The old foldable phone, the original BlackBerry, and the iPhone got us started on this path, and ever since, marketers have been figuring out how to sell products and services on these small screens.
Add to that the double-digit annual growth in tablet sales and that's a staggering number of screens.
The challenge? How do you build rapport with customers on small devices that users touch dozens of times a day?
Over time, technology has given us mobile-optimized websites, mobile apps, GPS tracking, QR codes , Bluetooth, and Near Field Communication (NFC), among others. Each presents opportunities and challenges for marketers.
Phones and tablets are EVERYWHERE, literally
The proliferation of the iPhone (which set the standard) and other smartphones provides many opportunities to communicate with your customers. The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) has compiled several interesting statistics ( full list ):
In 2013, 83% of Canadian households had an active cell phone, compared to 78% in 2010. (Statistics Canada, Residential Telephone Service Survey , 2014)
The wireless services market was the sector whose revenues represented the largest share (46%) of all telecommunications services revenues. (CRTC, Communications Monitoring Report , 2013)
In Canada, wireless data traffic will grow by 900% between 2013 and 2018, a compound annual growth rate of 54%. (Cisco, VNI Mobile Forecast Highlights, 2013-2018)
Smartphone penetration in Canada is now 73%. (JD Power & Associates, Canadian Wireless Total Ownership Experience Study , 2014)
These are impressive numbers, and we are far from being the biggest users of this technology on the planet. It's unheard of!
What does your customer want?
People use their mobile devices for all sorts of purposes: getting rides, checking sports scores, using social media, and even making purchases.
The challenge for your business is to understand how to best serve customers who use these devices and then expand your reach to capture the attention of more of them. Understanding what they want from your business will help clarify how you go about it.
Do you need a mobile app or is your mobile-friendly website enough? (In my opinion, you need to have a compelling reason to get an app, because navigating the app market can be extremely complicated. This topic could be a blog post all its own!)
Either way, knowing what constitutes valuable information linkedIn database and a good shopping experience for your customers will help you focus on how best to attract and retain them.
What kind of mobile marketing to choose?
Mobile marketing can take many forms. Here are some of the most popular ones.
SEO and mobile optimized websites
Enterprise Mobile Apps (i.e. iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows)
Banner ads on mobile apps
Sponsored and/or unpaid social media posts
Video ads on mobile devices/social advertising (eg: Vine)
Targeted texts/emails
Geolocation marketing (Bluetooth or CCP)
QR Codes
Each of these tactics has its pros and cons. It’s important for you to understand how they might help introduce your brand to a new customer base or improve the experience of your current customer base.
Is your offer intrusive or relevant?
Strategy plays a key role in how you should allocate your mobile marketing budget. In a recent article, eMarketer asked Have you wondered why consumers aren’t clicking on mobile ads ?
The two most common answers were:
The offer didn't interest me
It was not relevant to me
You're wasting your time and money if you don't understand who your target audience is and what tactics will be most successful with them.
Conclusion
The business community is still figuring out how to best use mobile devices as a marketing tool.
As the above statistics show, the mobile market will continue to grow exponentially over the next ten years and beyond.
You will do yourself a huge favor by learning how your customers interact with your business through smartphones and tablets and the different mobile marketing methods you can use to communicate with them.
Do you have any questions about mobile marketing? If you have already used it in your business, what are the results? Write a comment below.
