Mobile marketing is as American as apple pie. 85% of U.S. citizens have mobile phones and they take them everywhere. Recent surveys show that cell phones are used to send more text messages than voice calls. The amazing convenience of this omnipresent device is hard to ignore. If you’re thinking about mobile marketing, as a way to grow your business, here are a few mobile marketing statistics that reveal why now is the time to start.
Today, mobile phones are the most frequently used technological device. Smart phones have grown from 11% to 17% of all mobile phones over the past two years. To support this increase in smart phones, unlimited data plans now account for 57% of all mobile subscribers. Couple this with the fact that 25% of American households have dropped their landlines and only use mobile phones. Forty-two percent of consumers use their phones to surf the web, 39% to check email, 27% download apps and 15% purchase products or services. Text messages and phone apps are increasingly the method consumers use to receive coupons.
One way to support this marketing strategy is push notifications. Push technology is where the information is initiated by the business as opposed to pull technology, where the request for information is initiated by the customer. People subscribe to various information sources. When new content is available, the applicable server will push that new information out to the user. This message is sent whether the phone app is on or off. The push notifications alert the user that new information is available, similar to the old “you’ve got mail” message. This new technology supports mobile coupons which are expected to increase from 200,000 in 2009 to over 70 million mobile coupons in 2013 with a value of $2.4 billion. Whether it’s an ad or a coupon, people are more receptive to getting value from businesses through their phone. Push notifications are a way to deliver that value to consumers.
However, mobile marketing statistics show that there are still some challenges. Very few small businesses have mobile marketing strategies. Problem areas often cited by these entrepreneurs are lack of time to figure out a new technology (44%), perceived expense (30%), and lack of understanding of how to start (30%) as their reasons for not using mobile marketing.
Mobile marketing providers need to simplify access for time-strapped, non-technical small business owners.