Email messages came out on top as the most popular form of mobile brand messaging in a recent independent industry survey carried out by Forrester Consulting – although the frequency of messages remains key to their success.
Commissioned by StrongMail, provider of email marketing and cross-channel marketing solutions, “Consumer Perceptions of Mobile Marketing” was carried out in in June 2012, quizzing 322 consumers from the general population on a range of mobile marketing methods to find out how brands can reach out to their audience most effectively on mobile devices.
For the purposes of the research, mobile marketing was defined as email messages, SMS and in-app messaging accessed via a mobile device. The results provide some concrete answers to questions about what consumers are willing to accept – and the best path towards purchasing.
Email messages proved to be the big winner among consumers, with survey respondents clearly picking email as their preferred form of mobile brand messaging – although most respondents said they were willing to open messages from a brand once a week, and targeting is also key – with smartphone users being the most likely to open email and then to make a purchase following receipt of an email promotion. When it comes to SMS and in-app messages, interest in receiving these decreases with 60% and 63% respectively never wanting to receive these. Nearly a third of smart phone users (32%) have made a purchase after receiving a promotional email, while purchases following SMS or in-app messages decreases to 9% and 6% respectively.
