Survey: Most Small Businesses Use Mobile Marketing

Seven in 10 small businesses are using mobile in their marketing mix, according to a recent poll by Constant Contact, a provider of e-mail, event and social media marketing tools for small businesses. How were the small firms incorporating mobile in their admittedly tight marketing budgets? Over 70% reported using mobile with their social media marketing and e-mail marketing. Close to 45% included mobile in advertising via social platforms, and 34% had mobile-optimized websites. Much smaller shares, 18% each, said they used mobile- or tablet-based POS payments or mobile-app management of operators. Of those with mobile-optimized websites, 70% included social media enabling and a large portion included menu information (44%) and product listings (40%) for mobile users. If you are a small business and haven't taken advantage of reaching out to mobile customers, you are behind the curve. If your excuse is like that of the majority of non-mobile small businesses polled, who were ignoring mobile because they didn't think customers were interested, consider these facts: Mobile phones are projected to equal the world population by 2014, and 57% of U.S. consumers own a smartphone now. Mobile is becoming a preferred communication channel for too many consumers to risk ignoring its marketing potential. For more on the survey results, see the eMarketer report at http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Small-Businesses-Work-Blend-Mobile-Social/1009887