Each year, some marketing expert proclaims that “it's the year of mobile”, yet every year passes with no noticeable shift in how the majority of brands strategize their mobile presence. Companies are worried about the ROI and marketers are still hesitant to take the risk. With marketing budgets tightening, everyone wants to know that their money is being spent wisely and their risk is minimal.
With brands big and small hesitant to develop a mobile strategy, now is the time to act. Capitalize on the fact that not many brands have ventured into the exciting new mobile medium. Early adopters have a better chance of receiving attention from mobile consumers all while not being lost in the mix. Brands have an opportunity to build a great base. By the time the competition is up and running, you will have already established your mobile brand.
Bringing a brand into the mobile world offers far more possibilities than any other medium right now. The biggest advantage that mobile offers is the personal interactions consumers have with the device. People don't leave their house without their phone, keeping them connected with friends and family 24/7. While around the house their mobile device serves several different purposes from an alarm clock to an entertainment device. Brands have a chance to capitalize on the time invested between consumers and their handset.
Here are a few examples of ways to leverage the power of mobile devices and starting points to strategizing your mobile campaign:
- SMS campaigns – messaging campaigns involve everything from coupons to exclusive offers on discounts at stores located nearest to them. This provides a great way to keep consumers engaged with your brand and connects with a consumer on a personal level. It gives the consumer a sense of being in an exclusive club.
- The mobile Web – With the mobile Web still in its infant stages, brands have a chance to leverage all the new real estate. With many brands hesitant to create a mobile Web presence it is still relatively uncluttered, giving you the chance to stand out and take charge of their space.
- Mobile apps – Apps have proven to be a great way for a brand to interact with their consumers. Apps are installed on the user’s phone and take advantage of the built-in features of the consumer's phone. The app can be a way for the customer to interact with your whether it be through the GPS card and location-based services or their camera.
These are just three of many possibilities that a brand has to interact with consumers on mobile handsets. What about video or email campaigns? All of these options are viable with today’s mobile devices. And costs to deploy and test are lower than you might suspect.
It doesn't matter if 2009 is “the year for mobile,” or not. The sooner brands start to strategize and implement mobile solutions, the sooner they can engage their consumers on a personal level never seen before. Isn't that the ultimate goal for any brand?
By Ryan Evans, director of front end development at Clockwork Active Media Systems.http://www.clockwork.net Clockwork invents, designs, develops and maintains web applications that market, sell, streamline, automate and communicate.
