Top Benefits And Tips For Mobile Marketing
Some industries absolutely must use mobile marketing to survive, but using it well can be difficult. There is so much to learn both on the marketing side and the technical side. Read on to learn how you can easily and effectively integrate mobile marketing into your business plan.
Older cellphones cannot properly display the same sites as newer smartphones or tablets, so your links need to lead to different sites for different phones. If you use a flash player on your website, only provide the cellular link.
Do not send too many offers on mobile platforms. Stick to the essential ones. With this you know that your customers will not tire from your messages and look for to see all you have to offer.
It is important to have your own dedicated short code. The price tag is higher, but this will help to protect your brand. Doing this will also protect you legally.
Every successful mobile campaign should have a home base. Your mobile presence should be about driving people to the home base, or keeping in touch with people who already visit your home base. Do not ever base everything completely on a mobile marketing campaign.
Remember who you are talking to if you are going to make phone calls, they are people whose lives you are interrupting. Realize that is an issue and act accordingly.
Mobile Web
Check to verify that your mobile web site works on every popular mobile web browser in use. It’s important that your messages work no matter what type of phone your customer is using. It’s going to be a lot easier for you to use a simplified message, rather than trying to make a custom message work across all platforms. Mobile marketing and the KISS principle work well together.
Be sure to test mobile websites and ads on multiple mobile devices. Some mobile devices use special browsers, and others have limitations based on their screen size or resolution. Your website and content might look different on each device. Your mobile marketing campaign should be tested on all popular devices, to be sure that it looks right on each one.
Creating a mobile app with lots of helpful information for your target market is a great mobile marketing strategy. Any apps that give users helpful hints or useful information are wildly popular. You can use your app as a lead-generation tool for other products, or sell the app directly for profit.
Mobile Marketing
Understanding how mobile marketing works is very important if you want to use it to help your business reach as many people as possible. The points in this article have hopefully given you a better understanding of how mobile marketing can work for your business. Use the pointers presented here as a starting point.
Article Source: http://larne-business-marketing-advertising.co.uk/mobile-service/top-benefits-and-tips-for-mobile-marketing/
What to do When a Mobile Campaign is Struggling
While marketers may have an elaborate mobile campaign – whether it includes mobile advertising, SMS, applications or QR codes – it might not always garner the engagement and results expected.
Many campaigns may not get the expected click-throughs or opt-ins they initially anticipated. However, it is never too late to refresh an idea.
“Mobile is experiencing explosive growth and is a new and exciting way to reach consumers at the moment when their intent to purchase is strongest,” said Wilson Kerr, vice president of business development and sales at Unbound Commerce, Boston.
“As such, few of the old rules apply,” he said. “Outdated CPM or CPC models might suffice for generalist branding campaigns, but smart mobile marketers are linking mobile campaigns to actionable, commerce-enabled mobile pages where success can be measured by lift and increased revenue.
Rethink mobile
According to Mr. Kerr, it is essential that marketers rethink their goals.
It is important for marketers to see who they are looking to target and find out more about their user.
Additionally, testing is key and helps marketers see what works and what does not.
“Try some things in a limited way, to learn,” Mr. Kerr said. “Are you prepared for NFC? Tried QR codes? Location to push ads to shoppers?
“There is real value in learning and gaining experience in this space, as mobile continues to grow and evolve,” he said. “Mobile consumers want to act, they do not want to surf off to some Web page and read a lot of branding messaging on their smartphone.
“Ask yourself how easy it is for a mobile consumer to complete an action, then tweak the campaign.”
For example, if a company is running a mobile advertising campaign, it is important to link the campaign to mobile-optimized landing pages where an action can occur, as well as be able to track the lift.
“No mobile campaign can succeed if the mobile consumer lands on a page not formatted for mobile,” Mr. Kerr said. “Also, target mobile ads for max effectiveness by using mobile-specific variables like realtime proximity to your locations as a prequalification.
“Consider proposing a revshare arrangement with ad networks, where they share the tracked upside, in exchange for tweaking the campaign for max effectiveness,” he said.
All about SMS
Currently, many marketers are dabbling in SMS.
However, a SMS campaign might not get enough sign-ups or opt-ins that are expected.
Sending messages to consumers can help build a dialogue between the brand and the customer.
