The Impact of Mobile Marketing: Effective Mobile Campaign Strategies Drive More Sales Online and In Stores [REPORT]

RetailMeNot, Inc. released a study about consumers’ mobile shopping behaviors that provided insights into how retailers’ mobile marketing efforts were meeting the demand of their customers. The full study is based on two surveys conducted in partnership with Kelton Global of both smartphone users and retailer marketers who are responsible for mobile marketing. It is available at http://www.retailmenot.com/corp/whitepaper/mobilemarketing.

“This latest research from RetailMeNot further emphasizes the gap that exists between a consumer’s demand for more retail promotions and a retailer’s insufficient presence through channels like a mobile device to reach an engaged shopper,” said Michael Jones, senior vice president, retail and brand solutions, RetailMeNot, Inc. “Our hypothesis for this study comes from working strategically with hundreds of U.S. retailers and having insights into millions of consumers’ use of our mobile platforms. The data proves our theory that retailers need to do more to meet consumer demand when it comes to mobile.”

These are some of the key findings and insights based on RetailMeNot’s recent consumer and retailer surveys:

Consumers are demanding more personalized and information-rich content.

•     89 percent of shoppers are willing to provide retail marketers with personal information in exchange for more targeted content.
•     Millennials (93 percent) are more inclined to offer at least one piece of personal information to retail marketers than those ages 35 and over (84 percent).
•     Among all ages surveyed, men (94 percent) were more likely than women (86 percent) to share personal information with retailers.

General shopping apps (e.g., rebates, loyalty or promotions) are most successful at driving in-store visits for consumers, followed by emails directly from retailers.

•     35 percent of shoppers would be more interested in shopping at a particular retailer in a physical store after seeing content in a general shopping app.
•     30 percent of shoppers would be more interested in shopping at a particular retailer’s physical store after receiving an email from a retailer.

Email is the top driver for online shopping, but general shopping apps (e.g., rebates, loyalty or promotions) closely follow.

•     60 percent of shoppers would be more interested in shopping online after receiving an email from a retailer.
•     57 percent of shoppers would be more interested in shopping online after receiving information (e.g., coupons and promotions) from retailers in a general shopping app or website (e.g. rebates, loyalty or promotions) on his or her smartphone.

Deal-savvy consumers are comfortable redeeming mobile offers across channels.

When it comes to finding retail promotion codes, digital coupons or online offers using a smartphone, consumers primarily redeem these mobile promotions in stores (29 percent), on the same mobile device (26 percent) and on a computer (20 percent).

“Mobile promotions are influencing in-store purchases. What this data also suggests is that mobile is heavily influencing all channels, and almost equally so,” says Jones. “It is imperative that retailers increase their reach on their mobile channel through their own efforts and by building out their ecosystem of partnerships that can deliver new customers and reengage a lapsed customer.”

Retailers have an opportunity to do more when it comes to mobile marketing and measurement.

The study also surveyed 150 retail mobile marketers. Ninety-three percent of retail marketers surveyed said that their brand takes an always-on approach to some form of mobile marketing. However, a staggering 20 percent felt that measuring mobile marketing’s influence on sales was either not important or they were neutral on the issue. The bulk of retail marketers’ efforts are still focused on mobile display and search advertising. Meanwhile, consumers respond frequently to content served via a third-party shopping app.

To download report CLICK HERE.