By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)
If mobile is not already an integral part of your marketing mix, it should be. Plain and simple.
But as you're planning your Christmas campaigns and looking towards 2013, think about this:
I think it's fair to ask WHY mobile continues to grow so strongly. I mean how many industries can say that they consistently deliver twice as many products year after year?
The answer to the first question is pretty straight-forward:
1. Handsets are cheaper and more powerful.
2. Data rates are significantly more affordable in many markets.
3. There's a lot more that you can do online.
So it's a combination of more people, more content, more time online and more things to do on mobile, from chatting and surfing to gaming, music and watching videos.
Alright, now that you have a few stats under your belt, check out my Christmas Tips for advertisers.
If mobile is not already an integral part of your marketing mix, it should be. Plain and simple.
But as you're planning your Christmas campaigns and looking towards 2013, think about this:
- There are more than 6 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide.
- No, not every one on this planet has a mobile handset yet. But we're getting close. Forrester Research estimates that 4.3 billion people own at least one handset. That's 3 out of every 5 people on the planet.
- BuzzCity is on track to deliver twice as many mobile banners in 2012 as we did in 2011. Last year's figure: 126 billion. First nine months of this year: nearly 152 billion. More people are surfing the mobile internet and they're spending more time on it.
- Eleven percent of consumers use their phones for price comparison or to buy products.
- Fourteen percent of consumers want to purchase vacations online, including airline tickets and accommodations. There are a lot of year-end travellers as well who are just now looking to book a Christmas holiday.
- Consumers are using social networking like never before. In fact, it's the most popular activity on mobile. Sixty-one percent of mobile consumers are doing it. We all know there's no better publicity than word of mouth and personal recommendations, but be careful, if you don't interact in the right way, you'll put people off . . . more about that in a moment.
I think it's fair to ask WHY mobile continues to grow so strongly. I mean how many industries can say that they consistently deliver twice as many products year after year?
The answer to the first question is pretty straight-forward:
1. Handsets are cheaper and more powerful.
2. Data rates are significantly more affordable in many markets.
3. There's a lot more that you can do online.
So it's a combination of more people, more content, more time online and more things to do on mobile, from chatting and surfing to gaming, music and watching videos.
Alright, now that you have a few stats under your belt, check out my Christmas Tips for advertisers.