However, bombarding them with messages or sending them texts that are not relevant can help diminish that relationship.
“Messaging campaigns fail for a variety of reasons,” said Jeff Hasen, chief marketing officer of Hipcricket + Augme Technologies, Kirkland, WA.
“One is a lack of strong call to action – the mobile subscriber needs to be incented to do something and the CTA must be prominent or it will be lost,” he said.
“A second is poor execution – it took more than five hours for me to get a bounceback message after I responded to the NFL’s Super Bowl spot call to action.”
Mobile subscribers are all about instant gratification, per Mr. Hasen.
To succeed, marketers should start by mapping a strategy for their business goals.
According to the executive, several best practices include working with a provider that offers technology with strategy and creative, testing before diving in fully and providing multiple ways for consumers to engage.
“Hipcricket client Macy’s does this extremely well,” Mr. Hasen said. “For instance, its Backstage Pass program has elements including a QR code, SMS, mobile Web and MMS.”
Many marketers are also using QR codes in their campaigns to drive user engagement.
However, consumers are still not educated on what a QR code is or what they need to scan it with – therefore, they are not getting the scans they had expected.
“With any digital marketing tool, it is critical to measure your results and adjust your approach if it is not meeting objectives,” said Mike Wehrs, CEO of Scanbuy, New York. “QR Codes should follow the same rules.
“Create your codes with a tracking tool so you can look at the performance on scan rates and engagement,” he said. “If your campaign is not getting the scans you expected, you may want to rethink where the code is being placed and revise the call to action around the code to be more direct about why to scan.
“Both of those are critical to create relevance and value for the consumer. If you are not seeing engagement results, then you need to ensure you are doing the basics like delivering mobile optimized content that gives the user a compelling experience. Think about what that user would want at the time they scan your code and deep link them into the best possible experience.”
Where to start
According to Marci Troutman, CEO of SiteMinis, marketers should use mobile as an A/B testing ground.
“If a campaign is not getting enough lift, try a different approach with the same campaign, change the order of the action item, move a click-through to the top and add another action item for two in one,” she said.
“Just because one campaign is not getting the proper amount of lift does not mean that the mobile application itself is a failure, it simply means a different approach should be taken.”
If a campaign is not performing well, Ms. Troutman suggests that marketers either revise the campaign with a different approach or start fresh.
“The revising of a campaign shows an A/B testing that can be valuable for future campaigns as they move forward,” Ms. Troutman said.
“For example, if a campaign has one action item and there is a scroll on the micro site or landing page, and it is not extremely intuitive what the action is, then taking that same campaign and moving some of the pieces around to change this campaign could make a difference, and if it does, it gives valuable insight into the next campaign that is sent out as to where and how the action should be displayed,” she said.
The executive also says that marketers should never feel intimidated about launching a campaign.
“If you keep it back and over analyze, you will never learn what works and what does not work,” Ms. Troutman said. “You only learn which campaigns will be effective by creating and sending these out.”
Are Mobile Bar Codes Changing the Way Consumers Shop?
Mobile bar codes are increasingly gaining momentum and companies such as Toys R Us and Glamour are placing them on billboards and walls – providing consumers another way to shop their favorite products.
Although the technology is still emerging, it certainly has the opportunity to change the way consumers shop. Brands and marketers are beginning to see the potential of mobile bar codes and are using them in their marketing strategies.
“The immediacy of being able to purchase something you see advertised in a magazine or other out-of-home signage allows consumers to conveniently purchase the product on-the-spot, without having to search or step foot into a store,” said Nicole Skogg, CEO of SpyderLynk, New York .
“We believe that the use of mobile bar codes overall, especially mcommerce-enabled bar codes, will continue to grow as consumers become more familiar with the technology,” she said. “Adoption rates will also continue to grow as marketers think more strategically about the use of bar codes and become more focused on delivering value.
“Well-executed, mobile bar codes drive consumer consideration and help position a brand as relevant and enticing. Poorly executed mobile bar codes, at best, serve to frustrate consumers and, at worst, are ignored all together.”
On the go shopping
Last year, Toys R Us rolled out a virtual store that let consumers scan QR codes featured on billboards and shop the company’s 2011 Hot Toy List.
