[dropcap]N[/dropcap]ow-a-days people have their own way to engage with brands. Mobile today, plays a crucial role in a person’s life. People are mostly dependent on mobile phones when it comes to day to day tasks. So this small device has a huge impact on the marketing industry. Mobile has become so versatile that whatever done on desktop computers can be now done on mobiles. From opening mails to visiting websites to reading content, everything is now accessible on mobiles. Mobile marketing is growing popular day by day.
Statistics say:
- 80% of Internet users own a smartphone.
- Smartphones, tablets, and other mobile platforms host up to 60% of the total digital media data for the users.
So mobiles are an effective way of advertising and communicating with the audience and so Mobile Marketing comes into existence.
So what is mobile marketing?
It is an art of marketing your business and also can be called a digital marketing strategy to appeal to the mobile users. It is a way of reaching the target audience on their smartphones/ tablets or other mobile devices through websites, SMS/MMS, e-mails, apps or social media altogether.
One big advantage of Mobile marketing is when done right it can provide potential customers or customers with personalized information like time and location, straight on their smart phones so they can get what exactly they need even if they are on the go.
The era of mobiles has arrived. The future of marketing is Mobile Marketing. If a company or business is not opting for Mobile marketing yet, they’re already trailing behind.
According to statistics, Mobile marketing is growing day by day, and people are using mobiles more than desktop. You can see this in the graph below.
Going back in Time:
Advertisements, a long time ago were shared via SMS. In late 1990s to 2000s, people used to share information and market their products via SMS and MMS to phones. People not only sent texts but also news sponsored by advertisers. This led to experimenting of mobile ads and mobile marketing initiatives.
Companies whether large or small send loyalty offers and exclusive promotions via text messages. Back then, this grew to be a dominant advertising strategy. It led to successive developments in the mobile technology as well.
Phones started getting smarter when the first Iphone was released which became a game changer for both mobile and advertising industries. Following was with release of smartphones and other mobile gadgets which led to large-scale marketing of businesses.
Today:
The evolution of mobile marketing is continuing through years and now mobile advertising companies are offering different and new variety of mobile ads. Interstitial ads, overlay or native and video ads leads to higher engagement with the users.
New and well-designed ads and marketing strategies are pleasing both customers and advertisers alike. Those banner ads and clunky strategies are no more seen.
It has become extremely important for mobile apps developers to include mobile ads for smooth seamless experience. Consumers are seen spending 88% of their online time on apps rather than on browser so marketing via apps has become more prominent.
Mobile advertising strategies:
As mentioned above, other than app-advertising there are several other types of mobile marketing strategies which help in large-scale user engagement.
Location-based marketing and advertisements: Ads that appear on smartphones based on the user’s location relative to specific area or business.
E.g.: Some business owners want their advertisement to be displayed to users who are located within a distance of 10 kilometers.
Mobile image and search ads: Image ads which are designed to appear on mobile screens or basic google search ads especially designed for mobiles often features extra add-on extension.
SMS: It is basically getting a potential customer’s number and sending them text offers which is now considered old school but still considered.
The bottom line:
A mobile marketing strategy is not a one-man’s effort, but it is a large part of any long-term or short-term marketing campaign and its importance is growing day by day. From email to PPC, to SEO, to content, to social media marketing, there is a mobile marketing to reach every part of the audience.
Optimizing websites and emails for mobile devices, taking benefit of the SMS and MMS channels for an engaged audience are big projects. Mobile technology is not a fad that’ll go anytime soon. Optimizing marketing strategies for mobile will give the brand an edge in the competition.