'Net Features : mobile, mobile marketing

Potential Mobile Marketers Lack Resources, Strategy

Allison Howen — Thu, 24 May 2012 23:30:00 GMT

A new study from interactive marketing solutions provider StrongMail reveals that more than half of marketers still face challenges in implementing a mobile strategy.

The most popular forms of mobile marketing are mobile websites (70 percent), mobile applications (55 percent) and QR codes (49 percent). However, only 45 percent of marketers are currently running any of these mobile strategies, with 57 percent of those who are only doing so for a year or less.

The study also reveals that 75 percent of businesses not running programs plan to do so within a year or more – and of those businesses that are running mobile programs, 70 percent expect to see their budgets increase during the same time period.

Other statistics from the survey show that 37 percent of respondents cite a lack of strategy as the top reason for not having a mobile marketing program, followed by 22 percent claiming a lack of resources. More than half of respondents expect a mobile program to help them increase sales and acquire new customers, while almost half expect it to increase brand awareness.

Almost a quarter of respondents reported less than 1 percent of their budgets go towards mobile. On the bright side, 55 percent of respondents report an increased mobile budget during the past 12 months, and only 2 percent saw a decrease in budget.

BlackBerry Still Dominates Smartphone Market

Mike Phillips — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:07:00 GMT

A recent report by ComScore shows that, while the iPhone gets all the press, BlackBerry remains the smartphone leader. December data shows that BlackBerry commands 40 percent market share, compared to iPhone's 25 percent. And that number does not appear that it will change in the near future. In a survey, ComScore found that shoppers of smartphones will be purchasing more BlackBerrys (51 percent) than iPhones (20 percent). At the bottom of the pack is T-Mobile's MyTouch (5 percent), Palm Pre (2 percent) and Palm Centro (1 percent).

For Web professionals, this is something worth noting. iPhones are slick, but the raw numbers show that the "pedestrian" BlackBerry is much more widely used. This has plenty to do with the number of businesses and employees using BlackBerrys. That means when planning your mobile strategy for 2010, don't get hung up on the iPhone. Make sure your mobile marketing is aimed across all available mobile devices and that your campaigns will render on every screen, not just the iPhone. For example, perhaps a big-budget app for the iPhone can wait, instead focusing on mobile campaigns like SMS coupons or something as simple as email geared toward reading on a mobile device. After all, the smartphone (and BlackBerry's dominance) is still centered around communication and connectivity.

The coming release of Google's phone should make these numbers even more interesting later in 2010. ComScore reports that 17 percent of consumers plan to buy an Android-supported smartphone in the next three months. With the abundance of devices capable of running Android, this is furtner proof that the iPhone should not be the sole, or even majority focus of mobile marketing.

In light of all of this is a very interesting bit of information for mobile Web developers. iPhone users and Android users interact with mobile media at a stronger clip (94 and 92 percent, respectively) than average smartphone users, including BlackBerry (80 percent).

This is going to be a big year for mobile. Keep an eye out for data like this to ensure you are aiming at the largest possible target.

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Ready for a Mobile (Advertising) Storm?

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:27:00 GMT

A report from Juniper Research has found that growing consumer adoption of mobile Internet services and heightened brand engagement with mobile services will be reflected in a sharp increase in expenditure on mobile Internet advertising. How much of an increase? According to the report, ad spend on the mobile Internet will reach $500 million globally in 2009 and rise to nearly $2 billion per year by 2014.

The catalyst for all this future spending is of course the technology which will enable companies to spend that $2 billion, but how accessible are specific programs for marketers. Case in point, mobileStorm, yesterday announced its new “Go” and “Pro” product packages for online marketers needing email and SMS marketing solutions.

mobileStorm Go allows for the quick setup and delivery of mobile and email campaigns and features personalized support for every client (with a real, U.S.-based representative), 24/7 Web-based access to the mobileStorm Go platform with email and SMS marketing channels, and a reporting system with full export capabilities. mobileStorm Go also offers APIs, an Event Manager and on-demand campaign management services.

mobileStorm Pro takes marketers to another level entirely by adding dedicated account management personnel to manage the system and campaigns, including marketing channels like RSS, Voice, Fax and Video, Database Management, extended reporting, and full integration services with APIs.

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