Location Mobile Marketing

One of my favorite websites to kill time on is When Parents Text. It’s pretty self-explanatory. Users submit text messages or screen shots of conversations with their parents, highlighting the differences between our generations and our knowledge of cell phones.

Sure, our parents are learning and gradually getting better, but they’re confusion is still obvious. My mom can finally text, but doesn’t know how to use punctuation and she thinks it’s cool to use u and r rather than you and are. To her, using a phone for anything other than calling or texting is out of the question. When she was eligible for an upgrade, she downgraded because she didn’t want a data package. She felt no need to be able to use a cell phone for anything other than calling or texting.

Our generation is very different. We use our cell phones for everything. We download app after app to play games, use as a flashlight, search the internet, find coupons, and anything else you could possibly fathom. To our generation, it’s almost crazy to not have a smart phone. We use smart phones for so many different things, and each day find a new app that allows us to do even more at the tips of our fingers.

Companies are taking advantage of America’s love for their smart phones and are using it to increase their business. Location Mobile Marketing allows companies to reach out to smart phone users based on their location. For example, smart phone users can use their phones to find coupons for discounts for nearby businesses.

Martin Spann, a professor of electronic commerce, looked further into mobile marketing to find out how profitable it can be for companies.  He wondered how much of a discount would have to be offered in order to lure in a customer for every kilometer they were removed, and found that on average, a 1% discount would bring a smart phone user 100 meters.

This proves how effective location based mobile marketing can be. It doesn’t matter how catchy or creative a marketing campaign may be if it doesn’t drive consumers to act. This capability is beneficial to both consumers and businesses, and I expect its popularity to rise. My mom probably won’t be one of its users, but I’ve already dabbled in it, and I’m sure our generation will grow to embrace it as well.

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