What is mobile marketing strategy and why you need it

Mobile phone usage has been showing staggering growth in recent years. So much so that there has been a whopping 90% increase in the time people have spent on mobile apps between 2014 and 2015. To quote John Costello, Chief Global Customer and Marketing Officer of Dunkin Donuts: “Mobile is devouring the world.”

Although the importance of this trend is being recognized by most industries, some are still struggling to keep up with its pace.

Marketing teams across organizations are continuously exploring new ways of leveraging this fast-growing trend by engaging customers and cashing in on the obsession of owning and using a mobile phone – a phenomenon that’s making this landscape extremely compelling and competitive.

Recent reports predict that the ad spend on mobiles will make up 51% of the digital market (close to $100 billion) by . In fact, CMOs plan to increase mobile budgets by 160% in the next few years.

Clearly, it’s time to implement mobile marketing instead of contemplating whether or not it is important. It’s also time organizations understood how different apps and mobile types influence consumer behavior, and find out what their preferences are. Some important findings in this respect are:

• The average order value has increased by 1.1% while orders grew 10.9% | Indicates that promotion-driven holidays were fewer as compared to 2014
• The online sales percentage for orders placed through mobiles was 30.4%
• A whooping three-fourth (76.9%) of all orders placed through mobiles were made on Apple devices, while other Android devices taken together accounted for 22.7% of total orders
• 21.5% of online sales were driven by organic search, while 20% was driven by promotional email
• A mere 1.8% of sales war driven by social media

How does mobile marketing work?

The ads that appear on mobile phones form the crux of mobile marketing. The formats, customizations and styles of mobile marketing vary from the ones that appear on desktops. Mobile apps are unique as they are specifically tailored options for mobile phone platforms.

It might seem risky to jump onto the mobile marketing wagon just yet, and the thought of developing a complicated in-house marketing solution can amplify your fears. The good news, however, is that there is help, if and when, you need it. Mobile marketing automation platforms help you walk on this path unhindered. A powerful way of optimizing and testing your mobile marketing efforts, these off-the-shelf mobile marketing automation platforms reduce your stress while building an in-house solution.

However, it is prudent to choose a platform according to your or your company’s specific needs as not all mobile marketing automation platforms are the same.

Why do we need a mobile marketing strategy?

A mobile marketing strategy is as crucial for your company as a computer and a Wi-Fi network are. Suffice to say that it’s no longer a luxury, but a necessity, considering the times we live in. Today, every other person out there is addicted to his or her mobile phone. Recent studies show that the Internet time spent by users on mobile devices has increased by 40%, a figure that makes it necessary to tackle this trend head on.

Some important mobile marketing-related statistics are as follows:

• 80% of the total time spent on mobile devices is devoted to apps and games| Game apps eat up the largest amount of app time
• Web pages are browsed 70% more on tablets than on smartphones
• Retail conversion rates are still the highest for PCs, with the figures being 2.2% for tablets and 0.7% for smartphones respectively
• 2012 data shows there’s been a 200% year-on-year increase in the use of mobile phones for online searches
• It was predicted that the mobile count would surpass that of desktops by 2014

Let us look at some steps your company can take once you are ready to take the plunge into the world of mobile marketing automation platforms,

• Assign resources – Money, people and time
  Assign dedicated resources, money and employees to carry out research, take care of demos, and integrate third party mobile marketing automation platforms.
• Address the correct issues while dealing with potential vendors
  The rapid growth in the mobile space has, but naturally, brought in several players who are all aiming for the same goal. It is, therefore, imperative to address the correct issues and ask the right questions. That is the only way you can distinguish between the wolves and the sheep.
• Cutting-edge technology should be your priority
  Always try to be ahead of the curve by promoting the use of new technologies that will help your company grow efficiently. Encourage your employees to find, and use, the latest and innovative technologies. Have them then sit with their managers to find a feasible and profitable investment idea.

Types of mobile marketing strategies

Depending on your industry, budget and target audience, you can choose from a variety of mobile marketing strategies. Listed here are some of them:

• App-based marketing:
  Leveraging the fact that browsing apps makes up 80% of the time a user spends on a mobile, mobile apps can be used for advertising with the help of services like Google AdMob. Doing this helps advertisers create ads that can be seen within third party mobile apps.
  Facebook, for example, allows its users to create ads that are so seamlessly integrated into their Facebook mobile app that users often don’t even realize they are looking at an ad.
• In-game marketing:
  Like the name suggests, these ads appear during / within mobile games. These ads can appear as banner pop-ups, image ads that may or may not be full page, and video ads that often appear during games.
• QR codes:
  Mobile games are often aligned with QR codes and given an element of mystery to lure gamers to specific webpages after they scan the codes. Lured by the mystery, gamers often have no idea where this code will lead them.
• Marketing based on location:
  The ads that appear on a user’s mobile based upon his or her location, and are a specific area or business relative, are the fulcrum of location-based marketing. For example, when an ad appears on a user’s mobile when he or she is within a mile’s radius of the business, it is known as a location-based marketing tactic.
• Mobile search ads:
  Often featuring additional add ons / extensions, mobile search ads are basic ads by Google Search built specifically for mobiles.
• Mobile image ads:
  Ads that are designed as images and which appear on mobile devices are called mobile image ads.
• SMS ads
  Ads sent to a user through text messages are called SMS ads. This practice is now, however, somewhat outdated.Best practices in mobile marketing:

Some of the best practices of mobile marketing that help you make the most of it are as follows:

• Be precise and concise: Remember, mobile devices have smaller screens and users have even smaller attention spans. Make sure the add is precise and concise to avoid clutter which can otherwise lead to users losing interest.
• Optimize according to location: Optimize mobile marketing locally to cater to the queries and needs of users who mostly look for searches nearby. For example, where is the nearest ATM? Which is the nearest coffee shop? and so on
• Recognize your target audience: The kind of ads you use should be influenced by the kind of audience you want to reach. For instance, consider whether or not your audience consists of gamers. If yes, then leveraging in-game ads is your best bet. Is your audience young and internet savvy? Then social media-promoted ads will get you maximum attention.
• Explore different strategies: There are several choices in the types of mobile marketing strategy you can use. Don’t be afraid to explore and experiment with different strategies while deciding which one’s the best for you.
• Track and file results: Always remember to document your results. Doing so will give you a reference point of what was the best strategy that worked for you and what did not.

Some interesting findings about mobile marketing include:

• Out of all the traffic generated across a network, 47.5% originates from a mobile device
• Mobile devices give way to 39.6% of sales across a network
•  Average sales that come through mobile devices every day stand at a whopping 57,119
• Out of this number, 28,303 are generated through smartphones alone
•  On an average, the sales generated through a smartphone every hour stand at 1,179
• Every hour, a smartphone generates 870 clicks
•  2015 Q4 results show that revenue generated from ads from a mobile device touched the 35.6% mark compared to 31.3% in Q3

In conclusion, it is safe to say that mobile devices are here to stay and the sooner we start exploring them, the better are our chances of survival in this cutthroat world.