I recently read an article in the searchengineland blog posted by Stephanie Hobbs, Vice President of Communications at the Local Search Association entitled “Five Steps To Capturing Mobile Customers In 2012″
The following excerpts illustrate the shift that has been taking place in the way cusumers gather information and form purchasing decissions in this, the digtal age.
Citing a report by IAB’s Mobile Marketing division that utilized information compiled by ComScore, the global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics, she goes on to state
… the study showed that the average mobile users have somewhat higher average incomes, with 48% earning more than $75,000 per year, versus 42% of all U.S. mobile users. Local businesses that successfully tap into mobile now will be the best positioned to reach young and wealthy customers over the long term.
About 15% of mobile shoppers look for store locations, demonstrating the importance of accurate business address, contact information and business type categorization. Local businesses should ensure that they are listed and strategically advertise on all major local sites including Yelp, Citysearch, Google Places, Yahoo Local, and many others.
Business owners should also confirm that their print and Internet Yellow Pages listings are correct, since that information streams not only to publishers’ mobile apps, but to many local sites as well. Businesses should also make this information is easily accessible in mobile-friendly versions of their websites.
Approximately 9.8% of mobile shoppers compare product prices, while 9.5% look for coupons and deals, making it clear that price is a major determining factor in predicting sales.
Local businesses should also look into posting coupons on their social media channels, featuring daily deals on sites like Groupon or LivingSocial, and other tactics that raise visibility for price-related incentives in the mobile space.
About 9.1% of mobile shoppers research product features and 8% check product availability at specific stores. Local businesses should build their mobile sites with these considerations in mind as well.
Dec 12, 2011 at 11:41am ET by Stephanie Hobbs
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Statistics don’t lie
- Brands using SMS and MMS can reach nearly 95 percent of mobile phone subscribers on both smartphones and non-smartphones alike.
- 90 percent of text messages are read within 3 minutes of being delivered.
- 79 percent of smartphone owners use their phone to shop, with 74 percent ultimately making a purchase as a result.
- Mobile coupons generate 10 times higher redemption rates than print coupons.
- Mobile ads perform four to five times better than online ads in key metrics, including brand favorability, awareness and purchase intent.
- 70 percent of mobile searches lead to action within one hour. It takes one month for the same percentage of desktop users to take action./LI>
- 16.7 million mobile subscribers, including 76 percent of smartphone owners, used location-based check-in.
- Android accounted for the largest share of location-based service users, with about 37 percent checking in, while 34 percent of users checked in from an iPhone.
- Additional marketing-based activities are even more popular, including receiving special offers by text message (54 percent) or scanning a QR code (58 percent).
Sources cited:
- 60 Second Marketer, Mobile Marketer, Luxury Daily, Search Engine Land, Mobile Commerce Daily, InsightExpress, comScore, marketingcharts.com
- Advertising Engagement: Giving Creative Credit Where Credit is Due
- IBM Smarter Commerce benchmark of online retail activity
- Ad-ology’s 2012 Marketing Forecast
- A Comprehensive Report On Mobile IAB Mobile Marketing Division
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