Mobile Marketing & Is It Worth Trying?
Mobile marketing is marketing on or with a mobile device, such as a cell phone. One definition comes from marketing professor Andreas Kaplan who defines mobile marketing as “any marketing activity conducted through a ubiquitous network to which consumers are constantly connected using a personal mobile device”. There is uncertainty among marketers about mobile marketing and its challenges. Most large businesses are more comfortable with advertising on television, rather than on mobile devices. It is familiar to them and is what they’re used to doing.
For example, AT&T is the nation’s 4th largest advertiser and spent $2 billion on media according to the Ad Age DataCenter. Charlie Hinton, who is executive director of marketing analytics at AT&T Mobility, said that almost all of those dollars were spent on television marketing. Hinton also mentioned how their television advertisements reach a wide, knowable audience.
However, consumers are spending more and more time on mobile devices. Consumers currently spend more time watching television than on their mobile devices each day, but the time spent mobile devices will soon takeover. In addition, advertisers only spend $.07 for every hour of U.S. adult consumption of the medium on mobile devices compared to $.17 on television, according to eMarketer.
It’s obvious that with the growth of smart phones, people have become increasingly attached to their mobile devices. When leaving home, not only do we check if we have our keys, but also our mobile phones. It is a device that consumers keep with them at all times, which makes it such a great advertising outlet.
Hefty price tags for creating official brand apps and having to be more flexible and quick on their feet shouldn’t scare brands away from mobile marketing. Mashable has posted a helpful article that lists different mobile marketing tools to consider when trying to reach consumers on the go. Although brands may not want to make the switch to mobile marketing, it is definitely something that they should consider.
