Marketers and business owners shouldn’t overlook mobile marketing. Mobile devices, ranging from smartphones to tablets, are a major part of our lives—for example, the average person in the U.S. checks his or her cellphone phone 46 times a day, and collectively, the entire U.S. population checks their respective phones roughly 8 billion times each day. So, when it comes to digital marketing, marketers and business owners need to consider mobile marketing within their overall marketing strategies. Here are a few things to keep in mind regarding mobile marketing.

Why Does Mobile Marketing Matter?

As mentioned, mobile devices dominate our daily lives. For instance, in 2011, only 35 percent of the U.S. population owned a smartphone, according to the Pew Research Center. But last year, that number jumped to 68 percent. Forty-five percent of U.S. adults own a tablet device, and 30 percent of Internet-equipped homes in the U.S. own at least one tablet device. In fact, Americans are so smartphone-reliant that some individuals only rely on smartphones for their digital needs. Seven percent of Americans who lack broadband access at home as well as traditional Web surfing resources (e.g. a personal computer) actually rely on their smartphone for accessing the Web, according to Pew. So, in short, not only do most Americans use mobile devices daily, but also in some cases, it’s their only means of accessing digital resources.

Developing a Marketing Strategy

Now that we’ve established that mobile devices are a prime marketing resource, it’s time to look at developing a mobile marketing strategy. There are plenty of opportunities available: all that you need to do is try out a few different methods, and see which one fits best for your business. For example:

Mobile Search Ads: Basically, ads for your business or service will pop up whenever a mobile user decides to use a search engine. This is a popular method, though click-rates are often low.

Mobile Image Ads: These larger ads will often pop up whenever a user visits a website. This might be a wise choice if you can partner your business with another website.

Location-based Marketing: Mobile ads like these will only pop up for users in a specific geographic area. This type of marketing is especially useful for businesses that deal with a fair amount of foot-traffic or cater to customers in a small geographical area.

QR Codes: QR codes are very user-friendly, and they’re pretty fun and engaging. Basically, a user scans a QR code with their device. Once the user scans the code, the user will be taken to a specific website. Oftentimes, this type of strategy is an ideal sort of marketing strategy for events, as it features a fair amount of user-engagement and creativity.

App Marketing: The vast majority of mobile users rely on some type of app, and with app marketing, a business will run ads on specific apps that correlate with their particular business. This type of marketing is extremely useful, especially for businesses (like restaurants) that deal with a lot of app-driven customers.

Developing an effective mobile marketing strategy will take time, but once you invest the effort, it will pay off. Mobile marketing is crucial, and its importance will only continue to increase as mobile devices progressively become more advanced. So start establishing your strategy and resources today!

Teaser: Use of smart phones is increasing; now is the time for businesses and marketers to focus some of their marketing resources on Mobile marketing. Here are some strategies and options to know about.