Since the shift from PCs to smart phones and now wearable devices, marketing and advertising has been turned on its head.
Consumers are now in the drivers seat and can determine when and where they want to hear from brands. Consumers have come to expect things to happen right now in a personalized fashion.
And as a result, companies must learn how to create multi-channel customer communications that address these changes. While this potentially creates creative challenges for businesses it also creates the opportunity to connect with consumers on a whole new level.
Consumer’s mobile behavior is also pushing businesses and mobile application developers to be increasingly more innovative to improve user experiences.
Beyond what your customer’s experience, they are creating an unprecedented amount of data. This data is available to be collected and analyzed if your business chooses to do so. The opportunity exists to even do so in real time, giving your marketing team the option to deliver the right message to the right person on the right device at precisely the right time.
In the past business wasn’t able to turn on a dime when it came to marketing and advertising but in today’s world real-time content creation and publishing are the norm. Modern interfaces allow business users intuitive tools to publish content from multiple internal sources across a variety channels.
With the additional requirements of developing messaging for multiple channels, many businesses have found relief by being able to outsource whenever possible. In the modern economic paradigm, tasks that can be outsourced, must be. Often as content is being carefully targeted it is harder to produce externally, which leaves creation of tech and the systems as perfect opportunities for outsourcing to iPhone application developers and Android application developers. This frees your internal resources to have laser like focus on the items that require the deep levels of customer understanding, while you can outsource items that require technical mastery to companies that have the resources to complete the tasks.
This helps your marketing staff remain free from being distracted by technical issues. Marketers thrive in this environment free of unnecessary tasks, where they are able to leverage technology.
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While you may or may not have heard that Google will begin incorporating data on whether a site is mobile friendly or not into its ranking algorithm this April, there are several reasons that your business should make sure it has a mobile friendly presence and your search ranking is just one of them.
In a recent poll conducted by Edelman, it was indicated that online search engines are considered to be the most-trusted media source. Based on their data, 64% of internet users worldwide consider online search engines the most trusted source for information. Make sure that your business is in a position to capitalize on that trust by having a mobile friendly web site.
If you don’t think mobile searches are significant, think again. In a recent comScore report, it was reported that smartphones and tablets now account for 6o% of all online traffic. Additionally it has been shown in a separate study that a higher percentage of mobile searches result in purchases that with traditional searches (comScore). You want to makes sure that this high quality traffic is finding your business.
This just applies to restaurants and retail outlets, according to eMarketer it is a similar situation when it comes to business information. Where search engines remain the most popular source of information (31% of respondents, while only 20% turn to newspapers).
There are many fine mobile web site developers that can help you with your project but you should also consider how mobile applications fit into the picture and how they can benefit your business.
A mobile application developer can help you develop an application that fits your business needs but keep in mind how it will benefit your online search strategy as well. Mobile app listings are given high importance in Google’s ranking algorithm so having mobile applications can place you very favorably when it comes to mobile search. Additionally having a mobile application has been shown to affect your businesses’ search ranking beyond just your application’s search position.
Beyond mobile’s affect on your search position customers have come to expect mobile optimized web sites and mobile applications from businesses and you might be turning customers away if you are not providing these to your customers. Since June 2013 more than half of the time spent shopping online has been done via mobile device [Internet Retailer]. Savvy shoppers are familiar with good mobile user experiences and have come to expect them.
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At the recent Mobile Marketing Association Forum it was disclosed that an impressive 68% of mobile marketers are utilizing location based targeting. They further laid out predictions for more brands to utilize location as a key data source to help them market in the future. And its no surprise since location based mobile marketing is all about delivering the right message to the right person at the right place and time.
Mobile based programs featuring location based targeting can propel sales through messaging and spark impulse purchases. Location allows businesses to provide contextually relevant content to consumers. Savvy brands will leverage a consumer’s location with demographic information and predictive behavioral targeting to improve the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. iPhone Application developers and Android application developers can help you integrate these features into your mobile application development program.
Beacons will soon be invaluable tools for marketers to interact with consumers, as well as for collecting data about user’s preferences and building profiles that can be used to improve customer experiences by delivering messaging that is personalized to the consumer’s preferences and buying habits.
Geo-Fencing is a common tool as it allows retailers or other businesses to automatically alert customers to deals, discounts and more when they are near their location. These are sent to consumers via push notifications that are shown to currently have a very impressive 40% click through rate on average [Andrew Chen].
But don’t forget to personalize the content as people do not engage if content is not relevant. In a recent survey by Cisco, a full 46% of those surveyed said they would like personalized promotions delivered to their smartphone. The better you can engage people on their terms, the happier they will be.
Location based mobile advertising gives you a method of engagement with you customer base that is more targeted, more impactful and more actionable than other forms of advertising.
Image: Kārlis Dambrāns (Flickr) http://bit.ly/1HCzhO8