Staying Ahead of the Curve: Mobile Marketing Can Work For You

Technology is one of the biggest driving forces in our society. It allows people to communicate, entertain themselves, and organize their lives. Whether you are tech savvy or not, and even if you do not work directly with marketing via technology platforms, you must be aware of developments.

Mobile marketing is the concept of reaching consumers while they are on the go. This means directing marketing and advertising efforts at the mobile devices that people carry with them every day. It might be a smart phone or a tablet computer; either way you can reach a customer any time of the day.

Types of Mobile Media

Basically mobile marketing is a broad term for any form of communication that allows you to reach your target market while they are on the go. No waiting for them to sit at their home PC, turn on their television, or open that direct mail promotion you sent out. Mobile marketing can be:

  • A text message campaign
  • QR codes on your outdoor advertising so that passersby can immediately visit a landing page that you choose
  • Search engine or website-based ads (Google AdWords, Bing Ads, etc)
  • Mobile phone apps

What You Should Know

Kids: We might call them kids, but the next generation of consumers is almost out of high school and ready to join the adult world. Nielsen shares that:

  • Teens talk less on the phone than any other demographic, aside from those over 65 years old This means they are approachable via text, social media, and other means of reaching people on the go, as this is how they currently communicate socially.
  • 58% of teens in a survey last September said that they “always” or “sometimes” look at ads on their mobile devices.
  • 18-year-olds spend less time on their PCs than other demographics. This means they are more likely to be on a mobile device.

Apple: Steve Jobs and his team are poised to release iOS5, a new operating system that will increase the usability of Apple’s mobile devices. It is also rumored to have some features that advertisers can benefit from, such as the ability to directly interface with Twitter, and make it easier for users to stream video. As Apple devotes efforts to increasing the usability of mobile devices and making it simpler for advertisers to get involved, you can bet that Android will be doing the same thing.

International: Asia represents some of the world’s fastest growing and industrializing markets. Nearly half of the online respondents who do not own smart phones in a survey targeted at Asian nations reported that they intend to purchase one this year. Similar trends are also developing here in the U.S.

To learn more about mobile marketing and how you can benefit from it, join us at 11:30 AM at the Hilton St. Petersburg Carrillon Parkway. We will be hosting an informative event on mobile marketing that will double as an opportunity to network with other marketing professionals.

Sources:

Apple’s iOS5 will be game-changer for mobile advertising: experts (MobileMarketer.com)

Smart Phones Surging in Southeast Asia (NielsenMedia)

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