With 93% of adults in the UK owning a mobile phone, there’s more reason than ever before for companies to immerse themselves into the worlds of apps, text messages and mobile advertising.

The widespread use and popularity of mobile devices mean these channels offer an almost unrivalled marketing opportunity for firms to reach new customers. This blog post will look at what methods companies are using to hook in customers through their phones and build their base.

Social and Apps

Despite these astonishing statistics about smartphone usage, companies are believed to be spending a measly 13% of the cash they set aside for marketing on mobile advertising.

For firms to take full advantage of what mobile platforms have to offer, this has to change. Companies who are advertising on the desktop through social media platforms like Facebook should look over their advertising to ensure that they are also targeting mobile users.

In-app adverts are also excellent places for companies to be. Apps are designed for users to tap, make decisions and commit to actions of some kind or another. That makes an app a fertile ground for the behaviours you need your consumers to be performing, such as clicking through to your offers or even downloading your app as well.

Apps are often also full of customer data on demographics and spending habits, which is useful for efficient targeting.

Say Cheese!

71% of UK adults have a smartphone, the vast majority of which come with a camera. Until recently the photography functions on many phones seemed immune from the mobile advertising revolution – but that’s all about to change.

At the 2017 TechCrunch Disrupt NY conference, bosses at popular social network Pinterest announced that they were planning a new feature that would allow advertisers to connect with users in real-time.

So if you turned up at a dinner party and thought the host had excellent taste in glassware, once you’d snapped a photo of your wine glass in the Pinterest app the company would serve you ads for similar items already on the market.

The photo-recognition technology means you won’t even have to know the brand name or the technical detail of a product to find it. Sophisticated technology like this is the next frontier in the battle for advertisers to bring home revenues, and it won’t be long before it is taken to the next level with features like virtual reality.

Text Messages

Many people mistakenly think that SMS message marketing is a fiddly, old-fashioned method that has rightly been sent to the dustbin of history.

However, nothing could be further from the truth: SMS message marketing is alive and well and comes with lots of advantages.

People may erase their emails before they even read beyond the first line, and phone calls can easily be missed if homeowners are out. But people tend to read and digest all of their SMS messages, giving marketers an excellent opportunity to reach new audiences. That’s why firms like Veoo are offering dynamic, enterprise-quality SMS services to companies and organisations that want to build their base.

SMS message marketing also offers many options for personalising and increased efficiency, with technologies like virtual mobile numbers enabling automated, two-way business-to-customer conversations.

Keep Testing

What works well for one company might not work well for another. Each firm has different customer bases with different schedules and buying habits, so it’s important to test.

The companies that are recording the most success with mobile marketing are the ones who have processed their data in a methodical, scientific way.

American seafood restaurant chain Red Lobster, for example, studied their stats and found that around 75% of their website traffic was coming from a mobile device like a phone or tablet and that most of the site’s traffic was during a particular five-hour window.

So, they used this data to their advantage by targeting their adverts at diners who were in a certain place and on their phones during the time window. That kind of targeting, which cleverly puts your brand in front of your next customer at just the right time, can pay dividends.

With so many smartphones in the world, it makes sense for your company to be part of the mobile shift. By testing techniques like in-app advertising, photo recognition technology and SMS message marketing you can make sure you don’t miss your slice of the mobile pie.