The mobile device is a deeply personal item. These lessons will help you engage with your audience by respecting their preferences and time. Just be sure to measure your efforts every step of the way.
More people are spending more time on mobile devices than ever before. As of October 2015, 68 percent of U.S. adults had a smartphone, up from 35 percent in 20111, reports Pew Research Center. People engage with mobile devices nearly three hours every day, on average2. It makes sense that savvy marketers are investing more of their ad budget in mobile.
But mobile marketing strategies must reflect the personal nature of the medium. Businesses should work to understand their customers and invest in a strategy that reflects audience preferences as much as their own marketing objectives.
Deliver value
“Mobile users are fickle, impatient, and more empowered than any other audience. Interrupting and annoying them will only drive them away. Advertisers must provide value to consumers in order to win their trust and confidence,” says Mitchell Reichgut, CEO of NYC-based mobile advertising technology company Jun Group.
Mobile advertising means more than running ads on the mobile Web. It includes in-app ads, social media, video, and native ad experiences. Kevin Davis, senior professional services director of Enterprise Solutions Group at Syniverse, explains that those tactics should be used for more than promoting a service or product, stressing: “It’s about mobile engagement.”
To drive engagement with your content, personalize your outreach so it reflects the recipient’s preferences and needs. Mobile marketing companies can help you target mobile phone users based on geographic location, demographics, buying patterns, and more. You can really home in on your target customer, but your job doesn’t end there. It’s also about reaching out at the right time with a personalized message that resonates. For example, you can target someone who is near your physical store with a special offer code. Now you are offering something of value, not just an ad. Be sure your message is designed with the medium in mind, and use simple, easy-to-read calls-to-action.
Earn your audience’s trust
“With so much information on consumer preferences and usage patterns available, people are more vulnerable than ever to having their information revealed or misused by advertisers,” cautions Davis. “It’s incumbent on us as marketers to build trust by ensuring the protection of any personal data we use, and to use that data only in ways that our customers prefer.”
According to research from Syniverse4, 75 percent of consumers don’t trust brands to keep their personal data safe. Davis says brands should take those concerns seriously and respect the privacy of their customers by “using permission-based communications, secure methods of transmitting and storing customer information, and providing the user with control of the information that they receive from, or share with, the brand.”
Measure every step of the way
The good thing about mobile advertising is that you can monitor your efforts to determine your return on investment. Your advertising partners will help you measure key metrics, such as clicks, conversions, app downloads, site traffic, and more.
With so many mobile marketing options to choose from, including social channels, it can be challenging to get started. “Ad tech giants like Twitter, Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn all have self-service platforms that can accommodate smaller buys,” suggests Reichgut. That can be a good way to test the waters.
Davis reminds that you must have a clear goal in mind for each campaign. “As your results roll in, eliminate anything not tying back to your goals and audience,” he says. “The trick is finding your customers where they are, not where you assume they will be.”
By taking steps to add value and measuring results along the way, businesses can take advantage of the personal nature of the mobile phone. “The average person has a smartphone within arm’s reach at all times, using it to guide their decision making and as an active companion in their daily experiences,” says Davis. “This intimacy we have with our phones presents hundreds of real-time, intent-driven ‘mobile moments’ that break down the customer experience and purchase journey into opportunities to provide value to the customer.”
