Category Archives: mobile marketing

4 Mobile Marketing Trends Dominate 2015

Looking back at mobile marketing in 2015, the stand out programs featured innovative efforts to create immersive experiences that were able to connect with audiences.

Mobile marketing programs are featuring increased levels of sophistication in their approach and in 2015 we saw some trends stand out from the rest. Take a look at these before starting your next mobile app development project and see if any of these can be used to improve your initiatives.

1. Omni-channel Strategy

Top mobile marketing campaigns in 2015 tied in with other channels, being supported by social and other media channels.

Today's omni-channel consumer wants everything to be readily available at his or her fingertips

Today’s omni-channel consumer wants everything to be readily available at his or her fingertips | Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns (Flikr)

Today’s omni-channel consumer wants everything to be readily available at his or her fingertips and expects a similar brand experience regardless of the channel. To illustrate the importance of how mobile fits into the shopping experience consider that  80% of shoppers check prices online and that a third will access price and other information on their mobile device while inside the physical stores [MIT].

Your mobile marketing should leverage social and other channels, creating a seamless experience for you customers. Use your print ads and social pages to drive users to your app.

2. Build Relationships

Top mobile marketing campaigns used mobile to build relationships with customers. In fact, improving brand experience and increasing engagement is one of the most common goals of these campaigns.

When it comes to mobile apps, engagement often starts and stops with push notifications.  If you can get your users to opt-in to push notifications and stay opted-in you will see sizable improvements in engagement. App users who receive push notifications are 4 times more engaged than those that don’t. Additionally, the are twice as likely to be retained.

One of the key driving factors here has been improvements in personalized communication.

3. Social Sharing

In 2015, top mobile campaigns made good use of social to enhance interactivity. Did you know that consumers are more likely to share via a mobile device than their PC by a margin of 2 to 1?

Humans are social creatures and love to share. Take advantage with this with your mobile marketing campaigns and create campaigns that users will want to share.

4. Augmented Reality

Technological innovations are helping push augmented reality and enhancing the use of AR as a marketing trend.

An example of this would be Volvo’s virtual reality app that allowed users to virtually test drive the new XC90 using Google Cardboard before it was available. The campaign was wildly successful, creating over 40,000 app downloads that generated more than 34,000 leads.  When the XC90 hit the showroom, the entire run of the XC90 sold out in less than two days.

Looking Forward

Looking forward to 2016, expect to see businesses use micro-videos such as Vines as part of campaigns where they tell a longer story.

Micro-videos are ideal for the mobile format. Make sure to take advantage of that opportunity. Remember that a different approach to video production and story telling will be required here.

Pic: http://bit.ly/1RZ6AU2

Target Your Marketing For Mobile App Success

Current research on targeted marketing shows that targeted messages can improve conversions 200% over general messaging.

With mobile devices it is easier than ever to collect data and put it in to action.

If you are able to collect the right data and define the proper audiences for your messaging based on their wants and needs and combining it with factors such as location and other demographic information your messaging can be truly powerful. You will want to define the data you collect prior to beginning your mobile application development project. Often iPhone application development companies in Los Angeles will make use of personas to define logistical groups for messaging after the data is collected. You will want to define your process before developing your app to ensure you collect the right data.

With mobile devices it is easier than ever to collect data and put it in to action.

With mobile devices it is easier than ever to collect data and put it in to action | Photo: Tech Stage (Flikr)

After you are able to dig into your own data and analyze customer usage behavior you will be able to define personas and deliver targeted messaging to that group.

By creating personas will be able to carefully craft your messaging so that you speak to them in a way that will improve conversions.

By really understanding who those customers are; their demographics, interests, etc lets you tailor your messaging but determine the tactics you should use. Different mobile tactics work better for different groups.

Your customers interact in different ways with you and only by understanding how they interact with you can you understand how to interact with them. This is why you need understand how customers interact with you and develop personas is you can interact with them in ways they are most likely to respond.

Traditionally users were split into groups based on demographic info, but with modern techniques you can and will want to segment based on their digital attitudes and preferences for maximum effectiveness. By defining digital customer segments utilizing behavior data you will be able to realize success by tailoring interactions to customer abilities and attitudes.

Photo: http://bit.ly/1TzVJhs

Is Mobile Messaging the Marketing Answer You Are Looking For?

For years businesses have understood the importance of social media and have developed strategies to market their brands via Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. But as with everything else, things change.

Often when brands are discussing mobile marketing and social marketing they focus on the big name networks of Facebook and Twitter and don’t realize that that may not be on the right network to reach their audience who may be spending their time somewhere else.

People from the younger generation consume a great deal of information on mobile devices and are essentially digital natives. Taking a mobile-first approach is important with younger demographics, they have been raised using mobile applications and interacting via mobile is a way of life for them.

Don't be afraid to see if mobile messaging apps are right for you

Don’t be afraid to see if mobile messaging apps are right for you | Photo: AdamPrzezdziek (Flikr)

A great way to reach this tech savvy younger demographic is to present something fresh in a new space. To do this many brands are focusing marketing attention to red hot mobile messaging apps like Snapchat and WhatsApp.

People are spending a lot of time on mobile messaging apps, and it can be a challenge (WhatsApp doesn’t accept advertising), but the space is filled with opportunities that are being successfully navigated by many brands. Innovative brands have even found high profile ways to market via the dating app Tinder. During SXSW, Tinder was used to promote the Ex Machina movie, with an AI character named Ava from the movie in the app.

Key to a successful mobile messaging marketing strategy is to be able to respect the consumers’ point of view while they are on these applications.  The brands with the best results from these apps are those that have figured out how to utilize to each platform’s strength. Rather than utilizing one-size-fits all messaging or simply trying to blatantly promote your brand,  you must understand the consumers mindset for each and create messaging that works within the flow of use.

A good example would be to use Snapchat to show behind the scenes operations or previews of upcoming products. These can build excitement for your brand without seeming obtrusive like advertisements.

Remember that you need to be careful about how you utilize messaging apps for marketing. Hard selling will not work. These apps are built for personal communication and users will expect brands to respect that. However, with a little creativity, these apps can be used to deepen relationships with consumers.

Photo: http://bit.ly/1JxzMMh