One recent morning at 2am, I was woken up by a text message. It was a jarring experience, but when I realized it wasn’t a family emergency, I was relieved. It turned out to be a marketing message from a company whose website I had visited. Now, of course, I found this more than a little annoying, but it also got me thinking.

To what extent would people actually appreciate (if not at 2am) receiving information on products or services they are interested in via text message? – And, how many people would simply be annoyed, like I had been?

A generational shift toward mobile marketing

The next day at work, I took an informal poll of the staff and actually found quite a wide range of attitudes on the subject. And, from the different responses, a generational pattern became quickly apparent. Among our younger staff members, a much higher percentage expressed an interest in receiving targeted marketing messages over their mobile phones – and some had even signed up to get just those sorts of messages from different companies.

Web browsing is increasingly on the go

So, what does that mean for all of us? The answer is pretty clear: mobile marketing has arrived, and it is only going to increase in frequency and reach. The hard numbers back this up, particularly when looking at which way this trend is moving. One example of this trend is the average percentage of people viewing the Internet via a mobile device. According to StatCounter.com, this percentage from March 2010 – April 2010 was only 2.57%. For the same period in 2011, this percentage had jumped to 6.12%. One can only imagine how high it will be in 2012.

Don't miss out on mobile opportunities

Faced with the emergence of a new and potentially quite powerful marketing technique, business owners and marketing decision-makers are confronted with a stark choice: #1) Incorporate the new medium into their multimedia mix or #2) Find their organizations potentially missing out on a great new marketing opportunity.

Tap into the potential of mobile marketing

Choice #1 is obviously the best option, particularly when you take the long-term view. That’s why those of us at Mary Pomerantz Advertising are increasingly working on mobile advertising projects for our clients; we want to help keep them ahead of the mobile marketing curve. Whether it is redesigning a website to be more “mobile-friendly” or incorporating elements like QR codes into their marketing materials – we want to help our clients tap into the enormous potential of this rapidly growing medium. And, hopefully, it won’t involve a text message at 2am.