Greenbean Mobile Marketing Network Blog

Text Still Domaintes Over the App

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 11:33:00 -0400

Although mobile apps have grown in popularity recently, it seems as though they may not be the way to go in Mobile. A new article by AdWeek reports that text is turning out to be a much more effective route in the world of mobile marketing. According to the article, text is more effective because of its reach and usage. Although mobile apps are popping up everywhere, their reach and usability is limited for the majority of cell phone owners. Here are some great statistics from the article:

Only 18% of cell phone owners actually owns a Smartphone
A study by Flurry (as reported by AdWeek) showed that only 1/4 of iPhone apps are used 90 days after they are downloaded
Apple has the majority of all app downloads with 25% but the iPhone only represents 4% of the entire mobile market

These are pretty daunting statistics if you are looking for a high ROI and banking on a mobile app for that. On the other hand, text provides a simple way to reach out to and stay top of mind with consumers. The part of the article that really sinks in with Greenbean is, "Your text message and branding sits there right among conversations with family and friends. With this kind of cut through, a targeted text message, such as a relevant mobile coupon, can generate consumer interest quickly." Text's universality and ability to reach a wide audience at a small cost makes it a wise investment for marketers.

Check out the full article here.

New Beans!

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:01:00 -0400

We just put up some great new Beans from 4 new businesses that we thought you should check out.

Denny's (yes, the classic American diner) is offering 3 Beans at one of their Baltimore locations. Head over to the Denny's in Nottingham (off of Belair road) and get a free breakfast, free lunch or free dinner!

TransGap is a corporate sedan service serving the Washington D.C./Baltimore metropolitan area. They are offering an awesome 25% off Bean. Great deal if you ask us!

The Waterfront Hotel is a local favorite here in Fells Point. Great food, great bar and nightly entertainment. They have a 10% off Bean, a free desert Bean and a half off any appetizer Bean.

Hopkins Plaza Deli is a delicious deli located in the PNC Bank Building in Baltimore. They are there for all of your breakfast & lunch needs so make sure to get there early. Get all 3 of their Beans here.

Check Greenbean soon for more new and exciting Beans!

Newspaper Coupon Inserts Soon To Be Obsolete?

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:21:00 -0400

It is no surprise to us to hear this news, but MediaPost reports that the results of a Coupons.com survey, and a separate Newspaper Association of America survey, show that digital coupon use is on the rise. This could be bad news for the traditional printed newspaper inserts as it seems that the more people gravitate to digital the more they stray from the newspaper inserts. Coupons.com reported that its digital business increased 170% in 2009 from 2008. Not only does it seem that the number of digital coupon users is growing, but it seems that the number of people who use digital coupons exclusively is increasing just as rapidly. Of the 45 million consumers that used digital coupons in 2009, 13.1 million are exclusive digital coupon users. Check out the good news (no pun intended) here.

Make Way for Mobile Coupons

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:18:00 -0400

According to a recent survey commissioned by Honeywell and, conducted by Harris Interactive, mobile coupons create great opportunities for retailers. This survey was conduced with 2,250 U.S. adult Internet users and found that almost half (46%) of those surveyed are somewhat likely to try out mobile coupons. Another interesting fact that the survey found was that the highest number of coupon users make $50,000 and above. This seems to show that no longer is the "typical" coupon user in a lower income bracket. Mobile couponing seems to be the solution to the stigma that is attached to using a paper coupon. With 90% of the adult population owning a cell phone, and the profile of the typical coupon user changing, it seems pretty obvious to us that mobile couponing is the way to go for retailers.

Check out the full article by BizReport here.

Study Shows Retailers Lose Out When They Don't Offer Coupons

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:32:00 -0400

We have some good news (well for us at least) and some bad news (for retailers). Good news is a recent study by Motorola on the 2009 holiday shopping season (as reported by Markteing Vox) shows that consumers were highly interested in coupons. Of those surveyed, 39% of consumers said they were willing to abandon their potential purchases this holiday season when they could not obtain coupons or discounts. The obvious down side of this, for the retailers at least, is that they lost money and customers by not offering coupons and discounts this past holiday season. Although this might seem like bad news for retailers we like to think of it as a wake up call. Coupons, especially mobile coupons, are big right now and they are only going to get bigger in the coming months. If the results of this study are any indication of the behavior of consumers in the future, than retailers better get on the mobile coupon bandwagon soon before they begin to lose out.

Check out the full article by Marketing Vox here.

Digital Marketing Predictions for 2010

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:39:00 -0400

As we near the end of 2009 the ad experts are all pulling out their crystal balls to predict what the big trends of 2010 will be. One ad expert's predictions that we find to be particularly insightful (more so than anything Ms. Cleo could tell you) is Ad Age. Amongst Ad Age's top trends in digital marketing in 2010 is the increasing popularity of mobile as an advertising platform. This year alone $1.7 billion was spent on mobile marketing and it is predicted that this number will increase to $2.16 billion in 2010. The increase in mobile ad spend will most likely take money away from what would have been spent on online advertising.

Ad spend on mobile marketing will go up because of the increasing popularity and effectiveness of smartphones along with mobile's, "ability to target consumers based on site, phone model, demographics and location." Not to mention the fact that mobile allows advertisers to get their message directly in their consumers hand's using a device that is always with them.

You can check out the full article on Advertising Age here.

So what does this all mean for Greenbean? Well, we think that a portion of the $2.16 billion that will be spent on mobile marketing in 2010 will come from mobile couponing. Just look at how much it has grown in popularity in the past year. The fast food giant Wendy's recently released the news that they will be trying out a text message coupon campaign in the near future. With an increase in advertising dollars it looks like 2010 will be a great year for mobile.

