Mobile Coupon Use to Increase to 300 Million Users

Mobile coupons have been growing in popularity, but I was surprised to learn that a report released by Juniper Research is predicting that over 300 million consumers will use them by the year 2014. "Mobile Coupons & NFC Smart Posters:Strategies, Applications and Forecasts 2009-2014" predicts that electronic coupons will be the most popular way for buyers to save money on purchases.

The increase in mobile coupon use is directly linked to the increasing consumer demand for smart phones. As more buyers have access to mobile technology, they will be taking advantage of various apps available, including ones that provide opportunities to save on purchases.

I was especially interested to learn that mobile coupons are redeemed at a much higher rate than the traditional paper version. Approximately five to seven percent of electronic offers are presented to a retailer, as opposed to two percent of paper coupons.

These electronic coupons can help to encourage consumer visits to a brick and mortar location, giving retailers the opportunity to show the customer what the location has to offer. Once the buyer is in the store, it will not only boost sales for the item being promoted, but will also increase sales for other products on offer.

This sounds like a win-win situation for retailers. Since mobile coupons are easy to produce and are the "green" way to save, it may even boost sales from environmentally conscious buyers. It is no wonder that they are poised for such tremendous growth.

SMS Marketing Strategies that Work

SMS Marketing is a commonly used strategy for modern businesses. How common is it? Recently, researchers reported an estimated eight trillion SMS messages were sent in 2011. The Mobile Marketing Association released a report stating that the vast majority (97 percent) of SMS messages are opened by the recipient.

Business owners who want to use this strategy to their benefit should plan to use it in several ways. Since SMS messages are brief, they can be used to engage with customers in bite-sized communications. Items such as asking the customer to answer a question of the week or to participate in a brief poll would work well with this type of message.

It can also be used quite effectively as a local marketing tool. Since businesses are taking the time to get to know their customers more than ever before, it makes sense to send targeted messages directly to them with timely offers that encourage shopping on certain days or in conjunction with local events.

SMSmarketing also works well for companies participating in conventions, trade shows and other similar events. The messages can be forwarded to attendees to provide them with schedule changes or locations for specific presentations.

With a little creativity, a savvy marketer will be able to come up with other ways to use these text messages to communicate with customers in short bursts of information. This strategy can help to maintain relationships and boost sales.

Report Finds Majority of Cell Phone Owners Using SMS

We here at 3Seventy know how effective SMS marketing can be, as it reaches 100% of all mobile phones in the United States, unlike any other advertising medium today. Pew Research recently released a study which serves to confirm that fact. 

 

The results indicate that 75 percent of mobile phone owners said that they text. The survey also indicated that 50% of respondents said that they use their mobile phones to take pictures and video. Less than one quarter of respondents (23 percent) use their cell phones to browse the internet.

As always, when I read the results of surveys like this, I think about what it means for mobile marketers. Since texting is already a popular activity worldwide, marketers should be planning to step up their SMS campaigns. 

This strategy can be a very effective tool to build a customer database that marketers can use to ensure that the offers they are making are going to be ones that their target market finds appealing. While mobile messaging is an effective way to reach out to a customer base, marketers need to take care not to overwhelm customers with messages. Doing so will only add to the level of "noise” that modern-day consumers are bombarded with on a daily basis.

The report found that texting is a global phenomenon, with respondents in 19 of the 21 countries surveyed doing so on a regular basis. The under-30 age group is most likely to use their mobile phones for texting and other purposes other than making calls.