On-the-go commuters and travelers in the New York metro area were encouraged to take part in the initiative. The billboards were located in John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and nearly 40 NJ Transit Stations feature the showcased items (see story).
Most recently, Glamour unveiled its Apothecary Wall that features products from Unilever and Juicy Couture.
The Apothecary Wall has SpyderLynk Snaptags next to each product. Users are encouraged to download Glamour’s Friends & Fans iPhone app to scan the mobile bar code and buy the featured product right then and there.
“Placement is critical to success in adoption rates,” Ms. Skogg said. “One of our key messages to our clients is that the placement of a mobile bar code will drive usage.
“Engaged media such as magazines, email, online and street teams at events will drive higher response rates than passive media such as event displays and out-of-home signage like a billboard – which is typically passed by rather than viewed from a closer proximity while standing still, making it difficult for consumers to engage,” she said. “There are much more creative ways to deploy bar codes with the Apothecary Wall being an excellent example.
“Glamour’s innovative use of the Apothecary Wall allowed them to extend the reach of the magazine, while making it fun for consumers to shop on-the-spot. By recreating a shopping isle with a 2D design, the Apothecary Wall was intuitive, approachable and easy for consumers to interact with.”
Mobile sophistication
There is an increase in the sophistication of mobile bar codes and their implementation compared to last year.
Brands and marketers are incorporating mobile bar codes across their entire marketing mix.
This comprehensive approach to mobile is giving marketers the ability to model, segment and better target consumers.
Mobile commerce-enabled mobile bar codes give retailers the opportunity to extend the reach of their bricks-and-mortar retail outlets.
“We are beginning to see mobile bar codes have an impact on the retail experience however, there is still much consumer education and awareness needed for mobile bar codes to really change the way consumers shop,” said Laura Marriott, CEO of NeoMedia Technologies, Boulder, CO.
“Many major global brands and retailers, such as Calvin Klein, McDonalds, Macy’s and Target, have helped to increase this awareness by taking advantage of the ability mobile bar codes provide to bring engagement and interactivity to a consumer’s experience with a brand,” she said.
“By simply scanning the mobile bar code, consumers can instantly access an unlimited amount of data on the brand and product of interest – from product information and reviews to special offers – but further integration with a brand or retailer’s existing loyalty, CRM or couponing implementations will also help to drive consumer uptake.”
According to Ms. Marriott, mobile bar codes provide an easy, instant means to connect with the brand.
“I believe we will see significant uptake of these services,” Ms. Marriott said. “Mobile bar codes still have a bit of the newness factor and are fun to engage with, which definitely also helps to drive interactions.
“And making the shopping experience even more accessible to consumers via mobile bar codes, is definitely a winning combination,” she said. “We do expect to see these types of initiatives becoming more commonplace in the next year, which will help consumers become more comfortable with using their mobile to scan and buy on the go.
“In 2012 we should expect to see a rise in mobile bar code scanning implementations resulting in greater consumer participation, expanded loyalty initiatives and an overall enhanced consumer experience when in-store – much more than a simple resolution to a Web URL. Coupled with this, we expect to see hardware solutions in retail support mobile bar code scanning on a much wider basis in 2012.”
Mobile bar codes make shoppers more intelligent wherever they may be.
Consumers access more relevant content based on what their specific interests.
Additionally, with mobile bar codes shoppers can now access product reviews and price comparisons via their mobile device. This allows them to make more informed decisions on the spot when making a purchase.
“We do see some customers getting more comfortable buying products on their mobile devices, but we are not at the mass adoption level yet,” said Mike Wehrs, CEO of Scanbuy, New York. “Thousands of people made purchases through our app over the holidays as they were scanning UPC codes from products, but there are many ways for retailers to harness that activity.
“Virtual shops are a growing phenomenon which can really enable someone to buy from anywhere,” he said.
Marketers: What Mobile Users Will and Won’t Put Up With [INFOGRAPHIC]
Young people between the ages of 18 and 24 are even more connected to their mobile devices than you might think.
Nine in 10 young adults spend between one and five hours on their mobile devices daily. Nearly one in 10, meanwhile, are on their gadgets between five and ten hours each day. Just under a third would actually like for brands to send them promotions via smartphone and tablet, but more than half say that it’s “extremely important” to be able to opt out of such come-ons.
