In a recent research conducted by industry experts, 60% of the mobile phone users access the Internet. Moreover, over 50% of them receive and send emails or use GPS. In the last few years, the impact of social media usage has increased a lot. In fact, it has become a norm. These days, people prefer smartphones which they can use in front of their television sets to multitasking. Thus, mobile marketing will continue to grow in 2015, and years to come.

Some Popular Mobile Marketing Trends for 2015
According to experts, social media usage on tablets and smartphones has increased and it is almost equivalent to the number of devices used with personal computers. People have also started using smartphones for an increasing number of purchases. Mobile eCommerce has become a major part of consumers’ buying habits.

Amazon and PayPal promote mobile payments. They have created mobile friendly versions of their websites. These are clutter free, simple and load very fast. If you have a 2 year contract, it can be very easy to buy a high-end smartphone for less than just $100 per month. This has given rise to numerous mobile marketing trends.

Lack of a good smartphone can make it very difficult for consumers to find crucial information related to a product or even buy it. At times, you can’t make a purchase from your computer because of mobility or portability issues. If a company’s website is not mobile friendly, it may start losing customers. With smartphones becoming more affordable and popular, online shoppers have started taking advantage of mobile and digital marketing. 

In the recent years, it has been a lot easier to notice a shift from laptop or desktop to mobile. Whether you use a tablet or smartphone, you can notice this shift across a wide range of activities, including digital videos and social networking. In fact, tablets have become the key to this popular trend. This has even given rise to numerous mobile marketing training programs.

Most manufacturers are building mobile phones and tablets with a clear focus on video and social media. Utilizing this effective combination of Social Media and Mobile is critical for growth. If you don't have the required Social media skills, its important for you to learn. Between 2013 to 2016, the annual growth of people making purchases through mobile phones is expected to reach over 80%. This will take mobile marketing to a new level.

How Can Mobile Marketing Help Businesses
The sheer growth in the number of mobile phone users has helped businesses to a great extent. With the growth in mobile and digital marketing, business organizations can reach a wider audience without making a huge investment. Mobile-marketing focuses on location based marketing to help business organizations. Here’s how it helps.

● Captured Target - According to mobile marketing trends, mobile-marketing lets you know that the consumer is already in or near your business. It is quite obvious that a customer is more likely to come through your door when a competitor’s store is about thirty minutes’ drive away, but your store luckily happens to be right around the corner.

● Impulse Buying - Real-time delivery allows you to devise a prompt marketing and advertising plan. For instance, a restaurant can come up with an offer for people who are nearby. ‘Come within 30 minutes and get 25% off on your meal.’

● One-to-One Marketing - Mobile marketing allows business organizations to examine consumer purchasing history. This enhances the scope of future marketing messages. For instance, when you search for a business on Google in your smartphone, you see results from your local area, pinpointed on a map. You are more likely to consult these businesses than others which may be far away.

● Spending Effectiveness - Mobile and digital marketing allows businesses to target promotional materials. These materials can be easily delivered electronically as required. A business does not have to waste hard copy or maintain printing inventory.

● Psychological Edge - With mobile based marketing, a consumer feels more comfortable to consult a business within its reach. For instance, if there’s a Domino’s in your area, you won’t be bothered about the one which is 5 miles away.

How are Companies Making the Most of Mobile Marketing?
Business organizations understand the importance of mobile and digital marketing. Thus, they try every possible means to make the most of mobile marketing trends. In 2015, companies will continue to target customers on the basis of these trends. Here’s a brief overview of how business organizations collect customer information through various channels.

Data from Cell Tower - At times, GPS signals are unable to reach the GPS chip on the customer’s mobile device. Usually, this happens when the customer is indoors. The device reports its location by communicating with the cell tower. It allows the company to estimate distance from a store. Although it’s still less accurate than GPS data, it can still provide a lot of information about a potential customer to develop a digital marketing promotion.

Wi-Fi Connectivity - Although it’s an accurate method, you still need an active Wi-Fi hotspot. Wi-Fi locations can be easily matched with GPS coordinates. It allows a company to pinpoint a customer’s specific location at a particular time. This is the reason why more retailers are providing free public Wi-Fi to enable in-store mobile advertisements. This has resulted in a tremendous increase in sales for such retailers.

IP Address – Company is aware about a potential customer’s location through IP address associated with a data connection. However, accuracy varies according to the customer’s mobile carrier. It is a bit more unreliable than other methods.

User-reported - Whenever users register for mobile apps or sign up for emails, they enter email addresses and zip codes. This data can be easily translated into GPS coordinates to build a perfect geo-location profile of a user.

Mobile marketing has provided many new opportunities for business organizations. They can use location-enabled mobile advertisements, search and other features that can easily boost engagement with existing and potential customers. All this allows companies to gather specific information about a user or user base to target specific interest and preferences. Thus, mobile marketing training is extremely important for employees in a business organization.