User Distaste For Mobile Marketing Is Growing
Posted by Justin on Nov 13, 2009 in In The News, Marketing Strategy, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Marketing, Mobile News, Privacy
Every now and then the truth spills out in regards to how the general public as a whole views mobile marketing from an engagement standpoint. It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that mobile marketing can do no wrong, but when it comes down to those who actually interact with the medium, it sometimes tells a different story.
A recent study put out by BIGresearch took a look at the current composition of mobile marketing’s audience, and the results may surprise you. A key finding, and one that may seem ominous to any mobile marketer, is that since June of 2008, the percentage of people who don’t like mobile marketing has increased. More specifically, 67 percent don’t like text ads (vs. 64 percent last year), 60 percent don’t like voicemail ads (up from 57 percent) and 60 percent don’t like video ads (up from 56 percent).
Likewise, there’s also been an increase in the number of people saying that mobile marketing is an invasion of privacy — 52 percent of respondents, up from 50 percent in 2008 — as well as an increase in those saying marketers must get permission for such advertising- 58 percent as opposed to 56 percent a year ago. This proves once again how important proper targeting and privacy are when constructing mobile campaigns.
Other interesting tidbits from the study include the results of overall demographic research in regards to mobile marketing’s primary audience. The audience of mobile advertising is primarily male, with 58 percent of the total audience, with an overall median age of 39.2 – a stat I found particularly surprising. You’d think the average age for those interacting with mobile media would be much lower.
With the fact that over half of all consumers who interact with mobile marketing see it as either a breach of privacy or downright intrusive, it may seem like mobile marketing is going down the wrong path. In reality, it just means that marketers must change their gameplan and put more emphasis on creativity, extreme targeting and other aspects to improve overall end-user engagement.
dch | Nov 13, 2009 | Reply
what’s the margin of error for this study?
in the stats cited it seems like the YOY change is only between 2-4 % points, and while it might be helpful to keep this data in mind, it could be a bit too early to trend this data out..
Justin | Nov 13, 2009 | Reply
Very true- as always with this kind of research, it’s a good idea to take every stat with a grain of salt.
Still, the fact that around a half of consumers polled expressed unsatisfaction with mobile marketing is still cause for concern.
Greg | Nov 13, 2009 | Reply
I haven’t read the study, but based on your coverage it would seem important to draw a distinction between mobile marketing and mobile advertising. Your story references a dislike of mobile advertising, as opposed to permission-based SMS and voice engagements (without ads).
Justin | Nov 14, 2009 | Reply
Greg- Good point, the context of the study is a bit ambiguous, and it’s most likely referring to a majority of mobile campaigns that don’t follow the so-called “best practices,” and permission-based aspects, which unfortunately is a lot of them…
John | Nov 16, 2009 | Reply
I suspect much of the dissatisfaction has to do with the “push” orietnation of text based SMS ads.