This is all according to a study by mobile interaction and payment agency mBlox, which commissioned a December study of more than 4,000 young mobile users in the United States and United Kingdom. According to mBlox’s chief marketing officer Michele Turner, the research provides important insight as advertising and marketing to people on the go continues to proliferate.
“With 2012 largely being seen as the advent of mobile commerce, this research helps validate the huge revenue potentials for brands and an appetite by consumers for mobile marketing,” Turner said in a statement.
In just one illustration of mobile’s importance to advertisers and marketers, Google reported that mobile devices accounted for 41% of searches for Super Bowl TV ads during the game earlier this month.
But brands need to be careful about how they target those mobile users and how much knowledge they reveal about them. While 30% of survey respondents said they want offers to be located nearby, two-thirds said they don’t want brands knowing their whereabouts. More than half worry about their credit card information being stolen, and nearly half fret the risk of signing up for fake websites.
Mobile & Social Win Super Bowl
Last February, many marketers learned the hard way that including mobile and social into their brand’s Super Bowl marketing mix would be a game changer.
This year, marketers got it right—well, at least some.
Each year on Super Bowl Sunday, marketers have access to the eyes and ears of about 100 million people who are watching the game and anxiously waiting for the next jaw-dropping commercial. But for $3.5 million, they better make that 30-second time slot count.
InMobi released its Super Bowl XLVI Mobile Consumption Survey, which reinforced why marketers should have included some mobile component into their marketing mix.
- Nearly 40% of respondents used mobile devices in response to TV ads.
- 45% estimated that they spent 30 minutes or more on their mobile devices during the game.
- Twice as many respondents used their mobile devices during the first half of the game than the second half.
In addition, Altimeter noted several trends regarding how brands integrated mobile and social in this year’s Super Bowl advertisements:
- 11% of Super Bowl ads included emerging media technology (Shazam, Text Messages, Mobile Apps, QR Codes)
- 16% included social media calls-to-actions (Facebook, Twitter, Hashtags)
- 32% did not include ANY online references.
So which brands got the bang for their buck?
Several brands created successful interactive apps to accompany their commercials, including Best Buy, Toyota, Pepsi and Bud Light. The brands partnered with Shazam, an audio tagging application, and were able to link the Super Bowl ads with songs, giveaways and other content.
In addition, Chevrolet’s Chevy Game Time app gave users the opportunity to win prizes by answering trivia questions and polls.
Aside from mobile, many brands included social calls-to-action in their Super Bowl ads. In 2011, Nielsen found that Super Bowl ads that included social media tags that directed viewers to a link on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube were more 33 percent more memorable for viewers.
This year, hashtags were a common theme in many of the commercials. For example Audi’s anti-vampire ad included #solongvampires at the end, Bud Light Platinum included #makeitplatinum, and Hulu included #mushymush. The hashtags were used to get people tweeting about the brands, and it worked.
Links to Facebook were also included in the ads, of which many replaced traditional web links. Pepsi Max and General Electric among others included the URL of their Facebook Page at the end of their ad to drive consumers to the social networking site.
Also, GoDaddy experimented with a QR code at the end of one of their advertisements, which generated the best mobile website traffic ever for the company.
Each of these calls-to-actions was intended to drive consumers to a place where they can interact with the brand and create a dialogue. Some marketers really hit the mark this year and developed well-executed mobile marketing campaigns. Others, however, fell short.
Marketers and brands must understand the power of mobile and social in this day and age. We are a more technologically engaged, connected group of fans. People aren’t just rooting for their favorite teams while sitting on the couch eating chicken wings—they’re tweeting, conversing on other social networking sites and interacting with apps.
Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest television advertising event of the year. So marketers, don’t just throw a Hail Mary pass at developing a successful Super Bowl ad. Check the playbook, and create worthwhile ads by incorporating mobile and social—elements that are known to enhance the user experience.
5 Flaws in Your Mobile Marketing Strategy
The mobile revolution is underway, but many marketers are underutilizing the medium and making mistakes with the strategy and execution of campaigns.
