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2009: The Year of Mobile Marketing |
It's a statement we seem to hear each year: "This year is the year mobile marketing will really take off". Yet mobile marketing has proven to lay dormant each time.
However, this year it looks like things could be turning around for mobile marketing and it seems that some marketers are taking notice. 2009 just might be the year mobile finally takes off.
Despite being around for some time mobile marketing has never managed to really take off as a valued marketing medium and a channel through which to engage consumers.
Marketers have avoided mobile marketing primarily due to a lack of mobile device capabilities and consumer adoption of the medium. Times have changed...
Mobile device usage in Australia: A snapshot
Research by Nielsen reported that mobile phone ownership in Australia has almost reached saturation with 92% of Australians owning or using a mobile phone. Additionally, the Australian Communications and Media Authority's figures suggest that 90% of children aged 15 own a mobile phone.
An increase in multimedia capabilities in mobile devices and consumer adoption of mobile phone technologies has created validity for this marketing channel.
The Worldwide Mobile Data Services Study revealed that in 2008 there had been an 8% increase in the number of people who visited a mobile web page. Interestingly, 64% of respondents in the m.Net survey stated they would pay more than $10 per month for mobile data access, up from 0% the previous year.
What's so great about mobile marketing?
When you think about mobile marketing, many different ideas about what it is come start to come up. Mobile marketing has evolved as a marketing channel and has grown in functionality.
For a long time mobile marketing was defined by SMS, but as technology has progressed it has grown into four very distinct areas:
- Mobile advertising: This includes SMS, MMS, banners, posters and links displayed within mobile content.
- Mobile content: Mobile content is any content that can be consumed via a mobile device. It includes games, music, video, radio and TV which is shown in mobile friendly formats.
- Mobile applications: These are interactive utilities which are aimed at engaging the user by providing a service. Thousands of applications are available for the iPhone such as mobile banking and ordering food for delivery.
- Location based services: Consumers have the ability to receive promotional material, and other content via their mobile on location at billboards and outdoor advertising.
Mobile advocates praise this medium as a cost effective channel that has the tracking capability to deliver measurable results. It is unique to any other marketing channel in that it's always on and marketers can really connect with their customers at exactly the right time.
The fact that almost the entire Australian population owns a mobile phone presents the ability for marketers to engage consumers of almost any demographic, across many markets.
The cost of entry into mobile advertising is currently very low due to low marketing demand for the service. However what many marketers may not be aware of is that the average conversion rate for mobile advertisements is around 20%, a figure approximately 10 times higher than online.
The iPhone and its impact on mobile marketing
The launch of the Apple iPhone has prompted a shift in the way mobile content is produced. Gone are the days when the major focus was the number of characters on a pixel screen of 128x160.
Design and function have vastly evolved with the introduction of the iPhone and consumers now expect to view content in a more sophisticated setting. The emergence of mobile applications has also changed the way marketers can connect with their customers and engage them with their brand.
ANZ was one of the first banks to launch an iPhone Mobile Banking application, allowing customers to perform their banking activities through their iPhone. Taking their existing online banking format and applying a new look and feel relevant for mobile was all it took.
Living up to their 'anytime, anywhere' slogan ANZ have been able delivered on their promise to customers through mobile marketing.
Implications for marketers
The research above clearly demonstrates that the audience for mobile marketing is expanding and their engagement with mobile content is growing.
Consumers no longer view their mobile devices as a basic communication mechanism but their personal connection to a myriad of resources. Music, directions, places to eat, things to do and the list goes on.
In the future this type of behaviour will only grow, as consumers use their mobile phones to access a wide variety of services and perform daily activities via their mobile devices. The mobile is destined to become a one stop shop.
It is only logical that marketers pay attention to this growing medium and begin to find ways to encorporate it into their marketing strategies.
The rise in multimedia engagement means that marketers now have a variety of ways in which to communicate with customers through a mobile device. Web content, mobile advertising and iPhone applications are just a few of the approaches through which marketers can deploy their marketing messages.
Strategic approach
Like every other marketing channel a solid strategy must be formed if success is to transpire. Mobile marketing is a channel that is best suited as a complimentary medium to other marketing channels rather than a stand alone.
It can be used to support existing and future online and even offline campaigns to create greater engagement with consumers.
What the future holds
Mobile marketing is beginning to take off. The word in the industry suggests that as phone data download fees decrease and more consumers subscribe to 3G services, video and interactive content will start to play a bigger role.
More importantly for marketers, talk of mobile carriers offering geo-positioning services will enable mobile messages to be sent to specific customers based on their current location.
Recent developments in mobile device capabilities and an increase in consumer adoption of these multimedia functions suggests that marketers should be looking at mobile marketing as a viable opportunity to engage and connect with their customers.
Those that don't may be left behind the eight ball.
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