The Top 5 Reasons for Mobile Marketing [Data]

I’m not alone in this admiration. According to eMarketer , there will be 73.3 million smartphone users in the U.S. in 2011. And that number is only rising. It’s estimated that there will be more than 84 million by 2012 and over 100 million by 2014.

But here’s the number that really gets me. According to Michael Tasner in his book “ Marketing in the Moment ,” only 6% of businesses are doing any type of mobile marketing. And for companies with less than $10,000 in revenue per year (what we at HubSpot consider small businesses), only 0.5% of them mobile market. The book was published a year ago, so these numbers might be up a little, but not by much. This brings me to reason #1 for mobile marketing :

Reason #1 –Timing

What are you waiting for? With the ever-expanding market of mobile (and smartphone) users combined with the paucity of companies marketing to them, now is the time to make the most out of mobile marketing. The competition is small at this point, and you can create a presence before it gets cluttered. If you are already advertising on the internet, you might be interested to know that ad spending across mobile devices is still low, which means you can get some great keyword phrases for bargain prices.

Reason #2 – Consumers

According to Google's latest independent research , 74% of smartphone users have made a purchase as a result of using a smartphone. When it comes to search, 53% of smartphone users purchase something as a result of their smartphone search. That’s 53% of 73 million. That’s a lot of purchasing power. What’s interesting is how this group actually buys. After searching, 40% use their smartphones to buy something in a store. In the world of ecommerce, 35% of them take their information, go online on a computer and buy, or 20% of them use their smartphones to complete their purchase. What this tells me is that these consumers are not picky about where they shop, and the smartphone gives them the options they need. It’s all about accessibility and urgency, which brings me to reason #3.

Reason # 3 – Urgency

Smartphone users look for a wide variety of information. That can be news, sports, games, restaurant information and location, or shopping. What the Google study pointed out is that 89% of them do their search with a degree of urgency. This sense of urgency should be of incredible interest to ecommerce sites as well as brick and mortar companies. For example, a smartphone user needs an appliance. They find it and have the option of going to a nearby store to purchase it or to have it shipped from an ecommerce site. They will do one or the other, depending on the proximity of the store and the time they need that appliance. The point is, if you offer that appliance and smartphone users can’t find you, you lose that sale.

Reason # 4 – Integration

Smartphone users don’t do everything on their smartphones – and thank goodness for that. They are influenced by many other things, whether that be word of mouth, online or television ads, or products on a shelf. But for them, smartphones are now an integral part of their lives. If you are a company that puts time and effort into online marketing, social media marketing , packaging, branding, and public relations, you don’t want to lose your smartphone prospect when they are looking for your type of product on their smartphone. According to Google:

• 67% of them research on their smartphone and then buy in a store.
• 23% research on a smartphone, visit the store to check out the product, then purchase online on their computer.
• 16% research on their smartphone, visit the store, then purchase on their smartphone
• 9% visit the store first, then purchase on their smartphone

If you are at all serious about a comprehensive and integrated marketing strategy for your company, mobile has to be a part of it.

Reason # 5– Easy to do

For HubSpot users, their websites are automatically mobile-friendly. For everyone else, the process is relatively simple. There are many programs and agencies out there that can offer you a fairly quick way to make your site is mobile friendly. We’re making available for free a chapter on mobile marketing from Michael Tasner’s book Marketing in the Moment , and in it there are sections on how to establish a mobile-only site and how to get started with mobile marketing. That includes tactics like SMS, MMS, special offers, advertsing, etc.

As Tasner says, “Mobile is growing faster than any other online-marketing method, tactic, or technique.” What are you waiting for?

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