“Pass the remote” seems to have evolved into “Have you seen my phone?” – The humble smartphone device has become the new universal remote control for life and it has only taken mere years for the tables of media consumption to turn around.
From 2009 to 2013, TV consumption reduced from 45% to 38%, online consumption from 25% to 20% and mobile grew from 4% to just over 20% (eMarketer). It seems, for mobile, the only way is up.
The smartphone has transformed our lives in ways we could never have imagined, from business to community, brand to consumer.
Keeping an eye on our bank balance, transferring funds and paying important bills from our phones has seen high street banks slowly reducing in numbers. Apple Pay’s launch now means we can leave home without our purses and the capability to compare prices and purchase online as we shop on-the-go is leading the way for competition among brands. Driving a car is even a doddle with our smartphones.
Like it or not, mobile phones have given us way more control than we could have imagined and it’s good news, especially for businesses.
But why?
With estimates that people in the UK are using some form of connected mobile technology an average of 34 times a daily it appears there is a new form of addiction to watch out for; the inability to leave our phones alone.
World mobile addicts are up 59% compared to 2014.
(Flurry Mobile)
Checked on average of 150 times a day, and within an hour of waking up for 70% of people (Net Imperative), the mobile phone has kick-started a wave of new marketing opportunities.
98% of all text messages get read, 90% of these, within the first 3 minutes of arrival.
(Frost & Sullivan)
While the recipients of marketing have the power to choose whether to click to open an email, tear open a direct mail envelope or stay tuned to your television advert, the likelihood that they won’t choose to open an SMS marketing message is extremely low. This means that the opportunities to influence their actions of purchasing, consuming or changing everyday habits is pretty big.
Is there any other form of media where you can almost guarantee that your target audience will read your message?
From large corporations and medium enterprises to butchers, bakers and candlestick makers, SMS marketing is versatile, low cost and effective when applied in a well-targeted and well executed manner. It has the power to get potential or existing customers clicking, purchasing, browsing or driving the necessary feedback or responses that you want from your SMS campaigns.
The smartphone provides a two-way method of remote influence. Customers need to experience a value exchange in response to your use of their data. News, updates and offers all tend to gain the desired response from SMS, however we are seeing more and more evolved methods of using text messaging including appointment reminders, loyalty and reward schemes, which are making plastic loyalty cards redundant and surveys which when directed by SMS can achieve higher responses and even better success rates.
Original: Text Marketer