Mobile marketing spend to rise 150% in five years

by Sarah Crawley-Boevey, Brand Republic.

Mobile marketing is set to take off as major brands look to invest in the platform over the next five years, according to an independent survey commissioned by O2.

The survey shows brands will have increased their spend on mobile marketing by 150% come 2013 and do not anticipate any impact on budgets as a result of the economic downturn.

The survey, which was carried out by Vanson Bourne in May this year and included marketing and IT directors at 100 leading brands, also found that the personalised nature of mobile marketing campaigns means they generate a higher response rate than traditional advertising.

Of those marketing directors questioned, 60% favoured mobile marketing because it was considered better for close targeting, especially in financial services advertising.

The use of mobile marketing is increasing with specific services gaining in popularity. Text-to-win competitions and text-to-call-back or email campaigns have increased in use by more than 20% each, while retail and financial services ads were judged the most popular mobile advertising areas.

SMS was used by nearly a third of all businesses interviewed, yet half of the marketers questioned who have yet to make use of mobile marketing campaigns claim they are concerned that their customers will view the text messages as spam.

Simon Dean, head of mobile media at O2 UK said there has “never been a better time for brands to engage with their customers via mobile”.

Dean said: “One in 10 of those we surveyed already think mobile marketing has saved their business at least £1m when compared to other marketing solutions.

“With more consumers than ever browsing the web through their mobile handsets, there is a significant and largely untapped audience for brands to target their customers directly.”

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