Member Article

Marketing on the move: Incorporating mobiles into your strategy

Technology moves at a fast pace these days, and businesses need to follow developments to make the most of the marketing potential that these advancements offer. The latest and most profound developments in online technology are in the use of mobile phones.

Society is moving towards increasingly using smartphones or Wi-Fi tablets to access the internet, and is leaving laptops and PCs at home. The increased use of smartphones is probably due to their mobility. We are now accessing the internet not only when we are home or work, but also when we are out and about, on the bus, shopping or in the pub with friends. Society’s relationship with their mobile is getting stronger and stronger and businesses need to take this into account when developing their marketing strategies.

The thing about the online world is that users have a lot more control about what they spend their time doing and seeing online. This means that there needs to be a change in mindset from the traditional advertising, such as TV adverts. This is why online marketing needs to engage people. Whatever situation that they may be in, users want to see content that is interesting and relevant to them.

The increased use of mobile changes the world in terms of our interaction with business and people. It can change how we find out information about products and services, how we buy things and how we pay for them. This change is validated by how much importance big companies are dedicating to mobile. Coca-Cola, for example has pledged to spend 20% of their marketing on mobile this year.

The catch is that there is no secret formula. Every individual business needs to come up with their own strategies on how to incorporate mobile into their business. Smartphones have a relatively small screen, meaning that large advertisements will be less effective than pieces that fit well into a smart phone screen. This is the kind of factor that needs to be taken into account when marketing directly towards smartphones.

The main consideration needs to be the customer. By thinking about the customer’s needs, businesses can develop their own technologies which will make their experience easier, quicker or more entertaining. This is how to engage with existing customers as well as find new ones.

Starbucks are a good example of this. They cleverly use social media combined with their own apps and other technology to make the customer experience better, boost their sales and show great marketing campaigns. They gain over 14% of their US sales through mobile. Their marketing campaigns such as ‘tweet-a-friend’ allowed people to buy a coffee for a friend by tweeting and through this, each customer’s mobile data was received, they boosted marketing, and they also generated sales. Likewise, Dominos Pizza in the UK makes 30% of their sales through mobile.

One major aspect is by making websites mobile friendly. This is not just about graphics, but also about not making them too fiddly and designed for use through touch screen instead of the more outdated keyboard.

It is important that businesses give mobile as much or even more importance as other media. It is only going to become more important over the next few years. Time and energy need to be put into research specific to every sector to understand the most effective ways of marketing via mobile. According to AdReaction, at the moment micro-video messages are almost as affective in marketing as TV adverts. This kind of information can prove to be extremely valuable to the success of any marketing campaign.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophie Butcher .