Why I Don't Recommend Using B2B Mobile Advertising To Generate New B2B Customers

The more I read about B2B mobile marketing the more I become convinced that at least for right now, it is not a great medium for B2B small businesses to use if they are trying to generate new customers. Here is why......

B2B Mobile Advertising Statistics

- mobile email opens account for only 13% of all email opens

- within the B2B industry mobile email opens account for only 3% of all email opens

- nearly half (47%) of mobile app users say when using apps they click on advertising more often by mistake then on purpose

To read a good related article go to the Marketing Profs article titled - Mobile Apps Users Click On Ads Mostly By Mistake

The first two points just speak to how mobile is a relatively small piece of total email communication and probably not used much during a work day by people in B2B industries for business purposes. The third point though is the one I find most interesting.

If people are clicking on ads by mistake that means they did not want to go to the ad and probably only clicked it because it was in the way of what they wanted to click on. As a result this would mean that your ad is probably frustrating the exact people you are trying to get to buy your product because as a result of your ad you are taking them to somewhere on the web they don't want to go. The app is waisting your potential customers time. The typically high usage mobile user is also usually someone who is always on the go and has a shortage of time on their hands. The frustration level caused by this waist of time will only be compounded as a result of the type of people who are usually heavy mobile users. I am not 100% sure but the last time I checked getting a customer really frustrated usually does not convince them to start buying your products or become a loyal customer. Thinking this through in my head a good friend of mine comes to mind. Lets call him "Brad" the the example. I can just see him right now in my mind clicking on an ad in an app by accident and then doing so multiple times over a day or a few weeks. As I watch Brad in my mind I see him getting him really mad, and by the end of a few weeks he is so ticked he just trashes the app and vows never to buy that companies product. Given only 47% say they click on advertising more by mistake then on purpose, your mobile app may be frustrating even more then 47% of the people who see your ad. The other 53% may only click on your by accident less then half of the time and still be making them frustrated as well. So you could be frustrating anywhere from 47% to 100% of the people you are advertising to. If you are frustrating 100% then that is probably not good.

The only exception I see where mobile advertising might make sense for a B2B company is if they are in a high tech industry that mobile phones play a critical role in, they have a very unique app that provides a valuable function. and the app has advertising that is not over dominant, over intrusive or easily clicked on by accident. The advice I would give to my B2B customers though would be don't use mobile advertising. This is the same conclusion as my previous post B2B Mobile Marketing. I am sure at some point it will be an effective medium but I don't think we are there yet.

I help various B2B small businesses in Waterloo and Kitchener generate new customers. If you are interested in keeping up to date on issues related to generating new customers for B2B small businesses like email marketing consider subscribing by email to this blog.

I hope this article has been thought provoking and of value. I am sure B2B mobile marketing will make sense and some point, and probably at some point in the not too distant future, but based on the above my opinion would be that, that time is not here yet.....