Mobile alerts driving 1/3 recipients to stores

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: According to a May 2010 online survey conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Placecast, consumer receptivity to opt-in mobile marketing is growing as is intent to visit stores.

According to a release, one-third of Americans who currently have signed up for mobile marketing alerts indicate that such services impact their decision to go into stores and 27 per cent report that such programs have impacted their decision to buy products in physical retail locations.

The release said that since the first survey on location-based mobile marketing and advertising in the Summer of 2009, overall consumer interest in such programs increased with ‘somewhat interested’ consumers growing by 2 percent to 28 per cent of all cell phone owners.  As in the first survey, interest is most pronounced among the youngest cell phone owners: 42 per cent of those ages18 — 34 are at least somewhat interested. Interest grew 6 points to 40 per cent among women ages 18 — 34 from the survey conducted in 2009. Interest levels between men and women are now about equal overall.

Also read: Mobile: the tiny big space for advertisement 

Food dominates:

Groceries (68 per cent), national restaurant chains (64 per cent) and fast food items (50 per cent)  took three of the top four most popular segments for those who are at least somewhat receptive to overall opt-in mobile marketing. Women skewed higher than men when it came to interest in offers/promotions for groceries and apparel, while men skewed higher in interest for electronics and sporting goods products.

Texting valued:

One data point across all cell phone owners is the importance of texting; considering texting more important than other activities on their mobile phones. An average of 40 per cent of all cell phone owners say that texting is “extremely” or “very important” to them. Even with the buzz of services like Foursquare and Gowalla, only 7 per cent of men showed the same level of interest in these types of social networks, and only 3 per cent of women. 

The survey also delved into consumer attitudes about using the location of their phones to trigger opt-in marketing messages.  Thirty-seven percent of those who have opted to receive text alerts thought location-based texts could be useful, 29 per cent thought they would be interesting and an equal percentage (24 per cent) thought they could be more relevant and innovative.

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“Our findings demonstrate that if done correctly and on an opt-in basis, location-based mobile marketing is resonating with consumers,” says Placecast CEO Alistair Goodman. “I think now that more data is becoming available to retailers, more exciting and valuable programs will be created now that the technology and market receptivity is there.”