Marketing Pilgrim's "Inbound Marketing" Channel

Marketing Pilgrim's Inbound Marketing Channel is sponsored by HubSpot, helping over 6,000 businesses generate traffic and convert leads through their websites. Try HubSpot's all-in-one inbound marketing software free for 30 days!
by
5 Comments

Mobile Email and Purchasing: Perfect Togther

posted on July 26, 2011


Marketers are faced daily with a deluge of statistics and ‘proofs’ that whatever it is they chose to hitch their wagon to yesterday has now been replaced by something bigger, better and faster. It makes one wonder why anyone would want to be in online marketing if it always feels like you are a half-step behind the cool kids.

One thing that has stayed pretty consistent over time however is the power of e-mail marketing even with the continued proliferation of the mobile online world. According to research from ExactTarget (Warning: Research as PR alert level 5) email marketing drives purchases in the mobile space. eMarketer shared the data

It’s somewhat unfair for me to comment on this phenomenon because I don’t shop much. If I am shopping it is usually out of necessity and it needs to be done quickly so I don’t have to be in a store for very long. The chances of me sitting in a mall or whatever and using my phone to help me decide which store I will enter and what I might buy sounds like science fiction to me.

I understand that many do this, however, and that as a marketer what I personally do or don’t do ultimately means diddly-squat (that’s a first time use for that expression in print for me). So why would email be the dominant influencer in this space? (other than ExactTarget’s need for it verify their existence?).

I would say familiarity. People use what they are familiar with and e-mail just has a much longer track record than any of the other contenders. Will that change with time? Could very well but I doubt email will ever simply stop being useful to the mobile crowd.

Additional information about mobile shopping behavior in the following chart somewhat backs up my familiarity theory. Where do most people go to make their purchases following a mobile marketing message? To a store or to their computer, of course. How old school!

The cool answer would have been on their smartphone but only about one-third of folks like that idea.

So the newer things the are the older they are in some ways. What will be interesting is to see when the shift starts to move in the direction of the mobile device being the one-stop shop of choice for Internet users.

So where are you on the mobile marketing continuum? Are you engaging with the latest and greatest or do you start leading edge then end up with an old school finish?


Related Posts

Zemanta
  • http://www.david-greenwood.co.uk David Greenwood

    Interesting thoughts.

    I would have thought the biggest problem buying on a mobile device is the different platforms present. Fine if you have an Apple with Safari or an Android device. More difficult if you have a dolphin browser on a lower spec phone like me.

    Funnily enough I percieive the biggest challenge is not the transaction platform but the ability to print out your transaction easily. For me it is paper based proof of a transaction in an electronic world.

    Ok -so email confirmation might do the trick but these not so rational instincts from a purchasing professional like me are the challenges for developers of new platforms.

  • http://BizSaves.com John

    This is a very interesting article. E-commerce is really starting to take off and as more people use smart phones almost every minute of the day its nice to see where companies can focus their marketing efforts towards. E-mail seems to be the best way, people subscribe to receive emails to hear about great deals from different stores or sites, so it makes sense that e-mail is the most effective way.

  • http://www.easycontact.com Barbie @ Email marketing

    Yeah, I think this is also essential in marketing. You provided great things in email marketing.

  • http://www.pureemailsales.com Ron

    I have studied all the major sales and marketing programs related to email marketing over the last decade and Dorian’s Pure Email Sales is over and above the rest.

    The best part is that you have no pressure, work with less and make more money.

    Every sales manager who wants to attract and retain quality sales staff and protect/enhance their company image/ brand needs to be a student of Pure Email Sales.

  • http://www.websiteseoprofessionals.com SEO Professionals

    mobile email marketing has become an increasingly popular and profitable marketing tactic. The figures and stats speak for themselves so before you start thinking that it might not be a viable option for your company or business.

Filed Under: Inbound Marketing