Mobile marketing has been a major discussion topic in marketing circles for many years, but it has only recently fully come into its own with the growth in smartphone and tablet use. Though it should be clear that mobile marketing is important, some business owners and marketers are reluctant to put any skin in the game because they are unsure of the effectiveness of mobile campaigns. There is a lot of recent data that can be used to assuage those concerns. Here are ten stats to get you off the sidelines and back in the mobile marketing game.
The value of mobile marketing for an integrated marketing campaign is clear. Nielsen reported in February 2014, that 14 percent of US tablet owners have used their devices to buy an advertised product while watching TV, compared to 7 percent of smartphone owners.
Cashstar reported that 38 million Americans have shopped on their mobile while using the bathroom; 9 million did so during a meeting; and 4 million managed to shop on their mobile device while driving (which is just about as smart as drunken street racing).
According to research from Google and Facebook, people are eight times more likely to use their smartphone on public transport than their laptop and twice as likely to use their smartphone than their tablet.
Mythings.com released a study that suggested smartphone and tablet shoppers make buying decisions up to 13 times faster than consumers shopping on desktop computers.
One in three US smartphone owners have used their device to shop while they were in a store, according to Compete.
People shop with their mobile devices even when they are home with the desktop and laptops. According to the report from Compete, 67 percent of smartphone users shop with their mobile device when they’re at home.
According to Nielsen, 65 percent of tablet owners and 59 percent of smartphone owners have used their devices to research an item before they bought it.
Mythings.com estimated that nearly one fifth (19%) of online retail sales will come from mobile channels in 2014.
Mobile device owners are using their devices to make sure they’re getting the lowest price. Nielsen reported that 66 percent of US consumers who shop via smartphone use their devices to check prices while in retail showrooms.
It goes both ways. According to JiWire, 37 percent of mobile consumers have purchased a retail product on a smartphone or tablet after researching it in-store.
As all of this research suggests, mobile marketing is going to be a major force in the economy for years to come. As such, mobile marketing isn’t a tactic business owners can afford to ignore, especially if 19 percent of sales will come through mobile devices. Any business owner turning their back on that kind of revenue is simply handing the advantage to their competition or to a new startup. These statistics should be a reminder as to why marketers need to stay the course with mobile marketing, and serve as a wakeup call for any who haven’t got on board yet.