Archive for October, 2009

Starting a WAP site is a low risk, low cost way to engage consumers and use mobile marketing.

A WAP site makes your company easily accessed by mobile internet devices. If you don’t have a WAP site,consumers cannot access your company’s website from their smartphone.

A recent study from ExactTarget found that three quarters of consumers would rather receive advertising messages through SMS marketing campaigns than any other channel.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, after conducting the National Health Interview Survey, mobile technology is sharing U.S. household more than ever.  The survey found that one in five U.S. households now rely entirely on cell phones and have no landlines and for the first time, the number of cell-only households outnumbers the number of homes relying solely on landline service.

The CDC began gathering phone data in 2003. Back then, just 3 percent of household surveyed were wireless only, with 43 percent relying on landlines.  Now, 20 percent of homes surveyed are cell-only with 17 percent relying exclusively on landlines.  This is a jump could indicate economic pressures brought on by the recession have caused people to give up their landline.

Of the households surveyed, 15 percent had both landlines and cell phones but receive no calls on their landlines since they are often dedicated to computers and fax machines.

Age and income are also relative to living in a cell only home. Approximately one third of people between 18 and 24 live in cell-only homes.  Among the most likely to live in cell only households are the poor, renters, southerners, Midwesterners, Hispanics and adults sharing a home with roommates.

The survey found in addition that one in 50 U.S. households has no phone at all.

The survey was conducted through in person interviews with 12,597 households. These interviews were done between July and December of 2008.

Mobile has long been a small blip in most advertising and marketing budgets, despite the huge number of mobile  users and the increasingly advanced devices and usage patterns.

Compared with online advertising spending, mobile looks tiny.  According to eMarketer, mobile ad spending will reach $416 million in 2009 compared with $24 billion that will be spent overall for online advertising.

Many marketers have been hesitant to embrace a medium that lacks proven use cases. However, an increasing number have begun to realize that the addictive effect of mobile on the other advertising and marketing efforts spreads easily.  eMarketer predicts that spending on mobile advertising will gain momentum through 2013, reaching $1.56 billion.

An exiting mobile marketing plan has been launched by outdoor clothes company, Timberland, to promote its latest products.

Consumers throughout the US, UK and Italy will be able to access information on its new footwear collection via a special iPhone application. (Mobile Marketer)

Within the app is a mobile commerce facility which allows consumers to buy certain items right away while featuring details on hiking trails, maps and even lets users play games and listen to music.

There is also a mobile website set up by Timberland which contains full product details and a store locator.

Of course, this mobile marketing strategy has been designed to meet the needs of hip young urban consumers with active outdoor lifestyles.

According to the Mobile Marketing association this type of promotional strategy is an “enormously effective” way of engaging with its consumers.