In today’s economy, marketing budgets are being slashed across the board. Subsequently, marketers are having to re-think their strategies in terms of getting the most bang for their buck.
In the old days, a shrinking marketing budget simply meant buying less of the same old types of media- simply because there were few other options that could be utilized in lieu of mainstream marketing mediums. Today however, one option exists that gives marketers facing the daunting task of gaining increased ROI against shrinking ad-budgets a way out — mobile marketing.
Mobile marketing, and in particular more targeted forms such as SMS, provide a unique medium in terms of the audience, user-engagement and overall targeting potential that simply can’t be achieved with other marketing channels.
When faced with smaller budgets, mobile provides the highest ROI of any marketing channel available to you. Unlike mass communication via TV, radio, newspapers and even Online advertising, mobile allows you to pick and choose your audience according to a wide array of targeting capabilities, location-based benefits and much more.
Combining the immense targeting capabilities of mobile, the fact that consumers are much more apt to respond and interact with mobile and the simple fact that everyone owns a mobile device of some sort equates to an ROI that’s simply unmatched by any other medium.
Looking at the benefits of SMS-based mobile marketing in particular, here’s a few key advantages over other mediums:
- Immediacy – Mobile campaigns are easy to create and execute; messages are delivered to recipients within seconds.
- Affordability – No need to pay for postage, printing or air time, just a nominal per text message fee; prices are very modest and they decrease as volume increases.
- Distribution – Reach out to people all over the world. Delivery is almost always guaranteed, unlike email, direct mail, and other forms of advertising.
- Response Rate/Effectiveness – The average respose rate is approximately 15%, versus 2 – 3% for other advertising mediums such as direct mail.
- Personal /Targeted – Content is targeted to individuals who have opted to receive them; the medium provides the ability to customize the brand message to a diversified audience.
- Mobility/Reachability – Messages reach recipients wherever they are. No need to be by a TV, radio, computer, or mailbox; phones are within our reach 80% of every day.
It’s not hard to see why mobile is key when trying to get the most out of your marketing budget. Getting past the mis-conceptions that mobile is a complicated medium to understand, deploy and support, you’ll soon realize how going mobile is the smartest thing you can possibly do- especially with shrinking marketing budgets.
To learn more about the process and to get a better understanding of how to choose the appropriate vendors for your next mobile campaign, check out mobileStorm’s whitepapers and other valuable resources.