Lexie Lu, an independent Graphic Designer and UX Content Strategist, talks, about why mobile marketing should be an integral part of your branding and how to use it effectively.
With more and more people using smartphones, mobile marketing must be part of your overall branding strategy. Modern individuals spend hours each day on their mobile devices — all time you could use to grab their attention and drive them toward your brand.
1. Reach More People
The internet opened marketing doors to people around the globe, but mobile devices expanded the reach exponentially. More than half of the world’s populationOpens a new window now has a smartphone. Since most people carry their smartphones 24/7, mobile marketing opens the door to reaching these consumers more often and in more places than ever before.
Robust and targeted advertising is possible through the use of apps and savvy outreach. If your brand isn’t already focused on mobile marketing, make it a goal this year. Think about where your target audience spends most of their time and how you can best reach them via their mobile devices and the platforms they frequent, such as Instagram or Facebook.
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2. Utilize Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality (AR) is the next wave in technological advances and is already appearing in various advertising campaigns. Rather than a static, two-dimensional experience, users walk into a world of enhanced reality via their mobile devices. Businesses providing entertainment to consumers gain an edge over competitors.
Imagine a print ad the user hovers their phone over for a sports car. Suddenly, the vehicle leaps off the page, and the user is playing a game where they race the car on their smartphone. Turning a static print ad into something exciting and fun can connect users to your brand.
M&Ms created a campaign to highlight their new caramel-filled M&Ms. In the middle of Times Square, they tapped into various billboards and created an app that launched different games depending on which board the user pointed their phone toward. By bringing the world around people to life, M&Ms creates user engagement and drums up interest in the new candy.
They also ran events with their M&Ms characters present and gave out free prizes. The combination of mobile marketing and real-life marketing drove interest in the new caramel-filled candies.
3. Engage With Users
Marketers know that connecting with the audience and creating opportunities for engagement drives success. Public events draw fresh eyes to a brand, so creating sharable content from those events offers an opportunity for reaching new consumers. The idea is that those visiting a booth, for example, take a snapshot or post on social media about their experience. Those who aren’t at the event see the posts and check out what your brand offers.
Younger generations, in particular, may respond well to trade show marketing. About 92 percent of millennialsOpens a new window in the United States own a smartphone. Get millennials involved in your booth by offering interactive games and adding online features, such as a hashtag. Another idea is adding a photo opportunity so that booth visitors can take a snapshot and upload it to social media with a hashtag. Tie this tactic into a prize drawing to encourage attendees to reach out to their followers.
4. Tap Into New Markets
In the business world, the brand that tries something new and innovative first often stands out. Think about some of the cutting-edge technology of tomorrow and how you might integrate mobile marketing with elements such as Alexa and Google Home. How can you make ordering your product as convenient as possible for users?
Domino’s is making ordering as simple as possible for its customers. The brand linked up to IFTTT (If This Then That) and made their order tracker more intuitive than ever before. Now, not only can you speak to Alexa and tell her to order your favorite delivery from Domino’s, but you can link up the process and get updates as your pizza goes out for delivery and when it arrives at your home. They’re the first pizza place to test this technology.
5. Improve Your E-Commerce Site
Making sure your website is mobile-responsiveOpens a new window lets you take advantage of traffic from smartphone users. A mobile-first approach may help with search engine ranking, create a faster load time for mobile users and simplify the user experience (UX) for everyone.
Consider mobile usage from the first phases of wireframing your site. Many experts argue that your design should have a mobile-first approach and not just a mobile-responsive approach. However, it’s best to check your internal statistics and see where most of your traffic is from — mobile or PC.
6. Develop a Relationship With Customers
Improving customer service helps develop relationships with your customersOpens a new window where they trust you and expect you have their best interests at heart. Utilizing mobile marketing gives you an opportunity to immediately address concerns via SMS customer support or by pinging the customer when their favorite products go on sale.
Another way advertisers use mobile technology is by sending out a push notification when the consumer enters their store or is within a certain distance from the entrance. The notification informs the customer of any specials going on and drives traffic.
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Embrace Mobile Devices
The number of people using smartphones isn’t slowing down, so focusing on mobile marketing keeps your brand on the cutting edge and drives new growth for your company. Look for unique ways of embracing mobile technology, such as Domino’s using IFTTT for ordering or creating ways of entertaining your audience. Ask for advice from people who speak geek fluently and try new ideas until you find the perfect combination for your marketing needs.