The hyper-connected consumer of today has little patience for clutter or noise. His smartphone is the compass with which he engages the world, the persistent interface that guides him through the ever-evolving digital landscape. How then, as marketers, do we evolve in order to not only keep pace with the mobile revolution, but also to utilize it as intended?
The smartphone is intensely personal, intimately integrated into our social graphs, superior in its contextual awareness of time and space, hyper-connected and nearly always within arm’s reach. The smartphone has, in essence, become a natural extension of our human selves.
Yet, despite the newfound wealth of opportunities available to mobile marketers, we have been consistently and fundamentally flawed in both strategy and execution. Quite simply put, we’re doing it all wrong.
1. Flaw: De-Emphasizing the Unique Nature of the Medium
Although they share a common infrastructure, mobile is not the traditional web. In fact, the two have few equivalents in the stationary web world. The stationary web is exactly that – inactive. With that said, why would mobile design, which should be focused on creating an experience unique to those who are actively on-the-go, be constructed with an inactive model in mind?
Mobile events are inherently transitive in nature. The different elements of the medium — constant connectivity, location awareness, personalization and social connection — add affinity to consumer/brand interactions and empower the medium uniquely as an events-driven interface. These features form the foundation for consumer interaction — a tight, relevant orchestration of branded communications among increasingly interconnected brand advocates.
2. Flaw: Treating Connected Consumers as Stationary Targets
Mobile consumers are moving targets; therefore, marketers must consider the variability of exchange. Where is the consumer right now? What is she interested in? How can I compel her to visit my store location? What can I reward her with to increase her loyalty to the brand? What can I do to make her feel included? How can I use the medium to make her encounter the brand more efficiently? What experience can I provide to her that she would feel compelled to share? When viewed through this lens, the possibilities for engaging consumers are limited only to the imagination and ingenuity of the brand.
3. Flaw: Ignoring the Power of Contextual Relevance
The mobile medium represents the most powerful mechanism for delivering contextually relevant, consumer-brand marketing communications. To take advantage of its unique capabilities, however, successful marketing strategies must evolve alongside these communicating customers. The digital natives of today’s hyper-connected world seek contextual relevance when engaging with brands. Their experiences are defined not only by the message itself, but by the context in which the message is presented.
Marketers who effectively tackle today’s mobile variables will provide consumers with unique experiences that are differentiated, highly relevant and intensely personal. Only then will we collectively realize the power and influence of marketing in the moment.
4. Flaw: Employing Old World, Unidirectional Strategies
Effective consumer engagement can no longer take an unidirectional mindset. Today’s digital natives are constantly presented with a dizzying array of branded digital touchpoints. They are expecting consistent yet unique communication and brand message.
Brands are now challenged to become adept transmedia storytellers, to create a message that syncs with the communication medium in which it’s delivered. Brands must move beyond simply marketing to people but, instead, must master marketing to a context that is determined by device or platform. They must consider the specific medium which they choose to engage.
5. Flaw: Not Offering Value in Exchange for Value
Establishing consumer relationships through mobile marketing, as with any successful relationship, inherently requires a mutual exchange of value. Whether consumers are opting-in for brand communications via SMS or engaging with the brand in a single instance by scanning a QR code, the onus is on the brand to deliver value in return for customers’ time and information.
Without the perception that value is mutual, the relationship becomes essentially one-sided and unrequited. The customer may attempt to end the relationship — perhaps permanently. Regardless of the strategies or technologies employed, successful mobile marketing relies heavily on a fair and evenly balanced value exchange between consumer and brand. Given the intensely personal nature of smart devices, coupled with the fact that the device is nearly always within arm’s reach, it becomes extremely important that mobile marketing avoids being intrusive and irrelevant.
Conventional marketing wisdom advocates a right audience + right message + right time methodology, designed to entice a stationary audience. In mobile, the same principles don’t necessarily apply. Rather than marketing at the target with brand-centric storytelling, wherever and however she may encounter you, allow the tale to travel along with her as she goes. Communicate the narrative, allow the mobile medium to reveal ensuing chapters in a continuum of branded engagements.
Get Ready for Considerably Higher Mobile Marketing Budgets in 2012
Mobile marketing budgets will increase considerably in 2012, but so will consumer expectations of the types of experiences they have interacting with their favorite businesses.
