Mobile Marketing Tools and Strategies

Businesses and digital marketers should take advantage of mobile marketing to increase traffic and sales. The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed the online marketplace, especially when it comes to how people choose to shop. There has also been a steady increase in the use of mobile phones, with experts predicting that 72% of the world population will be using smartphones by 2025. This translates to billions of potential customers for your business.

Due to these changes, mobile devices have become an important part of the customer shopping experience. Recent statistics show that smartphone purchases increased by 27% in 2019, and 61% of the total online purchases were from smartphones. While this may sound promising, mobile marketing can also be confusing, especially for beginners.

Mobile Marketing Strategies

Effective mobile marketing should have an actionable strategy. Some of these strategies include:

1. SMS Marketing

Also known as text messaging, SMS marketing involves marketing your business, products, or services by sending text messages through an SMS web portal. It is a permission-based strategy that involves sending promotional messages, alerts, coupons, and deals to customers and prospects directly to their phones.

Compared to other mobile marketing strategies, SMS marketing is a powerful strategy primarily because text messages have a high open and engagement rate. Recent statistics show:

• Mobile device owners open and read 98% of messages
• Most mobile users respond to text messages within 90 seconds
• SMS marketing has a response rate of 45%

Bear in mind that your SMS marketing strategy should respect customer privacy and adhere to the provisions of the Spam Act.

2. Social Media Marketing

Most smartphone users have access to various social media platforms. A Pew Internet study showed that WhatsApp and Facebook are very popular, with 47% and 62% usage globally. Billions of people use nearly all top social media platforms, which makes social media another crucial mobile marketing strategy.

Businesses can use social media to create personal connections with customers and prospects through comments and direct messages. You can also make your business appealing by encouraging referrals and customer recommendations. Apart from organic posts, digital marketers can also take advantage of social media advertising, such as:

• Promoted posts and ads on LinkedIn
• Facebook ads
• Promoted tweets on Twitter
• Promoted or shoppable pins on Pinterest

Social media marketing allows digital marketers to create their audience using demographic data and set marketing goals, durations, and budgets.

3. Location or GPS – Based Marketing

Location-based marketing takes advantage of smartphones’ GPS functionality. It helps digital marketers show relevant content and promotions based on the user’s location. Also known as geolocation marketing, 83% of digital marketers have reported success with this mobile marketing strategy.

Location-based marketing leads to increased engagement because the content is relevant to current customers’ locations and activities. For instance, you can promote a restaurant to customers within the restaurant’s location.

Among the many types of location-based marketing is proximity marketing, which uses Bluetooth to identify and target potential customers. A good example of proximity marketing is Toyota, which used physical Bluetooth devices to attract customers to their local dealerships.

4. In-App Marketing

Digital marketers shouldn’t ignore the power of in-app marketing. This primarily involves marketing your business, products, and services in some top mobile apps, such as TikTok, Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook. You can execute in-app marketing through one of the following ways:

• Display ads, such as banners, at the top or bottom of mobile screens.
• Create video ads that play in the app.
• Interstitial ads that appear between app actions. For instance, your ad can appear between game levels.
• Native advertisements.   

Digital marketing experts say that in-app marketing can increase website traffic by almost 49%.

Mobile Marketing Tools

The strategies mentioned above can help you get started with mobile marketing. Below are the mobile marketing tools you will need to execute the above strategies.

• Geofencing advertising – This marketing tool guides mobile marketers by creating virtual boundaries. Once a virtual fence has been created, those who are within the area and meet your criteria receive mobile ads.
• Weather targeting – Weather changes significantly affect customer behavior. Prospects decide when to stay in, go out, and even what to buy. Businesses can make their mobile marketing effective using weather targeting. You can show ads based on temperature, UV index, wind, and other weather alerts. Combining weather targeting with other location data can improve the relevance of mobile ads.
• GroundTruth Ads Manager – This tool allows digital marketers to send promotional messages to customers and prospects based on the stores they shop at and places they like visiting. You can use this tool to customize your mobile marketing strategy based on distance and direction.
• Audience targeting – This mobile marketing tool focuses on customer factors, such as interests, demographics, location, online or offline behavior, and past or current behavior. By using this data, businesses can reach customers who will most likely purchase. For instance, if a customer visited your online store, you can send them a customized offer based on what they viewed.
• Buffer – An excellent social media management tool that allows digital marketers to handle multiple social accounts. It primarily allows marketers to schedule posts on different platforms simultaneously. Analytics also won’t be a problem as the tool generates a comprehensive report.
• Boostfy – This Instagram-specific AI tool likes and follows Instagram accounts based on hashtags that you use when posting. This makes it easy to connect and forge partnerships with other people in your industry.
• Facebook Mobile Ads – This is Facebook’s built-in tool for ad creation and management.

Endnote

Mobile marketing provides a new and effective way to reach customers. As customers and prospects make mobile devices part of their daily routine, brands should develop strategies to attract and retain clients through mobile marketing.

However, like other digital marketing strategies, mobile marketing may prove challenging for most brands. You can seek CPaaS services for your SMS, MMS, social media, and voice marketing for an excellent mobile marketing strategy.