The results are staggering. Businesses will pour $10.46 billion into mobile marketing this year. And that’s just in the United States! The annual infusion of dollars will jump to $20 billion by 2015. But wait, there’s more. Complementing these mind-boggling super stats is another impressive figure – 41. That’s the number of apps packed neatly into the phone of the average user.
Not surprisingly, brand marketers are whipping up and distributing new in-app messages faster than they can say the name of their products — particularly apps involving push notifications.
For those fuzzy on the whole push notification thing, this is the type of self-directed message that requires absolutely no user intervention. Blink! It just pops into view — even when an app is snoozing somewhere in the background. The purpose of the push is to trigger some type of user action. For example, the announcement of two-for-one frappes is sure to get recipients bolting for your coffee shop.
There are two basic ways to push when it comes to mobile marketing.
- The Local Push – An announcement is sent at a pre-scheduled time, or according to a user preference. If a consumer has pre-programmed the app to deliver an alert every time there’s a sale on Eskimo boots, footwear updates are forthcoming.
- The App-Originated Push – A notification set in motion by another mobile device. In a social gaming situation, for instance, a relevant message could be forwarded by the phone of another player. “Wake up. It’s your turn!”
While the push is an obvious plus when it comes to spurring consumer action, it’s important for brand marketers to remember that apps are more than sales generators. Let’s not forget that mobile messaging is a powerful resource for keeping consumers plugged into your brand over the long haul. That’s right. Nothing keeps users glued to your brand like catchy promotions frequently delivered to their phones.
Apps also make great customer relations builders. By creating sharable messaging, brand marketers easily can get the word out to everyone in a user’s social circle. Now multiply this by all possessors of your phone app, and you’ve got some major worldwide coverage.
If you have any questions or comments about maximizing mobile marketing to build your brand, or about any other brand building topic, feel free to send them our way. You can connect with the Young Company team at 949-376-8404 #4033 or bart@youngcompany.com. And be sure to follow us for the latest brand marketing news and tips.