Mobile channels such as advertising (search and display), apps and mobile Web sites will rake in the most in spend for brands and retailers. The exponential raise in smartphone uptake is indicative of the importance mobile will soon play in the marketing mix.
“It starts with consumer behavior. Every indicator says mobile activity considerably increased in 2011,” said Jeff Hasen, chief marketing officer of Hipcricket, Kirkland, WA. “The latest was the IBM report that said sales from mobile devices doubled in December 2011 versus December 2010.
“Even the most stubborn of marketers has had to take note,” he said. “The smartest ones know that consumers expect brands to have a significant mobile presence – and they are punishing companies that don’t.
“Many mobile channels will benefit from increased spending. Mobile Web will be one of the winners driven by consumer demand. Another will be SMS because it provides reach to all, including the 50 percent who won’t have smartphones and, when used wisely, leads to permission-based, monetizable databases.”
Personalization
Retailers and brands will focus heavily on incorporating check-ins and deals into their mobile apps. The next generation of retail apps will be extremely sophisticated, focusing on loyalty and driving sales among loyalists.
Will the majority of big box retailers having built their mobile database and built a relationship with the consumers that have opted-in for communications, companies will now focus on way of making the marketing messages more personalized to more effectively drive sales.
For example, instead of getting a message for a mobile coupon with 10 percent off of the next purchase, imagine getting a message that says Macy’s just got a pair of peep-toe shoes that match perfectly with the cocktail dress you bought last week.
In order for personalization like this to be possible, data mining and segmentation of lists is an absolute must. Brands and retailers will be spending a lot of time and money on understanding their database and breaking it up into segmented lists.
“Similar to social media, mobile marketing spend as a whole will impressively increase in 2012 not so much in terms of greater budget allocations by a few enterprises but in terms of volume due to more SMBs and consumer affinity groups getting in the mobile marketing game,” said Angelo Biasi, adjunct professor for mobile marketing at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies and general manager of SMART Marketing Solutions LLC, New York.
“Easy to use do-it-yourself SMS campaign, mobile Web sites and especially mobile app creation tools that remove traditional barriers to entry, will become more attractive and consolidated service offerings by organizations that cater to these segments,” he said.
The fact that the big guys get mobile, has been driving mobile marketing spend. But, in 2012, the smaller guys will invest more heavily in mobile as well.
Mobile has become more mainstream for a few reasons. Faster network speeds, function-rich smartphones and tablets, a burgeoning portfolio of applications and more engaging ad formats like screen takeovers and expandable ads enable mobile to compete with more established media.
Mobile will account for 15.2 percent of global online ad spend in 2016, according to Berg Insight. According to the Berg, the total value of the global mobile marketing and advertising market will grow from $3.4 billion in 2010 at a compound annual growth rate of 37 percent to $22.4 billion in 2016.
HTML5 is already changing consumers’ perception of the mobile Web. HTML5 will play a prominent role in mobile development in 2012 and will be used to try to overcome fragmentation issues that the industry has consistently battled.
Adobe’s decision to give up on Flash was abrupt but also signals how HTML5 will have to play a role in the future because it was one of the most successful Web add-ins.
HTML5 is helping companies create rich content and bypass the App Store and we will see this trend increase dramatically throughout 2012.
“Mobile is growing rapidly and is quickly becoming the norm for many consumers,” said Graham Jones, general manager of PriceGrabber. “PriceGrabber predicts an increase in mobile budgets, both in the development of new mobile features and mobile options, as well as a raise in marketing funds assigned to the mobile category.
“Merchants are investing heavily in the development of mobile capability as far as mobile check out goes,” he said. “They want to ensure a smooth process and experience for the consumer.”
A Look into Mobile Marketing’s Crystal Ball
2011 was a big year for the mobile world. The industry took major strides in terms of being recognized as a major player in the marketing sphere, and businesses who originally doubted its potential are reconsidering their assessment.
Let’s recap:
- Smartphone penetration in the U.S. reached 44 percent in 2011
- Businesses and brands started to dabble more in the realm of QR codes
- NFC Communication and the mobile wallet emerged
- Tablets and smartphones changed the ways consumers shop online
Given the success of this past year for mobile marketing, we can only hope for more achievements in the New Year. Here are some predictions for the mobile marketing industry in 2012:
- Loyalty based mobile programs will serve as the go-to form of mobile marketing, as more and more businesses are losing faith in daily deal services like Groupon and LivingSocial and are seeking out programs that will encourage repeat customers and increase client retention.
