Mobile Marketing Facts

Mobile marketing is the use of cell phones to market a brand, send a mass message, or collect information from its user. This emerging marketing media plays a strong role in integrated marketing strategies. Mobile marketing can be used to increase brand awareness, create opt-in databases, and drive your audience to events.

The American mobile market is growing, maturing, and constantly evolving. And we all know it’s here to stay. As you notice, the cell phone has been changing. We now see them with a full QWERTY keyboard to optimize texting abilities. It’s not just a cell phone, it’s a multi-functional and complete media center.

Consider these facts when thinking about a mobile campaign:

• There are well over 200 million mobile devices in use in the U.S. today.
• There are more unique mobile phone subscribers than land lines.
• Four out of five persons under age 30 send text messages every day.
• People purchase new mobile handsets every 14-16 months, usually with increased capabilities.
• There are more than 30 million active text messaging users in the U.S. and growing.
• 94% of text messages are read.
• 24% will show or forward a mobile marketing message to another person.
• Mobile marketing generates a 15% - 20% response vs. a 1% response with conventional media.

Differences between e-mail and text messages:

• As few as 20% of e-mail messages are opened.
  Over 95% of text messages are opened.

• For e-mail, customers must complete a form, either in the business or on-line. When completed in the business, forms must be manually entered or scanned into a database.
  For text, customers complete the entry by texting. No data-entry is required.
  
  
• Average time for the recipient to view an e-mail message is 6.4 hours.
  Average time for the recipient to view a text message is 14 minutes.
  
  
• E-mail can often be viewed only when recipients are at their computer.
  Text messages are viewed any time the recipients cell phone is on.
  
  
• Average person checks personal e-mail 20 minutes a day.
  Average cell phone is on 16 hours a day.
  
  
• Coupon redemption for e-mail averages less than 1%.
  Coupon redemption for text-messaging is 10%-22%.
  

Need more facts?

• In October of 2006, the World Wide Web Consortium and ICANN announced that .mobi will be a new top-level-domain name. (Mobi will refer to MOBILE) - it’s now just starting to be used.
• Currently 1/3 of humankind has mobile Internet access, which is twice as many as the number of internet-connected PCs
• 50% of the world's population is expected to have access to the Internet through a mobile device in 3 years!

Sources: Juniper Research, e-marketer, M:Metrics, CMG Logica