The Scope of Mobile Marketing
Six of every 10 U.S. consumers owned a smart phone in 2014, creating a major opportunity for advertisers to reach consumers on the “third screen” (TV and the computer are the first and second).35 Perhaps not surprisingly, U.S. consumers spend a considerable amount of time on mobile—more than on radio, magazines, and newspapers combined (an average of two hours and 51 minutes versus one hour and 46 minutes).36
Much recent interest has been generated in mobile apps—bite-sized software programs that can be downloaded to smart phones. Apps can perform useful functions—adding convenience, social value, incentives, and entertainment and making consumers’ lives a little or a lot better.37 Smart phones are also conducive to boosting loyalty programs in which customers can track their visits to and purchases from a merchant and receive rewards. By tracking the whereabouts of receptive customers who opt in to receive communications, retailers can send them location- specific promotions when they are near shops or outlets.38 Sonic Corp. used GPS data and proximity to cell towers in Atlanta to identify when customers who had signed up for company communications were near one of roughly 50 Sonic restaurants in the area. At that point, the company sent such customers a text message with a discount offer or an ad to entice them to visit the restaurant.39
Although the cookies that allow firms to track online activity don’t typically work in wireless applications, technological advances are making it easier to track users across their smart phones and tablets too. With user privacy safeguards in place, marketers’ greater knowledge of crossscreen identities (online and mobile) can permit more relevant, targeted ads.40
