Study: Nearly Half Of Mobile Users Will Share Location For Relevant Offers

Text-based mobile messaging has effectively become the “red-headed stepchild” of mobile marketing. Once the only mobile marketing that worked on all devices, it has lost favor over the past several years with the mass adoption of smartphones and the rise of mobile display.

Under specific circumstances, however, SMS can be very effective as a mobile loyalty and engagement tool after a consumer opts-in to receive texts.

A new survey of roughly 1,500 users in July from eight countries (US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Spain and Italy) finds that many consumers are receptive to SMS marketing or other “push” messages from familiar brands.

Under specific circumstances consumers will share personal and location data to receive benefits, obtain requested information or get questions answered:

Source: mBlox, Millward Brown 

Consumer willingness to share location was based on several factors: desire to receive requested information (45 percent), offers and coupons (47) or to get customer service issues resolved (36 percent).

Source: mBlox, Millward Brown 

The survey was conducted by Millward Brown and sponsored by mBlox. The US sample consisted of 500 users. In other countries it was a very small: 150 people on average. Below are some of the other major findings:

• 73 percent of respondents said they’d received texts or other “push” messages (notifications) from companies; 68 percent said it was “valuable.”
• 57 percent “found SMS and push messages more likely to persuade them to make a purchase than other forms of marketing on a mobile device, including advertising commercials or video advertising, banner or standard display advertising, and email marketing messages”
• 88 percent of respondents wanted to opt-in before being contacted (this is what makes SMS potentially effective)
• 80 percent said that downloading an app made them open to receiving location-based push messages from that company

This study is essentially an argument and seeks to focus agencies and marketers on the benefits of text-based marketing. However, notwithstanding the study’s agenda, permission-based SMS and push notifications can be effective as an engagement or loyalty tool in the context of a larger mobile strategy.