- QR code implementation will rise and will be executed with more engaging call-to-actions and measureable analytics.
- Near Field Communication (NFC) will revolutionize the mobile commerce sector.
- U.S. mobile ad spending will grow (eMarketer is projecting a 47 percent increase in 2012).
Certain businesses and brands may have gotten away with holding off on mobile marketing last year, but this year they’ll be left in the dust if they don’t get on board. Those who understand the potential of mobile will see no need to wait any longer.
2011 was big, but 2012 will be bigger.
Are Mobile Marketing Firms Under Threat from In-house Acquisitions?
Many large retail brands are starting to manage their mobile marketing development in-house, instead of using service providers. How will this change affect mobile marketing in the future?
With big retail brands such as Walmart, Amazon and eBay making hefty investments to take their mobile marketing development and management in-house, where does that leave service providers?
One guess would be that the competition would increase greatly with less fish – a.k.a brands – in the sea looking for services such as application and mobile Web site development, database/CRM, location-based services, QR code efforts, SMS/MMS and mobile video.
“Generally speaking, it is smart for companies that can afford it to take as much mobile technology as possible in-house via acquisitions,” said Wilson Kerr, vice president of business development and sales at unbound Commerce, Boston.
“By acting fast, they’re out ahead of the curve and block their competitors from using these tools,” he said.
Buying up mobile
Amazon has been acquiring mobile companies like Snaptell and Yap, PayPal bought Fig Card and VeriSign, and Walmart brought its app development in-house through its purchase of Small Society.
Left and right the industry has been seeing mergers and acquisitions. The daunting part is that a lot of this M&A activity is brought on by big brands that are truly investing in mobile long-term.
Is this good for the industry? Yes, because it means that companies finally understand that mobile will end up being one of the most disruptive technologies of the 21st century.
On the other hand, if there are fewer brands that need to turn to mobile marketing service providers like app developers, LBS providers and others, then these companies may be at risk.
“There is a big difference between technology or payment platform giants like eBay, Groupon, and Visa and a consumer-direct retailer like Walmart,” Mr. Kerr said. “Walmart stands out, because they have embraced a holistic, long-term strategic vision regarding the impact of mobile and social commerce.
“And they are investing heavily,” he said. “They acquired One Riot for ad targeting, Kosmix for social media search and, most-recently, Small Society, a mobile agency.
“They not only lock up the technology, but the hard-to-find, fresh-from-the-mobile-front-lines personnel. Walmart Labs has 60 employees and another 25 openings listed on their site. They claim to be defining the future of commerce and mobile clearly sits as the cornerstone of this roadmap.”
Retailers with mobile teams
In 2012 expect that more retailers will bring services like check-ins and deals in-house and incorporate them into their branded apps instead of working through third-party apps such as foursquare and Groupon.
The consolidation that is going on in the mobile industry points to the importance of mobile to retailers and the overall growth in retail apps. It is also evidence of the fact that retailers are looking for more control over their customers’ mobile experiences. They don’t want to have to share their data with third parties.
Expect to see further consolidation among app developers in 2012.
Online guys go mobile
Deloitte’s purchase of Ubermind last week points to an increased interest by old-school Internet companies to jump aboard the mobile train. Deloitte wanted to amplify the professional services it offers to brands.
Another example of a traditional Internet company investing in mobile includes WPP’s launch of Possible Mobile, a mobile commerce agency.
There have been 41 mobile-related acquisitions worth approximately $780 million in 2011 and 39 investments worth $314 million. Mobile marketing deal activity in 2011 increased 150 percent from 2010, according to Petsky Prunier’s summary of 2011 M&A and investment activity.
Service providers are also consolidation in the mobile space. Some of the noteworthy mobile acquisitions in 2011 included Motricity’s $93 million deal for mobile marketing provider Adenyo, Augme Technologies’ $45 million purchase of mobile marketing firm Hipcricket and Lenco Mobile’s $42 million acquisition of mobile marketing company iLoop Mobile.
