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Coupons, SMS to be most used form of mobile marketing by 2015: study

A new study reveals that coupons and SMS will become the most widely accepted forms of mobile marketing and advertising by 2015.

The study was conducted by mobileSquared on behalf of Airwide Solutions. Sixty-one percent of wireless carriers surveyed thought that coupons or vouchers would become the dominant form of mobile marketing by 2015. 

?For years we heard that SMS will be eclipsed by all else,? said Jay Seaton, chief marketing officer of Airwide Solutions, Burlington, MA. ?SMS is a tremendous opportunity: It is ubiquitous and works on all devices and consumers know how to use it.

?All the issues of interconnectivity have long been resolved and SMS generates a lot of revenues for operators,? he said. ?There are no quality issues and consumers have a high degree of trust that the channel is secure.

?SMS will be and is incorporated into various applications and will continue to be an integral part of marketing strategies.?

SMS/MMS
Of the wireless carriers surveyed, 58 percent predicted that SMS and MMS-based messaging would be the second most widely accepted form of mobile advertising in the next five years, followed by search with 45 percent. 

The close link between coupons and messaging, with SMS acting as a core distribution channel in the majority of cases, it is understandable why both categories attracted a similarly high response from the carriers surveyed. 

The study reveals that users in 2015 are thought to be more likely to use mobile marketing or advertising promotions that are sent to them via their mobile phones than those generated through search, display or navigation. 

Opt-ins
British mobile subscribers currently send more than 11 million SMS messages per hour, totalling an approximate 7.7 billion monthly. These stats show that clear potential exists for carriers to capitalize on the 15.4 billion engagements between consumers and the SMS medium that are generated each month. 

As things stand, subscribers have to opt-in to SMS mobile advertising. However, as significant mobile marketing and advertising activity is expected in the future, the opt-out option will also become an important component in the 2015 mobile user?s experience. 

?In terms of opting out, it is a comfort zone for the consumer,? said Nick Lane, chief strategy analyst of mobileSquared, London. ?Once the content is contextualized, ideally opt-out will become redundant.?

According to the mobileSquared survey, 54 percent of carriers thought that an opt-out service would be more important to them than opt-in in 2015, compared to 39 percent in 2010.    

The majority of carriers (53 percent) also believe that the customer should control and update their user profile in 2015, rather than the carrier (7 percent) or a combination of both (40 percent).     
   
Industries to benefit
The mobileSquared study points out SMS is ideal for mobile coupons.

Mostly restaurants and retailers use SMS coupons to drive foot traffic to locations.

But other industries can benefit as well.

?I think any sector can benefit,? Mr. Lane said. ?Research revealed that all messages are opened within a few minutes of receiving them.

?For anyone who wants to reach out to a database, SMS becomes incredibly powerful,? he said.

Final take
Giselle Tsirulnik is senior editor of Mobile Marketer
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