Prime Time for Mobile Coupons.

Penny-pinching consumers mean big bucks for mobile coupon campaigns.

Marketers spend $15 billion dollars on coupons every year just in the US, and the economic downturn means consumers are likely to start looking for more discounts. With handset penetration north of 80% according to the Telecommunications Industry Association, the time for widespread mobile coupon usage may have come.

Mobile coupon users who sign up with Cellfire have several ways of using the offers sent to their phones. They can send texts to codes for specific offers, access the service directly or get SMS alerts when new coupons become available. Users get targeted coupon code offers based on their location, age and gender, which they can redeem at the point of sale.

While many mobile marketing pricing models are still evolving, two have emerged for mobile couponing, according to Dwight Moore, vice president at Cellfire. Mr. Moore told eMarketer that ads could pay for coupon delivery via a model similar to CPMs.

“They are paying for the amount of distributions we are delivering to them,” he said. When consumers text codes they see in flyers or in stores (“clip-to-mobile”), it’s more of a cost-per-action-based model.

“Mobile coupons tie users from awareness to action,” Mr. Moore added.

Although coupons may be used to offer product samples or for other promotions, discounts still hold a lot of appeal for mobile users. Although not as popular as direct discounts to their mobile bills, over 18% of respondents would accept ads on their phones in return for offers of product and service discounts, according to a 2008 survey conducted by iGR for Transverse.

Conditions Under Which US Adult Mobile Subscribers Would Be Willing to View Mobile Ads, 2008 (% of respondents)

Courtesy of http://www.emarketer.com