Despite widespread concerns among government and privacy experts about the way mobile apps collect and manage users' information, 80 percent of respondents to a research study from mBlox said they would share location data to receive SMS or push notifications for discount coupons and relevant offers or to solve customer service issues. The company surveyed 1,500 consumers across eight countries for its report and found the following:
- 57 percent of global respondents prefer SMS and push campaigns over other forms of mobile marketing, including video advertising, banner or standard display ads and email.
- 47 percent said they would share location data in order to receive relevant offers or discount coupons, while 45 percent would do so in order to receive information they have requested and 36 percent would do so in order to help them solve customer service issues.
- 58 percent of global respondents said they would send a text message to a company to request more information, and 54 percent of global respondents said they would send a text message to a company to enter a competition.
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The mBlox survey showed consumers prefer SMS/push notifications over other forms of advertising. |
"While consumers indicated they are open to receiving mobile marketing messages, most prefer opportunities with known or favorite brands and want to ensure the message is valuable and relevant to them," the report says. "This highlights the need to utilize consumer preference, behavior and location data in the design of effective mobile strategies."
Although the research is clearly designed to counter the conventional wisdom that push notifications and SMS annoy and pester app users, the mBlox data comes back to an essential truth: If it's relevant and offers value, consumers will pay attention. It still doesn't mean developers should create apps that over-use such features, but as they make better use of analytics to segment and understand their audience, there may be more of a case for exploring how mobile messages might be part of an engagement and monetization strategy.
For more:
- to download the complete mBlox report, click here
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