“The recent acquisitions we’re seeing in the mobile space bear striking similarities to the Agency of Record (AOR) relationships that formed in the traditional advertising sector 50-plus years ago,” said Jessica Legg, product marketing manager at Digimarc, Beaverton, OR. “In the Mad Men era of agencies, we saw a model established where brands created retainer agreements with big ad firms—based on the two-for approach of tapping a resource with a broad range of capabilities at an all you can eat price.
“But those glory days are gone, as the media landscape has become more fragmented and complex, the Agency of Record is in decline—because no agency can do all things well,” she said. “Less CMOs are hiring traditional creative AOR’s, and instead are opting to work with a mixture of firms with highly specialized areas of expertise, including mobile service providers.”
Brands that still have traditional AOR’s are still funding big budget programs with other service providers—often because their main agency does not have the bandwidth, is not agile enough, or does not have expertise in that area, per Ms. Legg.
“There are some comparisons that can be drawn to what’s going on in the mobile arena,
” Ms. Legg said.
“No developer can be all things. Unless a brand has the capital and a justifiable amount of ongoing work in each area to acquire mobile firms across the spectrum of capabilities—there will always be a market where mobile companies with unique and compelling service offerings will thrive,” she said.
“It’s up to mobile service providers to find out what the thing is they do really well, and do it better than anyone else.”
The verdict
So is all of this mobile M&A activity good or bad for service providers?
Brennan Hayden, vice president of WDA, East Lansing, MI, believes it is good news.
“These acquisitions are a welcome validation that competent mobile executions are critical to a healthy marketing program, and that expertise is in short supply,” Mr. Hayden said. “With these acquisitions, it is now in even shorter supply.
“Even for those vendors looking to do business with the companies mentioned, I would go so far to say that the volume of external expenditure on mobile services at these companies is about to increase dramatically,” he said.
Mr. Hayden believes that the volume of work still exceeds the resource available, and the acquisitions are being made primarily to provide leadership and core internal functionality that necessarily resides in-house.
Once these essential elements are in-place, the ability of these acquiring companies to out-source will increase, simply due to the speed at which they need to move, per Mr. Hayden.
“The bottom-line in that you can’t outsource what you can’t manage, and you can’t manage what you don’t understand,” Mr. Hayden said. “That has been the fundamental problem in mobile marketing budgets for years.
“These acquisitions mark a very encouraging turning-point in this regard,” he said. “Companies can no longer punt on the subject of mobile marketing.
“They have to get serious, they have to understand and invest in that understanding. These acquisitions are a sign of that investment, and I would suspect there are definitely more to come.”
Mobile: The Industry of the Future
Take your stake in the mobile marketing game, because the industry is booming with success.
With so many new innovations in mobile technology flooding the market—smart phones, mobile web, and social media platforms—it’s no wonder the trend is moving to the fore so quickly.
Let’s think about the facts. Cell phones have become the nucleus of people’s lives in the past decade. Approximately 90% of the U.S. population owns one, and about 98% of those cell phones are SMS-enabled. What’s even more remarkable is that about 99% of all text messages are read by recipients—most within three minutes. You do the math.
The newer generations are constantly on-the-go, engaged in their mobile devices, and more technology savvy than those in the past, which is why the marketing world has learned to adapt. Understanding those trends and leveraging the mobile opportunities is absolutely essential to marketing in the future.
eMarketer, a group dedicated to research and trend analysis on digital marketing and media, projects that the global market for text message marketing will reach $12 billion in 2011.
The reality is that mobile has an advantage over other advertising mediums. It’s relevant, instantaneous, personalized, and the reach is beyond compare.
At Google Inc.’s Think Mobile today, Dennis Woodside, senior vice president of the Americas at Google said, “We believe that mobile will create the largest technology market ever,” he said. “This market will dwarf the PC and all the PC industry has done.”
With experts expressing such high expectations for the industry, it’s a mystery as to why some businesses aren’t yet channeling the power of mobile.
The industry has hit a global critical mass, and its lightning-fast evolution is nothing like the world has ever seen before. But as the network of mobilized consumers is expanding, so can your business.
Cash in on the opportunities and move forward with the trend. Don’t just sit back and watch as mobile transforms into one of the most lucrative markets in the world. Jump in.
