Denny |
November 21, 2014
A new survey has revealed that these device users are becoming annoyed with the advertising they are receiving.
The research firm, Ifop, from France, has released the results of a study that they conducted in South Africa and Algeria, which revealed that consumers in those countries are not appreciating the types of mobile marketing that they are receiving from brands and companies.
They discovered that 80 percent of consumers in those countries were annoyed by unsolicited messages they received.
This reveals that the mobile marketing strategies being used by companies and brands targeting smartphone using consumers in Africa may not be nearly as effective as is hoped. Instead of engaging consumers, they are managing to annoy them, instead. Moreover, the research also showed that the same percentage of consumers could be won back by those brands and companies if they change their efforts and implement practices that will enhance the consumer engagement that is promoted by their ads.
This mobile marketing study was conducted by Ifop on behalf of Gemalto using face to face interviews.
The mobile advertising research involved the participation of adults over the age of 18 years. There were 800 respondents in Nigeria and South Africa. The purpose of the study was to better determine the opinions of consumers with regards to the types of marketing to which they have been exposed over their smartphones. It sought to pinpoint and examine the negative perceptions that had been formed about this type of advertising in those two parts of Africa. It was conducted back in July 2014.
The study showed that Nigerian and South African consumers had similar desires when it comes to mobile ads and promotions. Consumers in both of those nations have shown that they would prefer to have some control over the types and natures of the ads that they receive over their smartphones and tablets.
It showed that 83 percent of the participants in the study believe that mobile marketing should be an opt-in basis, only. Moreover, 90 percent would want to be able to identify the company or brand from which they receive these messages and communications.
That said, QR codes are still holding a respectable place in the opinion of study respondents.
According to the results of a poll that was recently conducted by Mobile Commerce Press, there are forms of mobile marketing that consumers feel are the most effective, and others in which they have yet to see very much value.
That said, overall, it is clear that consumers do see the value of some types of mobile ads.
The survey was conducted over the first half of November and has indicated that consumers have definite preferences in the way that they want to be reached over their devices such as smartphones and tablets, when it comes to the mobile marketing strategies of their favorite companies.
Some of the top options were those that were on the very cutting edge of mobile technology and that brought to mind images of certain blockbuster science fiction films that were set in the future. This suggests that consumers are becoming quite open minded about the use of mobile commerce and in being reached by companies by way of their favorite connected devices.
Among the key findings that resulted from this mobile marketing study were the following:
• Over 30 percent of respondents felt that geolocation and location based marketing techniques were the most effective.
• More than 30 percent felt that mobile apps with a loyalty program had the greatest effectiveness.
• QR codes continued to hold a respectable position as 24.5 percent of the respondents still felt that they were the most effective form of mobile advertising technique.
• Augmented reality (such as virtual dressing rooms and print ads that “come to life” with digital media when viewed through a mobile device) was thought to be most effective by 7.5 percent of the respondents.
• The categories of SMS mobile marketing, mobile coupons, Hipcricket, and NFC technology were each valued the highest by under 2 percent of the survey respondents.
It was interesting to note the value that was placed on some of the more cutting edge technologies such as geolocation and augmented reality, which are not yet nearly as commonplace as QR codes in today’s mainstream marketplace.
This suggests that it may not be too long before the experience of the character John Anderton (played by Tom Cruise) in the blockbuster movie Minority Report, when he walked through a mall and into a Gap store, may not be too far off. Though that technology involved the use of retina scans in order to identify him and present him with personalized advertising and customer service, a similar type of experience would not be out of realm of possibility for future mobile marketing. Smartphones, tablets, or even wearable technology could be used to identify the individual through geolocation tech, in order to use augmented reality for a personalized advertising and shopping experience.