To grab customers’ attention and drive sales, being where your customers are is now more important than ever. And that place is mobile. Marketers need to be where their customers are, and today’s customers are on their mobile devices. The use of mobile devices for connecting to the internet exceeds that of desktops, and the number of mobile devices and apps is growing fast as consumers.
What is mobile marketing?
Mobile marketing is a form of digital marketing that uses multiple channels to reach audiences through mobile phones, tablets, and via websites, email, SMS, and MMS, USSD, and social media apps.
With this consumer shift to mobile, marketers must do the same in order to create omnichannel engagement. And while this allows rich and exciting customer experiences; it’s important that content must be strategic and personalized.
Mobile marketing is unique in that it reaches people in real time right where they are. Additionally, more and more sales are being initiated from mobile, so it is a vital part of any marketing strategy.
Ease of access
Most people keep their mobile phones handy throughout the day, which makes for great marketing potential or urgent communications. This means you can reach customers wherever they are; you do not need to wait until they’ve logged on, seen your poster, or tuned in to a radio broadcast. You have round-the-clock access to your target market.
Wider reach
With the market penetration of mobile phones worldwide, it is easy to understand why many businesses consider mobile marketing integral to their marketing strategies. Billions of people all around the world own a mobile phone, so if your objective is to reach large audiences – mobile marketing is the way to go.
Mobile marketing allows you to optimize your mobile marketing campaigns even more, by targeting segmented audiences such as interests, past purchases, demographics.
Location-specific marketing
Mobile marketing enables businesses to reach mobile users in specific locations — and adapt their marketing and messaging. This is a great advantage because people are so attached to their mobile phones. Targeted marketing can enable notifications, alerts, or other offers for specific locations e.g. a sports stadium, shopping malls or restaurants. That means sending out location-specific advertisements that are more relevant to the user.
Cost-effectiveness
Mobile advertising costs a fraction of what traditional channels cost, you can reach more people for less money. Print, TV, and outdoor marketing have significantly higher production and purchase costs.
Also, because mobile marketing offers a range of channels, you can test and choose the ones that fit your budget.
Multiple marketing channels
Mobile marketing is a unique channel, in that there are many different channels within a single device. Businesses can choose to use a mobile website, SMS marketing, USSD, or QR codes to engage with customers.
You choose the most suitable method(s) to reach your audience.
Personalization
We already know that personalized messages have a greater chance of recall and call to action. Mobile marketing has the advantage of being more personal, and businesses can tailor the customer experience accordingly.
Leverage data gathered to understand your customers and find the best ways of connecting.
Viral potential
One of the many benefits of mobile marketing is its viral potential. People often use their phones for sharing photos, videos, or competitions. So creating engaging campaigns with mass appeal is key, because often your customers are doing marketing for you!
Analytics
Another powerful feature of mobile marketing is the ability to track responses, providing more data and insights to act upon. This translates to efficient spending of marketing or communication budgets.
In Conclusion
If your business has not already aligned its marketing plan with mobile technologies, it is time to learn about mobile marketing and how to best approach it. In this article, you will find out the benefits of mobile marketing and how you can use it for your business.
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