Last month the Mobile Marketing Association
Forum was held in New York and it was their best forum conference to date. The industry’s leading mobile marketing event had a spectrum of brands presenting case studies, data on mobiles trends, content development, ad placement, and brand promotion – it was hard not to take something of value away from every session. Mobile advertising was a large focus as was the use of Social Media in mobile marketing and, most prevalent to me, how to maximize personalized relationships via the mobile phone.
Tom Wheeler, Managing Director of Core Capital Partners‘ opening keynote was full of insightful and impactful retrospect on how the mobile device continues to change the way businesses market. Never has there been a closer relationship between a consumer and a marketer than through the mobile device. In addition, Wheeler said how no time in our history has there been a way for a marketer to communicate on multiple channels via one device, and one that is always with them! His key takeaway was that all interactions can now be targeted and personalized creating the one-to-one relationship that other marketing medium’s can’t accomplish.
A very personalized view of the mobile phone was presented in Mobile in the Consumer Journey from Natasha Hritzuk, Sr. Director of Global Insights & Analytics at Microsoft Advertising. Hritzuk put forth that current marketing is much more transactional in nature, focusing on offers to drive short-term revenue than emotional, noting that consumers are connecting the heart and head when shopping. She laid out the customer journey which is about experiences throughout the purchase cycle: PRE-TRIGGER, TRIGGER, PRE-SHOPPING, IN-STORE and USAGE. Current mobile marketing practices are only found in two sectors of the customer journey, pre-shopping and in-store, but mobile can be utilized throughout the shopping journey.
A way to get into some of these other stages might be a location-based trigger that generates a message to a consumer, featuring a personalized product recommendation or offer based on past purchase behavior. And once the sale is complete, there is still more work to be done – as many consumers are sharing their experience to others through social media. Hirtsuk noted that while brands are getting better at engaging the head via offers, coupons and price comparison apps, they risk losing an opportunity to engage the heart. Mobile can enable a functional and richer shopping experience translating to a more loyal, higher value customer.
The success of mobile marketing is due to its multi-channeled or cross-channeled approach with personalized communications developing this heart-motivated one-on-one relationship. To begin your company’s road to mobile marketing success, I recommend downloading the MMA’s recently published whitepaper featuring contributions from SoundBite, Mobile Messaging in North America: A Fresh Look at Current Options for Marketers. The whitepaper breaks down mobile messaging tactics to increase brand awareness, increase transactions, and to create and maintain customer loyalty.
