One of the biggest challenges facing brands and marketers is how to approach the fast-growing mobile market. While it offers huge potential to reach consumers, it is still not completely clear about the best way to do it.
This is why we put together panel for meshmarketing featuring Jason Chaney, Jennifer Lum, Amar Narain and Naeem Lakhani that will offer insight and advice on what to do.
Here are some tips from Olive Media, one of meshmarketing’s sponsors about how to move forward with the wireless market.
1. Consider the platform – Smartphone or Tablet?
Not all mobile devices are created equal so where should you focus your efforts? Smartphones are best used to reach consumers at the point of purchase, while tablets give you the opportunity to convert an audience actively consuming content by showcasing your creative. If you are dabbling into mobile commerce, you’ll want to make sure you’ve created a seamless shopping experience for tablet users who show some of the highest conversion rates and purchase sizes out of all platforms.
2. Tap Into Existing Behaviours
There are many opportunities to leverage mobile-first behaviours while also being strategic in how you chose to engage your audience. Instagram is a great example. Several retailers and fashion brands used it to showcase their products and to reach an audience of influencers interested in their brand. If a mobile platform allows you to attract the right users while tapping into the types of behaviours you are targeting, then adding it to your mobile mix makes sense.
3. Leverage Technology
You don’t always have to reinvent the wheel to stand out. Instead, you can leverage existing technology such as maps, GPS and audio to reach your audience. For instance, if you are trying to drive in-store traffic, you can use the GPS feature of the device to drive in-store traffic. Our Magnet product has been very successful in doing just that, using enticing in-ad offers and interactive maps to draw nearby users into stores. With the appropriate offer, you can really convert your audience.
4. Experiment with Time and Day
Beyond thinking about what people are doing on their mobile is getting insight into WHEN they are doing it. In the early evening, smartphones are often a companion for errands, so this might be a great time to drive in-store traffic. If you are a restaurant, you could lure in hungry workers with an offer using location-based targeting during lunchtime. Incorporating these types of insights into your mobile planning can really help you ensure you don’t miss the mark.
5. Create Meaningful Moments
A meaningful reward during an achievement stage within a game can be a powerful tactic, especially if the moment and incentive is right. We’ve partnered with Beintoo, a rewards-based platform that has seen this type of campaign result in incredible conversions. To succeed with this approach, the reward needs to of appropriate value (coupons, samples, virtual currency)to give the user the sense that they’ve earned it.
6. Create effective messaging
When setting your communication objectives, you really have to get in a mobile mindset to ensure your messaging will come through. Be catchy, clear & concise, delivering enough content to influence the user without bombarding them with too much information. Mobile audiences are busy multitaskers on-the-go and you don’t want to waste a valuable opportunity to capture their attention by losing their attention before getting to the point.
7. Creative is Key
What kind of creative should you develop to get mobile users’ attention? Keep it simple, fun, and “to the point” while also designing it for the screen which it will be viewed. There are really engaging executions you can build to wow tablet users that don’t require downloads. We build a really innovative tablet ad for our automotive client that performed incredibly well. Additionally, your creative agency should put design thought and consideration of your executions should be focused on mobile users. You can find more info on building mobile creative here.
8. Don’t Forget Mobile Web
When it comes to discover-ability, a mobile web presence is absolutely critical. With smartphone users turning to their device to search for relevant information in real time, and tablet users casually browsing the web, it’s more important than ever to provide a functional mobile experience that is easy to navigate on all devices. If you are going to run a mobile campaign, you’ll especially need to have a mobile optimized landing page to drive traffic to so it’s important to have it in your mix.
9. Bring Media and Creative Closer Together
Brands that are truly innovative in this space and stand out with never been done before campaigns draw in publishers, creative and media agencies together early on in the planning process to avoid having a disconnect between strategy and execution. Mobile is still relatively new in Canada so it is important to invest time in planning and collaborating to ensure your mobile creative and media placements work well together to achieve your marketing objectives.
10. Mobile is Not a Standalone Medium – Think Integrated
Mobile accompanies users EVERYWHERE. When thinking of ways to get creative, think beyond what can be done on a smartphone screen. The most engaging campaigns will leverage smartphone to elevate a user’s experience in the physical world. This means considering how mobile can work with print, out-of-home and experiential, to list a few. Think about how your mobile initiatives can really add value to everything else you are doing to really create a meaningful experience.
For more insight into how to create an effective mobile strategy, follow us on: @olive_media @web2mobile OR email us at info@olivemedia.ca
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