Found this research here…
Link: News brief: Peer review beats SMS for Generation Y marketing.
However, while texting seems like a perfect channel for retailers to reach these shoppers, it is not actually the best. The poll found that 65% said they were “unlikely to” or “would definitely not” subscribe to offers solicited via mobile phones or PDAs, and that only 5% currently subscribe to offers via text messaging
I’m not entirely sure I agree with this. I agree with the reality. i.e. There is nothing worse than getting some pathetic, incorrectly spelt and obtuse marketing message via mobile. You know, something like ‘Hi, plese buy mure of our trainers, right?’
Mobile marketing, particularly to this always-on, attention-challenged demographic, has to be very carefully implemented and nigh on 100% relevant. Call-to-action messages are particularly useful. Generation Y has no future memory. It’s very difficult to get my younger brother to remember to do anything. Tell him that he’s got to update his car insurance by letter and he won’t even bother opening it. Opening a letter takes far too long and ‘he’ll do it another day’ — so his letters pile up and he only looks at the pile when he really, really needs to.
Send him a text message that is USEFUL and entirely relevant — and that he’d requested — and now you’re talking. But if the text message tells him to sod about with bits of paper and whatnot, the marketeer should be prepared for a very long wait. Make it a return text or a click on the insurance supplier’s website and you’re ok.
So I wonder if this research — accurate though it may be — could well be a commentary on the recent mobile marketing experiences of Generation-Y. I reckon so. I think that demographic would be highly, highly receptive to PROPER mobile marketing. Well, actually — thinking back — I know it is. We’ve done tons of mobile marketing in the nightclub space and it was hugely, hugely effective.
Generation Y eh?
And there’s me working on Generation C.
*sigh*
It’s still early, especially here in the US but the groundwork is being set to make text marketing fruitful. You’re on point about the right kind of marketing too. We’re talking about increasing brand awareness, stickiness to an existing site/brand. What will work is permission based that is thoughtful and relevant.