Blackberry Mobility Featured Article

If there is good news and bad news for mobile marketers in a new BIGresearch survey, the good news is a lot more important than the bad news. The good news is that the potential audience is growing, while the bad news is that the audience is still relatively small and confined to a limited segment of the market.

 

The good news in the “bad news” is that the market seems to be at an early-adopter phase, which means the business is poised for growth, even if at present it remains at a seminal state of development.

 

The findings are important for mobile service providers as advertising is likely to develop as a key business model for content applications and services, even if the typical use normally expresses some level of distaste for advertising, especially when the ads are not targeted and relevant.

 

Demographically, consumers who like mobile marketing tend to be young men, the study finds. They are cell phone-centered and more likely to use social media. That fits the general early-adopter profile.

 

On the other hand, those who don’t like mobile marketing tend to be slightly older women who are not as centered around their cell phone or use social media. That likewise is typical of a later-adopter segment.

 

The mobile marketing user segment is much more likely to purchase electronics over the next six months than the non-user group.

 

They are more likely than non-users to regularly give advice to others about products or services they have purchased products. They are also more likely to regularly seek advice than non-users.

 

After conducting online search, they are most likely to communicate about it with others using face-to-face, email and cell phone. They also are more likely to visit Facebook (News - Alert), Myspace and Twitter “regularly,” versus non-users.

 

Still, the percentage of people who say they don’t like mobile marketing has increased across the board since June 2008.

 

About 66.8 percent of overall respondents don’t like text ads, while 60.2 percent report they don’t like voicemail ads.

 

Some 59.6 percent say they don’t like video ads and 58 percent of people think marketers need permission prior to sending an ad, a perception that largely is correct.

 

About 52.1 percent think mobile ads are an invasion of privacy.

 

None of the negative findings are surprising. When asked, consumers generally say they do not like ads, in virtually any medium. But when asked if they would rather pay for media, or get free access if advertising is used, consumers generally say they’ll put up with the ads to get the content at no incremental charge.