The Rise of Mobile Marketing: Strategies for Success

Digital Marketing…

Digital Marketing is the promotional and marketing efforts on digital channels, and mobile marketing is a sub-category using mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. These differ from traditional marketing that uses offline channels for engagement and promotions. According to The Media Ant, traditional marketing encompasses print, broadcast, direct mail, outdoor advertising, telemarketing, event marketing, and more. In comparison, mobile has immediate advantages over traditional marketing and typical digital marketing.    

Mobile Marketing

Investopedia describes mobile marketing as “[transforming] digital outreach by leveraging mobile devices…  Utilizing SMS promotions, apps, and location-based services, it tailors campaigns to user behaviors rather than demographics… [as a cost-effective alternative] to traditional media advertising.”  Mobile marketing can also include text promotions, multimedia messages, app push notifications, in-app marketing, and QR codes.  Unlike traditional marketing, mobile marketing can seep seamlessly into consumers’ everyday lives and habits. “Snacking … [is when] mobile device users check in to media or messaging for brief periods”. This gives marketers more opportunities to increase contact, reach, and conversions. According to Omnisend, the benefits of mobile marketing are as follows: 

• Reach customers quickly with SMS

• Cost-effectiveness with design-free text campaigns

• Echoes phone-checking habits with offers

• Hastens conversion rates with one-tap purchase options

• Builds customer loyalty with personalized location-based messaging.

Omnisend’s 2025 report on ecommerce marketing discovered the following about mobile marketing’s trajectory and growth:  

• SMS increased by 31% year-over-year

• Push notification use increased by 55%

• SMS automation has a higher click rate than other digital campaigns by 147%

• 1 out of 3 made a purchase with automated mobile messages

  
  

Tablet vs Smartphones

Although smartphones and tablets are options for mobile marketing, they’re not synonymous.  In 2013, Husson, a Principal Analyst, warned marketers to not obscure the two as one-in-the-same; “Too many marketing leaders still lump tablets and smartphones into the same mobile bucket. That’s a mistake. Why? Because tablets are not primarily mobile devices.” As of 2013, he assessed that they were primarily used at home, so marketers should optimize and differentiate for a tablet experience.  

“Tablet marketing enables markets to engage with influential customers who spend less time on PCs and print media. People use tablets differently from smartphones, requiring marketers to adapt their approach.”  8 years later, MarTech’s Andrew Waber continued to analyze online engagement between tablets and smartphones in North America. There’s been an overall growth of tablets being used for work, exiting the home; “…largely supported by a 2014 Flurry report, …young users are becoming more comfortable as compared to their older peers using tablets for work-related activities…a trend that is likely only to accelerate over time as more people in that age group enter the workplace.”  

Tablet use is growing from home use to the workplace, making it another device to be cognizant of. Digital marketers must be aware of tablet use, tablet features, and users’ culture and relationship with them to optimize media for engaging and interactive campaigns. With wider screens, leisure usage, and utilitarian usage, consumers on tablets are more likely to click on ads while browsing. 

Segment Your Marketing

Although smartphones still outshine tablets as frequently used devices to reach customers, Google Ads allows device type marketing to further segment campaigns. According to Google Ads Help, device targeting helps marketers segment their ads to different devices like computers, mobile phones, tablets, and TV screens. With advanced targeting, marketers can target specific device types, operating systems, device models, carriers, and wireless networks. With an analysis of customer device usage and behavior, digital marketers can create an eclectic marketing mix that acknowledges different digital platforms and channels.

Work Cited

Bernatavičiūtė, Milda. (08, October 2025). Mobile Marketing Strategy: The Complete Guide for 2025. Ominsend. https://www.omnisend.com/blog/mobile-marketing-startegy/    Google Ads Help. (N.D.). About Device Targeting. Google. https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722028?hl=en HP, Chetana. (27, March 2024). What is Traditional Marketing? Definition, Types, and Examples. The Media Ant. https://www.themediaant.com/blog/traditional-marketing-definition-types-and-examples/      Husson, Thomas. (22, Mary 2013). Don’t Confuse Tablet and Mobile Marketing. Forrester. https://www.forrester.com/blogs/dont-confuse-tablet-and-mobile-marketing/ Kenton, Will. (28, April 2026). Mobile Marketing: Strategies, Benefits, and Real-World Examples. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mobile-marketing.asp    Waber, Andrew. (13, Mary 2021). Tablet vs Smartphones: Online Engagement Patterns Present Opportunities. MarTech. https://martech.org/tablets-vs-smartphones-online-engagement-patterns-present-opportunities/