By 2015, mobile web access is expected to surpass the level of conventional desktop and laptop computers, so there should be no question that your marketing future will be heavily influenced by your ability to compete in a mobile environment.
Recently, Carla Paschke, Director of Mobile Innovation at Engauge, wrote an excellent post on Mashable.com on what she called the 4 Rules of Engagement for Mobile Marketing.
Carla is right on target in her belief that too many marketers are failing to take advantage of this new tool because in their rush to get into the market, they “mistakenly focus on the technology instead of the people using it.”
In order to truly capitalize on the tremendous potential of mobile, brand marketers have to do more than simply develop and release a snazzy new mobile app. They must realize and adjust to the dynamic nature of the medium and how people are using mobile technology by “designing campaigns as dynamic and flexible as the mobile market, which now includes search, social, video, music, gaming, payments, retail transactions, location-based services and augmented reality”.
Mobile marketing is about engaging with your customers, not just talking to them. Apps are certainly one way to build engagement with customers, especially those apps that provide timely information on a topic of interest (think REI’s Snow and Ski Report), on-the-go information on local restaurants, travel assistance or weather updates, and location-based incentives.
Push notifications have also become an effective way to increase mobile engagement with consumers, but marketers must be smart about how they adopt and use push. Very few users want to be interrupted with unsolicited disruption and pleas from and unknown app to “open me please”. They want compelling, relevant reasons to engage with a brand.
Daily deal brands like Groupon and LivingSocial are examples where consumers opt-in for push notifications on the “deal” of the day, so their users expect to have regular engagement. What they don’t expect is for other brands and sites they may have visited, like retail shopping sites or game manufacturers, to also send unsolicited communications on that same frequency.
Companies that violate the expectations of their users are setting themselves up to fail.
Your customers are overwhelmed now by emails, Facebook status updates and tweets. Your message has to rise above that “noise” to be heard.
According to Gartner, the mobile advertising market is expected to double to $3.3 billion in 2011 and swell to $20.6 billion by 2015.
Many of these mobile ads will never be seen because they don’t engage the customer, either in an appreciation of the real and/or timely value of the message, or in some form of two-way communication with the brand.
Marketers who understand this essential need for engagement and find a way to capitalize on the unique dynamics of the mobile experience will win.
Others will get left behind.
NOTE: You can learn more about mobile marketing and marketing apps at our upcoming PSAMA Sept. 14 luncheon – Why Your Marketing App Will Fail presented by Scott Townsend of Urban Airship in Portland. Click here to register for this luncheon.
Don Morgan is Head Rainmaker at Raindance Consulting, a business development and social media consultant in Seattle.
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Mobile marketing is one of the latest techniques which seem to have caught on really well with consumers.
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Mobile marketing is hot and is gaining rapid acceptance from an increasing number of niches in the marketplace. If you want to try mobile marketing, this article gives you best practices and instructions on how to do marketing and PR in the mobile.
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