As this form of advertising enters the mainstream, companies are finding that it is vital to attracting consumer attention.
With such a large number of different channels in which to do battle for the attention of consumers, companies are starting to rethink their strategies in order to include mobile marketing in the mix, in the hopes to stand out from the rest.
A growing proportion of consumers are now carrying smartphones nearly everywhere they go.
This has pressured marketers, retailers, restaurants, and other companies to embrace mobile marketing, which has shown itself to be highly effective when it comes to generating interest, loyalty, and engagement in consumers. However, it is also requiring them to re-learn how to communicate with potential shoppers, as the old style of aggressive hard-sell marketing is proving very unpopular over these devices.
A new approach to engaging consumers is required when implementing a mobile marketing strategy.
The key to mobile marketing is a respect for the desire that consumers have for content. This allows them to communicate and receive information on their own terms. This means that companies need to spark the interest of consumers in ways other than those that would interrupt their behaviors in order to encourage a form of conversation with them, instead.
In this way, mobile marketing can be designed to reach out to a smartphone carrying consumer, no matter who he or she may be. The next thing that must be remembered, however, is that these shoppers are on the go. They aren’t sitting passively waiting to see an ad, and they aren’t necessarily already staring at the screen exclusively, as is the case with television advertising, for example.
Instead, mobile marketing ads need to be relevant, personal, and transparent. They are best received when the consumer has opted in for them, instead of forced upon them without permission. These consumers are used to the concept of spam and ads and will delete and ignore what they haven’t specifically requested.
According to a recent Ifop study involving mobile marketing and the behaviors of 2,400 consumers, text messaging continues to remain one of the most effective methods of advertising over cellular phones.