The numbers are staggering.
According to CTIA – The Wireless Association, there are 4.1 billion text messages sent every day over wireless devices. There were 740 billion text messages sent during the first half of 2009 – a 92% increase over the 385 billion messages sent during the first half of 2008. This includes more than 10 billion MMS messages, which means multimedia messages are growing at an even more accelerated pace – up 119% over 2008.
The trend in messaging alone is enough to stimulate thinking around developing a closely integrated mobile and interactive strategy. But wait…..it gets better.
The 246 million data capable devices in the hands of users today aren’t just being used for character- limited, truncated SMS messages containing smiley faces, no sirree bob…..web visitors using a mobile device increased 34 percent year-over-year, from 42.5 million mobile Web visitors in July 2008 to 56.9 million in July 2009 (according to The Nielsen Company).
Some interesting “stuff” I took notes on at the recent Shop.org gathering regarding Mobile…
- The CEO of Macy’s looks for mobile to triple over the “next couple of years” (from his keynote)
- Moosejaw’s “Madness Texts” drive a 54% response rate (from the mobile breakout session)
- Mobile has fundamentally changed Fandango’s Value Prop – the user behavior is different and an analysis performed showed that the incremental increase was delivered by new customers.
- 69% of teens – the new digital natives, research all purchases before they buy anything (Kelly Mooney’s keynote). My opinion is that practically all of this research will be done on the third screen in the very, very near future, if not already.
Juniper Research estimates that close to 3 billion mobile coupons will be issued to Mobile device users by 2011, with around $7 billion worth of discounts redeemed. That’s $7 billion. In discounts. This study finds that mobile coupons are becoming an increasingly important tool for brands to provide a key ‘push to purchase’ capability for mobile marketing and advertising campaigns.
We’re tying Mobile into our key Local/Mobile/Social/Search strategic approach. We think it will be a critical component of a well thought out, fully integrated interactive strategy over the next several years. We’re investing in the platforms and people necessary to drive it.
I’d like to hear your thoughts.
*Photo credit: In Veritas Lux (Flickr)
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Greg Chapman is a seasoned veteran with over 30 years of experience in direct response marketing and merchandising. As a former Divisional Vice President at Sears and VP of Merchandising at both Skymall and Value Vision (now Shop NBC), Greg is the ultimate frontman. He knows what clients want because he’s been in their shoes; he understands the fears they face in transitioning from traditional advertising to digital. His neo-corporate methodology focuses on building a strong, performance-based internal team to create a better performing external product.
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