U.S. Ready for (Some) Mobile Marketing: Forrester
Even though almost four-fifths of consumers say they find the notion of ads on cell phones annoying, a growing number are being engaged by mobile campaigns that offer value without being unduly interruptive, according to a new report from Forrester Research.
The report, “Is the U.S. Ready for Mobile Marketing?”, finds that properly targeted campaigns can overcome that innate user resistance. For example, Forrester cites a McDonald’s mobile campaign designed to increase late-night visits. The campaign got higher-than-average clickthrough rates by targeting young-adult-focused mobile sites such as Match.com and offering a highly relevant coupon valid from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. that night only.
And a Clear Channel radio station in Boston operates a club in which listeners receive mobile alerts and promotions and can interact with DJs during broadcasts via SMS. In one promotion, 48% of the station’s club members sent text messages to win a breakfast with Nick Lachey.
To avoid the perception of mobile spam, marketers must work with the unique elements of the mobile cannel itself and the relevance of their message,” Forrester Research principal analyst Christine Spivey Overby said in a statement accompanying the report. “Mobile is highly integrated into people’s daily activities and physical environment. This means marketers can embrace the real-world connections with relevant location-based services and campaigns that tie mobile and on-premise advertising.”
While mobile’s potential is beginning to be realized, the actual reach of the mobile Internet is still relatively small. The Forrester report estimates that only 35% of U.S. households that own mobile phones currently use text messaging functions, and only 11% access the Internet over their handsets.
Nevertheless, mobile marketing is getting a vote of confidence from one powerful contingent: the mobile carriers. Last fall, Sprint announced that it would run graphic ads on its “deck”, the landing page for its mobile users accessing the Internet. Last week, Verizon announced that it too would offer banner ads on its deck. AT&T, which owns the largest share of Cingular Wireless, is reported also to be interested in selling display ads on its landing page.