In Holiday Retail Sales, the Best Ad Doesn't Always Win

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:15:00 -0400

No longer influenced by overly chipper, sing-song, holiday commercials infused with fake snow and fake people dancing to a re-mixed version of "Deck the Halls"? Well, you are not alone. According to a recent survey by Big Research (as reported by AdAge) these types of holiday commercials do not drive consumers to retailers as successfully as they once did.

Check out the full article here.

So if cheesy commercials don't drive hoards of people to the mall, than what does? Coupons! Yeah-grandma doesn't seem so senile after all, huh? Sitting there for hours with the Sunday paper clip, clip, clipping away.

Forty-five percent of the people surveyed said that coupons were the #1 influencer in where they chose to shop this year.

And if grandma's hands are tired from cutting through the funny pages all Sunday afternoon, why not get her a cell phone and send her on over to Greenbean.com. All she has to do is select the coupon she wants and click submit, and it will be sent to her cell phone as a simple text message. Grandma could be so cool.

Take advantage of all of the great coupons, deals and discounts over at Greenbean.com this holiday season.

Mobile Campaigns Drive Sales for Certain Categories

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:28:00 -0400

As reported by AdAge.com, Microsoft recently released a study on the effect of mobile ads on sales. The study found that mobile ads are most effective for items that have a shorter purchase life cycle like entertainment goods. It also found that mobile couponing will help to increase sales as 62% of those surveyed said they were more likely to shop at a retailer that offered incentives.

Check out the full article here.

Forget Rudolph, Consumers Looking to Digital To Guide Their Holiday Shopping

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:36:00 -0400

According to a recent survey by consulting firm Deloitte, mobile phones, and other digital mediums, will play a big role in consumer's shopping experience this holiday season. One in five consumers (19% of those surveyed) will use their mobile phone to assist them with their holiday shopping. Of those one in five consumers that will use their mobile phone to assist in their holiday shopping, 32% will use it to get discounts and coupons. Looks like digital might be replacing Santa this year.

Check out this survey on consumer's Holiday Shopping habits this year.

Mobile Coupon Redemption Value to Reach $6 Billion Globally by 2014

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:40:00 -0400

A report released by Juniper Research yesterday predicts that by 2014 mobile coupon redemption value will reach around $6 billion globally.

Howard Wilcox, Senior Analyst at Juniper Research and lead report author, had some promising words about the use of mobile coupons as a marketing tool. Wilcox said, "Marketers can use the mobile device as the ultimate personal marketing channel. It is almost permanently switched on and physically with the consumer. This makes a great opportunity for brands and marketing agencies to access clients immediately, driving footfall and encouraging an instant decision."

Get the full report here

Significant Opportunity for Brands to Connect with Customers via Mobile Device

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:51:00 -0400

As reported by Reuters, HipCricket released a survey recently showing that consumer's mobile devices are a great, but often untapped, resource for Brands to connect with their consumers.

Some good stats from the survey that sink in with Greenbean:

Other than phone calls, 73% of people surveyed said that they use their mobile device for texting friends
34% have received a marketing offer on their cell phone via text

Get the full article here

Catching working mothers on-the-go with mobile marketing

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:47:00 -0400

Scarborough research has released a report showing that working mothers might be the best target for mobile marketing. The fact that working mothers spend higher than average on their mobile services, and that they typically make most of the household purchases, makes them a perfect match for text message coupons and other mobile advertisements.

Some statistics from the article:

Working mothers are 42% more likely to download content to their mobile phone than the average user
They spend 21% more on mobile services than the average user

You can check out the full article by BizReport here

Coupons via Cellphone: Whipping Up the Impulse Buy

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:13:00 -0400

A new Harris Interactive survey (as reported by CNBC) out 10/15 reports that there are significant numbers of Americans looking to receive alerts via their cell phones when their favorite places to shop, eat, etc. have specials. The survey also reported that 9 out of 10 Americans make impulse purchases based on a sale or special. Consumers that are looking to receive opt-in alerts on their cell phones, and will make impulse buys because of these specials, are perfect for Greenbean.

Some interesting facts from the survey and article:

42% of the adults surveyed in the 18-34 age range were atleast somewhat interested in receiving opt-in alerts with specials on their cell phones
33% of the adults surveyed in the 35-44 age range were also atleast somewhat interested in receiving opt-in alerts with specials on their cell phones
9 out of 10 Americans have made an impulse buy, when they were out shopping, based on a sale or special

Check out the full article here

Mobile Advertising to Jump 74% This Year to $913.5 Million

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:26:00 -0400

The good folks at Gartner released a report that predicts a whopping 74% jump in mobile marketing dollars this year. My favorite part of the article, the part that sinks right in with Greenbean, states that they "expect location-based ads to find an audience among young mobile users who are increasingly using mobile devices to navigate and connect with friends on the go."

Other snippets and predictions from the report include:

Real growth will accelerate in 2011
2013 - $13 billion industry
45.5% of mobiles will be PDAs in 2013
Asia Pacific, North America, Europe to lead in that order

You can catch the whole article here.

8% of US Households Currently Get eCoupons via Text/Email

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:51:00 -0400

As reported in Marketing Daily on Media Post News, Scarborough Research reports that 8.6 million - or 8% -- of U.S. households currently get at least some coupons via text message and/or email.

There are some other interesting facts in the report as well.

comScore reported that online coupons were the top-gaining category on the Internet
Shoppers most likely to get coupons via text, email or the Internet tend to be young, affluent, educated and female
They are 51% more likely to be college graduates or have an advanced degree

Those are promising numbers for the mobile marketing / eCoupon / text marketing categories. We're pointed in the right direction as far as growth and there's still plenty of room for first mover advantage for aggressive marketers.

You can read the summary by Media Post here.