Mobile Marketing Strategies Need to Grow Along with Budgets

I've been thinking about how companies use their mobile marketing strategies to help grow their business, and I was surprised to learn recently that they are not necessarily increasing the amount they are spending on mobile websites, mobile applications, and QR codes.

While the three strategies listed above are the most popular ways to use mobile methods to reach out to customers, fewer than half of marketers are using them. These figures are taken from the StrongMail Mobile Marketing Survey 2012, and over 800 business leaders answered questions about their marketing practices.

Smartphones are by far the most popular mobile device. Nearly half of mobile users own one, and mobile marketing efforts need to be directed to strategies that will appeal to them. I think that reaching consumers through their smart phones is an excellent marketing strategy, since it can reach prospective buyers where they happen to be at any given time.

When asked about obstacles to launching a mobile media marketing program, over one-third of respondents (37 percent) stated that lack of strategy was the main challenge they faced. Lack of resources was cited as the second most common obstacle getting in the way of the respondents' mobile marketing efforts at 22 percent.

Most companies using mobile marketing strategies are allocating five percent or less to this part of their advertising efforts. Of the companies surveyed, approximately one quarter had allocated less than one percent to mobile marketing.