fact that consumers are accepting of this method of marketing means that the experience itself must be created in such a way that it is pleasant and positively affects consumer experience, instead of becoming aggravating or a disturbance to consumers. This is just one aspect of mobile marketing. Marketers can use APPs, QR codes, Mobile Search Banners and Adds, Location based marketing and more.
Mobile devices are used for over 40% of online transactions and increasing more every year. This shows us that sales can be increased by providing a mobile platform/gateway to your product/service. The reason for the increases in purchases is the fact that being able to conduct these transactions via mobile is easy, it requires less time and effort, it can be done while on the go even if your busy, and it caters for ‘spur’ of the moment purchases (as you don’t have to be at the store to buy it).
Although mobile marketing is considered an opportunity, there are some aspects that must be up to standard for it to work. 91% of users say that the content must be up to standard, 60% of users want fast loading webpages – this is important because a delay by 1 second in webpage response can reduce conversions by 7%. Apps take up to 89% of mobile media time, showing the necessity for creating or being involved in APPs. These are all aspects that the Marketers should take into account when approaching this method of marketing.
Overall as a marketer myself I feel that the use of Mobile Marketing is an absolute must. The ability to provide a good customer experience as well as reach a huge consumer base so easily and cost effectively is a great opportunity for any business/organisation. However, I feel like a lot of care should go into it to ensure its positive experience for the customer instead of an irritation, as a bad experience could lead to the loss of customers or missing out on repeat purchases. Thank you for reading my blog this week and id like to hear how you feel in the comments about mobile marketing and whether you feel it maybe a positive or negative experience for the consumer.
Anthonys Blog 
Thanks for sharing this informative post! As mobile users are increasing day by day so the responsive design is mandatory. Before focusing on digital marketing and mobile marketing, one must go for mobile optimization for their website. What’s your opinion? Please share!
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Thank you so much for your comment Stellios, I’m glad you asked about mobile optimization for the website of the business. My view on this is that its 100% necessary to facilitate purchases via mobile in the first place, so this process would be step 1 of the mobile marketing venture. You need somewhere for the consumer to end up after clicking one of your possible mobile marketing Adds.
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Smartphones and tablets are becoming increasingly popular tools for communication because they are smaller, lighter, cheaper and more portable than computers and laptops. So it becomes apparent people across all demographics are spending more time on mobile devices than before. The open rates of Short Message Service(SMS) are also higher than email. All these factors together make mobile marketing mandatory for someone who wishes to sustain in business for long.
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Thank you Steve for your comment, I am surprised to hear that SMS open rates are higher then Email, this must make it more enticing then ever for companies who use processes such as Opt-in Email in their marketing campaigns. In your personal opinion as a consumer and a business man, which of the two do you feel best applies when trying to avoid irritating or bothering the customer?
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That’s a hard to answer question Anthony, without looking at stats themselves and personally answering from my own experience id have to say that SMS would be the best, as the are the least likely to be tossed into a spam folder or ignored completely/deleted instantly like an email. The SMS has the highest chance of being opened and viewed by the customer.
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Thank you for the response Steve, its an interesting take and I would have to agree with you, as most of the companies that send me mail I’ve included in a block/instant spam list in order to avoid reading an influx of these emails. However, I’ve yet to block a number that has messaged me or ignored a message without opening it.
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