UK’s mobile phone addiction is good for business

No marketing method is complete without a mobile strategy. Did you know that UK consumers are more engaged with smartphone technology than our neighbours across the pond? According to Verto Analytics, 81% of Brits own a smartphone, compared to 68% of Americans.
As such, the UK has never been more addicted to their mobile phone. With smartphones becoming an increasingly dominating device in everyday life, marketers and businesses must be ready to take advantage of the opportunities presented by mobile technology.
Despite the huge saturation of smartphones in the UK, almost half of businesses do not have a mobile strategy in place, and it is those that do, who are reaping the rewards of this mobile obsession.
There are very few industries that mobile behaviour doesn’t interact with, whether a consumer is researching, searching specifically, looking for their nearest store or engaging through social media, mobile will almost always have been a part of their journey.
It’s time to strike while the iron is hot.
Customers who engage with brands on more than one channel have a 30% higher customer lifetime value. This is where SMS can be your golden ticket to mobile marketing success.
You want to reach your customers in a way that they’re going to see, and that requires little effort on their part to interact with. An SMS is a sure way of reaching almost all your customers, and by including links to your offers, website or registration forms, you can direct them to exactly where you want them.
Not sure that your consumers will respond to mobile notifications? Then have a look at these statistics:

• 90% of all SMS are still read within the first 3 mins (mobileSQUARED)
• 68% of smartphone users check their phone for updates at least once per hour
• A third of UK adults said they checked their phones in the middle of the night (Deloitte)
• A tenth said that the first thing they did in the morning was checking their phones (Deloitte)
• 35% of Brits rely solely on their smartphones for internet connection (Verto Analytics)
• ‘Near me’ searches have increased 34x since 2011, with 80% coming from mobile devices. (Google)
Mobile has opened up a range of marketing possibilities and gives marketers the power to add a little more direction to their consumers and target them with the right messages.
Mobile also gives you the chance to almost guarantee your message will get read, no more unopened emails or missed direct mail advertisements – so get your message seen with mobile marketing, and start to see those response rates you deserve.