Background

Millward Brown’s AdReaction (2014) study of 30 different markets ascertains the amount of time a day we spend glued to our mobile screens. It found that globally around 3 hours a day are being spent on mobile devices, 147 minutes on smartphones and an additional 50 minutes on tablets.

However, the chart below indicates that although Smartphones occupy most of our time, TV ads have the highest percentage of marketing favourability. Which means there is still room for improvement when it come to mobile marketing.

Millward Brown’s AdReaction (2014)

Large companies often use mobile apps as a marketing tool. Merzlova (2013) describes the importance of an app being useful during a persons ‘downtime’ and that they should create interesting leads. However, goes on to advise that an effective marketing activation function is essential, for example, a game instead of being pushy and simply advertising a product or service.

An example of a very ‘useful’ app is the Ikea augmented reality home planner that allows customers to take a picture of a room in their home and position a piece of Ikea furniture in place to see it’s suitability. In the same article the importance of mobile marketing is further reinforced by the fact that 91% of smartphone owners have their device within touching distance 24/7 (Rajeck 2015).

Another interesting insight by DeMers (2016) who describes the benefits of providing timely communication to customers via text message. This recommendation is justified by statistics from Wachs (2013) who states that 98% of promotional text messages are opened compared to 22% of similar emails.

As we know there are many methods of mobile marketing some examples seen above, however, as the heading of this blog suggests getting the balance right is crucial in order to target, retain and enhance a customer’s journey. Rowles (2014) suggests that a company should not have technology for the sake of technology; there should be clear aims and objectives of what the initiative is going to be used for. In addition he recommends a company focuses more on and has a strong site optimised for mobile before creating an app.

One of the most common and widely recognised marketing concepts is the ‘Marketing Mix’. The mix consists of four p’s, Product, Price, Place, Promotion these four principals have become known as the most important consideration of any marketing campaign (Hopkins and Turner 2012). In addition to Borden (1964) four p’s there is now a modern version known as the four c’s of the Marketing Mix, Customer, Cost, Convenience and Communication (Acutt 2015). Lauterborn (1990) developed this modification shown below focuses more on the customer, for example, the third C convenience, instead of just placing a product somewhere the accessibility is emphasised (Hamilton 2005).

Lauterborn (1990)

Data from Ofcom (2015) confirms that Smartphones have over taken desktop PC’s and laptops for online browsing and that two thirds of people now own a Smartphone.

With the data above the importance of mobile marketing becomes even more evident. However, a more recent concept known as location-based marketing is now all the rage. “Take your brand to the people, don’t just think about retail stores,” Khan (2015).

An example of a very interesting and effective location-based initiative is by Nivea. The company attach a bluetooth proximity wristband to magazine ads that customers children can wear. The wristband links to the Nivea app which sends alerts to a parent if their child goes out of a certain proximity on the beach for example. This initiative gives an incentive for customers to download the Nivea app, which could lead to sales and brand loyalty (Rao 2015).

Jones (2016) expresses the importance of location-based marketing not breaching the consumers privacy. He suggests giving customers the option to opt in or opt out and jokes that there is a ‘fine line between creepy and cool’. Cohen (2016) states that 43% of people like brands that approach them with relevant offers but 55% reject brands that overload their phones with content whatever it may be. To summarise it is worth mentioning mobile marketing is about communicating valuable information at the right times to the relevant people.

References