According to a recent report from Forrester Research, four in five households have a mobile phone. The report, entitled “State of Consumers and Technology: Benchmark 2009,” highlights the many different technologies that modern consumers are beginning to rely on, everything from high definition televisions to mobile devices. Interestingly, while the mobile device is becoming more prevalent than ever in the consumer culture, use of the mobile Web is not exploding, in fact, according to the report it is showing “slow progress.”An article from iMedia Connection writer Rich Cherecwich about the report accurately pinpoints how consumers are currently using their mobile device – as a means to stay connected, not a tool to make purchases from. We have covered this before on The Lunch Pail with Bryce Marshall’s Making Sense of Mobile series. A text message strategy makes the most sense for many of Knotice’s customers (including our newest mobile marketing customer Texas Roadhouse). Many mobile device users are willing to receive communications from a brand provided that brand is extending a service. Consumers need a compelling reason to engage with a brand, and brands must find original mobile marketing strategies to be successful.
Mobile marketing is getting a bit easier with each passing day, too. For example, the Verizon Wireless-Alltel “merger” – which you can read more detail about here and here – will consolidate most of the nation’s wireless subscribers on four provider networks. Therefore, it is easier for brands to broaden their reach with mobile marketing while jumping through fewer hoops.
One of the more compelling statistics in the report turns a traditional assumption about mobile marketing around. While 93 percent of young families have a mobile device, the density of mobile devices in the home increases as the family ages. In other words, the older the family is, the more likely there will be multiple different mobile devices in the household. Marketers all know young people will use their mobile device, but as older generations – and notoriously slow adopters – begin to use a mobile device with increasing frequency, the opportunity for marketers grows significantly.
M-Commerce is not reaching a critical mass of adoption yet because of lingering consumer privacy concerns. While the promise is substantial, reality dictates consumers loves their mobile phones, and they love to text.
