One of the biggest problems facing any business is ensuring that your advertisements achieve good market saturation. For many firms, the prospect of spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on television, newspaper and radio commercials is just not valid. However, there is an answer to suit the needs of all businesses and that is in targeted mobile advertising.
Mobile marketing has grown markedly in recent times and the reason for this is obvious; the growth of the mobile phone since the 80s, when it was the preserve of the lucky few and only used sparingly for phone calls, has created a new niche for clever advertising. With the advent over the past two decades of text messages, online capabilities and now into the new breed of smartphones, the potential for companies interested in developing their presence and name through mobile advertising has seen substantial growth.
These advancements have been particularly prevalent in the last three years. Apple’s revolutionary iPhone has provided an exciting new platform for mobile marketers, with iPhone advertising accounting for half of mobile advertising spending in the US.
It is important to remember that it is not just the fact that people have mobile phones that makes them attractive to those in mobile marketing, but also that people are using them with increasing frequency every day. For many people, their mobile phone has taken over from their diary, their laptop computer, their satellite navigation system, their home phone and in some cases, even their television and home PC. Many individuals carry their mobile phone with them at all times and they use, or at least check, it every few minutes.
Therefore, with vast numbers of mobile phones in circulation and so many people using them frequently during the day, there is a massive market waiting to be explored by a business smart enough to want to target customers via mobile advertising.
A few years ago, such a domain was the realm of only the wealthy advertisers but that trend has changed somewhat in recent years. New mobile advertising companies have sprung up, offering a fresh alternative for the small and medium-sized business owner to effectively use mobile marketing both in terms of cost to the business and through the increased custom they receive as a direct result.
A small to medium-sized company can receive several benefits through clever mobile marketing:
- Improved advertisement conversion rate: As a business, you will hopefully already have a large number of customers interested in your products. You can increase that number and generate further sales by asking customers, for example, to subscribe to your SMS text message service. By doing this, you are targeting your mobile advertising to those customers who are already interested in your services and as such, these tend to have higher conversion rates than untargeted canvassing.
- Targeting specific market sectors is very simple: A small or medium-sized business can target its ideal customer base at the very start of its campaign thanks to the fact that most mobile marketing campaigns rely on customers opting in. By advertising your product based on age, location or gender, or perhaps based on other forms of social groups, you are radically increasing the likelihood of a sale by channelling your advertising to the most relevant markets for your product.
- Affordability: Gone are the days when running a smartphone or iPhone advertising campaign would have cost a huge amount of money. Most small to medium-sized businesses can now easily afford a mobile marketing program that is within their budget. Not only this, but since this form of marketing is so targeted it is often also more cost-effective than traditional forms of advertising.
It is also worth remembering that adverts targeted towards the right group of people are often enjoyed or at least welcomed by those receiving them. Often, the perception of advertising is that it is an unwelcome intrusion into their day. However, research by a well-known mobile phone company and reported by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) revealed that 70 per cent of mobile phone users define mobile advertising that is informative, clever and innovative as appealing. Furthermore, 89 per cent of those questioned stated they liked or were neutral to advertisements appearing on a company’s website. The IAB also reported that 88 per cent of those questioned said they were happy to receive mobile marketing in exchange for free or discounted content.
This is great news for a business of any size as it means that not only will they be able to afford a specific, clever mobile marketing campaign towards their target audience, it means that the target audience will more than likely see the advertisement and react favourably to it.
Despite all these positive factors to mobile advertising, the greatest asset this form of marketing has against others is its immediacy. Once a customer has received your message, they can click upon it and go immediately to your website to purchase what they require. There is no need for them to search the Web for information, ask friends or even consult the old yellow pages. What they want to buy is at their fingertips daily.
There is also immediacy in the way that mobile advertising can be shaped, altered and designed so that your messages are relevant in a wider, real-world context. Since many advertising campaigns are straightforward to design and implement, they are also easy to keep updated with real-life news and events. This is particularly relevant during events like the World Cup, where a good or bad result can dictate the mood of a nation and where a well-timed, relevant and up to date mobile advert can bring a business plenty of extra custom.
Mobile marketing is quickly becoming the new niche market for businesses of all sizes to use and develop to great effect. It is the best, cheapest and most cost-effective way for businesses to target their key markets.
So is mobile advertising the solution for your business? Quite definitely so; remember that new customers are just one click away!
