By Dr. Mary Beth McCabe, Point Loma Nazarene University
Dr. Kristen Schiele, Cal Poly Pomona
Michael Becker, Founder, Identity Praxis
In a few short years, the mobile device has become a central part of human behavior, with individuals connected to hundreds of millions of people, devices, and ideas. It’s a dream for a marketer, respecting the power and the possibilities. Those 15 or younger in age are natives; others are immigrants to the tech industry, which is nearly always within reach and valued by brands worldwide.
Mobile marketing is about connecting, enabling, engaging, interacting, and transacting with and through mobile devices. What devices are included in this definition? Not only your personal phone, but also watches, tablets, autonomous cars, and even drones would fall into this area.
Here are five reasons why you NEED to teach mobile marketing at your university.
1. Mobile is the primary engagement channel for the global population.
According to Statista, in 2022, the number of internet users stood at 5 billion, indicating that over 90% of the global internet population uses a mobile device to go online.
Mobile devices all use the same technology, and students need to learn about this in their courses and apply the tools on the job when they graduate or sooner. No longer just for a few, mobile marketing demands a course on its own because it’s about a bigger digital story than just social media, building great content, and tapping to pay.
It’s the apex of a digital revolution in how we interact with devices that are personal, yet workhorses. These are the “always-on” tools of this era. We’re never out of reach of our phones — even when swimming with waterproof models.
2. Students will be relevant to the job market sooner.
Let’s say you’re an employer looking to round out your marketing team with a digital marketer. You have two top applicants. Both are new graduates from similar universities with comparable internship experience. Both of them took a digital marketing class, but the second applicant also has a mobile marketing course on their resume. Which one would you hire? If you’re like most employers, you’d hire the second one because they are more qualified. They know about strategies for text messaging, QR codes, marketing mobile apps, and privacy requirements — all things that are not generally taught in digital marketing classes.
Companies today know that mobile marketing is more than just a part of marketing. In many companies, there is someone dedicated exclusively to this role. Glassdoor lists the average mobile marketing manager’s salary as $89k. But whatever role students want to get after graduation, from product marketing manager to promotions manager, media buyer, or any other role in marketing, they need to know how to use mobile marketing. After all, mobile is the primary engagement channel for the global population.
3. You’ll differentiate your marketing program.
Marketing programs look the same at many schools. They have a course in either digital marketing or social media marketing, but not many are distinctive enough to realize that mobile marketing is driving the industry. You may want to start your differentiation with a “Special Topics” course in mobile marketing, and once you see enrollments jump due to the demand, you’ll add this as a regular course requirement. This was how it started at Cal Poly Pomona, and it has grown to a regular course in the program. Let us know how you get your course started. Mobile marketing will be added to the curriculum of Integrated Marketing and Sales Communications at Point Loma Nazarene University in Fall 2022.
4. It’s easy to get started with “Mobile Marketing Essentials” courseware.
You don’t have to be a mobile marketing expert to teach mobile marketing — at least not with “Mobile Marketing Essentials.” This complete courseware includes everything you need to teach a course, including a digital textbook, lecture slides, lesson plans, assignments, quizzes, case studies (more about these later), and a syllabus and course schedule.
Here’s what Steven Schaefer of National University says about using the courseware in his class: “‘Mobile Marketing Essentials’ is an excellent resource for students to learn the basics of mobile marketing and understand this fast-changing and growing field. It combines updated, relevant digital marketing tools and knowledge with real-life examples and strategies of marketers…”
One of the standout features of “Mobile Marketing Essentials” is the 30+ relevant case studies. Every chapter features at least one case study that gives students a chance to analyze mobile marketing and understand the market today. Companies discussed include Round Table Pizza, Nivea, IKEA, Spotify, Wordle, and Duolingo.
Here is a highlight from one new case. The data below comes from a financial services firm that measured the results after the campaign from a New York City rideshare ad. Out-of-home, mobile-delivered ads on the vehicle created a significant lift in downloads and app usage after using geolocation measurement. Installs increased by 50%, registrations by 62%, purchases by 39%, and sessions by 20% compared to the control group that was not exposed to the ad.
5. Mobile marketing is only predicted to grow.
The chart below from Statista shows the predicted trend of mobile marketing worldwide through 2030. It shows steady growth forecasted over the 2020s, making mobile marketing more important than ever for new graduates.
Get Started Teaching Your Own Mobile Marketing Course
With the “Mobile Marketing Essentials” courseware, it’s never been easier to get started teaching a mobile marketing course. You can request free instructor access to the complete courseware today!
