Mobile devices has infiltrated all parts of out lives. Almost everyone owns a mobile device, be it mobile phones or tablets. They have become a huge part of us as they assists us in our daily lives, such as getting information on certain things, shop online, help us get from one place to another, connect us to our friends and family, or even help us plan our days. In another words, we can’t go on about our day without mobile devices.
These devices allow us to communicate, commerce, and reach out to one another at a whole new level as compared to any form of media. This proves to be an important source of communication as well as a excellent opportunity for marketers to take advantage of. Why so? People treat their mobile devices like a person who is closer to them than their friends, family or lovers. They carry them around wherever they go, always keeping them by their sides. Mobile devices will also have every bit of information of the person owning them, such as personal details, information on what they searched online and search patterns. These kind of information are critical for marketers as they tell them who and what kind of customers they are.
Why Mobile Marketing?
Mobile marketing is a groundbreaking entrepreneurial marketing strategy. Considering almost everyone has a mobile phone, this provides an easier and better way of directly interacting with consumers and of advertising products. Business in eCommerce could be easily enhanced. Marketers find out what kind of product and services customers are looking for according to their needs and nature, before marketing to them. 54% of marketers reported using mobile apps for marketing in 2016, up from about 27% in 2014
Starbucks’ Mobile Marketing
Starbucks’ mobile marketing strategy consist of the use of its mobile application through personalized recommendations. They found out that by offering special offers and free stuffs such as incentives, they could engage better with their customers. They offered birthday gifts, discounts and even free drinks for customers using the app for purchases in store . It made customers use the app more often to receive such benefits.
Having loyalty or reward programs also helped them retain their customers as they tend to continue buying Starbucks’ beverages in order to earn a free one when they accumulate a certain number of reward points(or in this case, stars). This also allowed Starbucks to gather information on customer’s buying habits, like what drinks they purchased the most, or even what sizes of drinks they like. Marketers benefit from this as what was once a long and grueling task of gathering information on customers, now shorten with a simple feature on their application.
Direct Messages
In-app messages allowed Starbucks to directly tell customers when new drinks or promotions are available. This is a much more efficient and effective method of marketing as compared to traditional media marketing.
Location
Starbucks also managed to create a location based service, where they connect the app with their stores. Users of the app will get notifications telling them that they are near a certain outlet, along with the current promotions the store may have. The notification also acts as an invite for them to visit the store, remind them their brand and entice them with discounts. I feel this is an effective in way to market their brand and products to customer directly while they are on the go.
What do you think of Starbucks’ mobile marketing? What other mobile marketing have you came across? Share with me your thoughts on mobile marketing by commenting below. Thank you for reading and have a nice day.
Learning Journey on Digital Marketing 
Hi Jared, another enlightening post! Personally have seen many people around me using these Starbucks application, it’s a very successful marketing strategy. They are very smart in retaining their customers through this strategy and attracting new customers, knowing the consumer’s extensive usage of mobile devices. You may look take a look at Uniqlo’s mobile marketing, they are new to the game!
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Hi Glynice,
Thank you for reading and that information on Uniqlo. Really an impressive application. It allowed Uniqlo to track customers’ purchase history to gather information on items much more quicker and able to promote their new products directly to customers based on what they purchased. Great to see that more and more businesses are marketing this way.
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Great read! I’ve came across the IKEA mobile marketing app that allows people to ‘view’ how the furnitures look at your own home when using the app! It makes it so convenient for me to make purchase as I can see how it will look if I put it in my house. Love how technology has advanced these days
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Hi Lixin,
Thank you for reading and sharing this with me. Another great example of how companies can utilize this to better serve customers. It makes the experience much more convenient and personalized, catering to each customer’s needs.
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Excellent read and a post Jared! I came across Lazada always prompting me about special discount or flash deals available! It really peak my interest and sometimes the items is something I really want! I agree that mobile marketing should be used more often as almost everyone now have a smart phone or just a mobile phone with data available to them
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Hi Heng Wei,
Thank you for reading and sharing this. Our lives really became more convenient with mobile marketing, whereas in your case your shopping experience. Its really an effective method to get your marketing message directly to your consumers.
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