Mobile Marketing: Explained

If you are in advertising and don’t know the answers to these questions, you are already 15 steps behind. Mobile marketing isn’t the future, it’s the NOW, and as such, marketing strategy needs to have mobile marketing as its top priority.  More users than ever before are spending insane amounts of time engaged with mobile devices, and this is one trend that will surely continue for many years to come…

How Does Mobile Marketing Work?

Everyone is mobile, whether they use a smartphone or a tablet – there is no escaping the mobile movement. By definition, mobile marketing is advertising that appears on mobile devices in specific ad formats. Customizations and styles vary, depending on the technology being used, and provide customers with time and location sensitive, personalized information that promotes goods, services, and ideas.

Why You Need a Mobile Marketing Strategy

Did you know that 40% of a user’s internet time is spent on mobile devices? How about the fact that 80% of time spent on mobile devices is spent on apps? Mobile has surpassed desktop when it comes to user rate, and it is here to stay. If you don’t yet have a mobile marketing strategy, you NEED ONE.

Aspects of Mobile Marketing Strategies

  1. App-Based Marketing:
    If 80% of mobile time is spent engaged with apps, you’re losing business by NOT advertising within this segment. Good news – it’s easy to begin, AND you don’t have to create an app yourself to get in on the action.
    Services like Google AdMob help advertisers create mobile ads that appear within third-party mobile apps, and the big players, like Facebook, allow advertisers to create ads that are integrated so seamlessly with news feed that users often don’t even realize they’re looking at an ad.
  2. In-Game Mobile Marketing:
    This refers to mobile ads that appear within mobile games; ads can be banner pop-ups, full-page images, or even video ads that appear between loading screens.
  3. QR Codes:
    QR codes are those funky little squares you’ve seen on business cards, product packaging, and print advertising. They are designed to be scanned by a smartphone, and once scanned, consumers are taken to a specific webpage. This technology provides easy access to brand information and ultimately increases conversion rates.
  4. Location-Based Marketing:
    Location-based mobile ads are ads that appear on mobile devices based upon a user’s location relative to a specific area or business. For example, some advertisers only want their mobile ads to appear when users are within a 1-mile radius of their business. Instead of treating consumers as one large group, location-based marketing adapts to consumer traits by thinking and acting locally.
  5. Mobile Search Ads:
    These ads are basic search ads built for mobile, often featuring extra add-on extensions like click-to-calls or maps.
  6. SMS and MMS Marketing:
    SMS or MMS marketing involves capturing a user’s phone number and sending them text offers. This particular strategy is very personal in nature, since you are reaching the individual directly, so it’s highly important to remain brief and respectful. Craft a clear call-to-action, don’t use slang, and keep texts under 160 characters.

Mobile Marketing Best Practices

Below are a few quick tips to make the most of your mobile marketing campaigns.

  1. Be Clear and Concise: Cluttered messages on tiny screens will lose viewers. Keep content simple and succinct.
  2. Optimize for Local: 1 in 3 mobile searches have local intent. Optimize for local mobile marketing to make sure you are targeting the right audience.
  3. Consider Your Audience: The type of audience you’re hoping to reach should influence the kind of mobile ads you use. Use the right platform to get the right message to the right customers at the right time!
  4. Experiment with Different Strategies: There’s a lot of room for experimentation when it comes to mobile marketing. With today’s technological advancements, you are only limited by your imagination.
  5. Track Your Results: With the sheer volume of data at your fingertips, you’d be silly not to use it. TRACK EVERYTHING and figure out what works best for your brand.

Making the most of your mobile marketing opportunities will bring you the best return on investment. Moving into the future without a mobile marketing strategy is a great way to lose out to the competition. Develop one today!