Introduction to Mobile Marketing
Of all the digital marketing strategies, mobile marketing has emerged as one of the most effective ways of targeting consumers today. Mobile marketing refers to the multi-channel approach at reaching the target audience through various smart devices such as smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. Emails, SMS, MMS, social media and app-based notifications are the most widely used methods of engaging the customer. Marketing has become more fragmented in recent years, owing to the exponential growth in technology in recent years.
Since customers are now spending more time on their mobile devices, marketers are also trying to explore the various options associated with mobile marketing and create an omnichannel experience. The key to successfully do so is by generating content that is extremely personalised to capture the imagination of the potential buyer.
In ways more than one, mobile marketing is a replication of web marketing but more. Whether it is PPC, email marketing or SEO, mobile marketing brings all the possible strategies to mobile platforms and channels for them to reach the target audience effectively. Regardless of the scale of the business today, mobile marketing has become an indispensable part of short or long term marketing strategies. However, the real challenge is to understand the target group and curate content accordingly so that it resonates with the expectations of the customer.
Now let’s look at some of the ways in which you can optimize your mobile marketing strategies and effectively target your potential customers.
1. Location-Based or Hyperlocal Targeting:
Geofencing has become a very reliable way of targeting your customers. This location-based marketing technique basically refers to sending out personalized content to the customer when they are in the vicinity of the business. This is especially relevant for businesses which have brick and motor stores – everything a customer is in the vicinity of the store they can be targeted through an app based notification. However, that’s not to say that location-based marketing is not important for non-physical businesses. Ecommerce sites, for example, can send recommendations for food delivery and more depending on the current location of any customer.
Marketers have come to realize that location-based marketing an increase customer base significantly and also improve response and engagement rates.
Burger King’s notorious example has become the holy grail in hyperlocal targeting. This burger chain geofenced McDonald’s outlets and every time a customer entered any of these restaurants, Burger King offered discount vouchers on their mobiles, and as we all know discount coupons are in fact very effective in luring customers.
2. Responsive Site Design:
Now, this is an extremely important yet often overlooked factor when it comes to mobile marketing. Businesses often focus on incorporating great content, interesting design when they build their websites or apps, but they need to keep in mind that none of these will matter if the website or app is slow or unresponsive on mobile devices. It is needless to say that more than making your websites, apps or ads mobile-friendly, it is important to make them mobile-optimised. Ensure that your ‘amp’ pages (mobile versions of any web page) are quick to load and responsive on the various mobile devices. Mobile optimization of your website can triple your chance of increasing mobile conversion rates to 5% or even more.
3. Voice Search Optimization
Even though voice search is a fun tool that’s present on most of the smart devices, only 4% of businesses use it. However, businesses of all scale should be tapping into this tool for its marketing potential. Voice search has the potential to drive sales.
Optimising your voice search options can improve your visibility and increase engagement with the target group. The actions following a voice search include looking for the respective websites, visiting local stores and more all of which can lead to sales.
4. User-Generated Content Campaigns
Social media has opened up a lot of possibilities for marketing campaigns today, user-generated content being one of them. It is not only a fun way to engage with your community and attract potential customers but also an effective way to cut down to marketing costs. It saves a lot of time and resource that usually goes into creating content for marketing collaterals.
Five successful digital marketing case studies that brought good results
UGC also promotes credibility and trust among customers as the products are often showcased in use which in turn drives purchasing decisions. So, as you can see in the mobile age, community-based marketing is a win-win situation for all. It builds the brand while increasing the customer base. Mobile apps, social media channels and various other platforms are crucial to this strategy and holds a lot of promise when it comes to driving sales.
Text Messaging Vs Video Communication
Smart devices come with the added advantage of great screens- use that. Make vertical videos and animations for your target audience. The visual appeal of videos is far more likely to engage your audience than simple text messages. The same holds true for any other form of visual content, be it images or animations. Create content that is humorous and interactive to make them resonate with your TG.
To harness the growing power of mobile marketing, you must focus on creating a seamless experience that your audience expects. According to eMarketer, mobile versus desktop usage stats in the United States in 2018 show that the mobile-only audience will grow to 55.7 million (nearly 19%) by 2022, and Adweek estimates that 79% of smartphone users have their phones on or near them all but two hours a day. Check out Great Learning’s course on Strategic Digital Marketing that will help you learn about the latest in the domain.
