Mobile, mobile and mobile. If someone asked you to describe the top three digital marketing trends for next year, that might be your answer. As 2012, the year of social media, draws to a close; it’s time to start planning for 2013. For marketers that will mean looking at ways to market through mobile.
Mobile marketing is nothing new. Most marketers have used some form of mobile strategy already. But as the technology becomes more and more advanced, the opportunities presented by mobile are getting a whole lot bigger. Up to now, mobile marketing was a nice addition to your digital marketing strategy; next year mobile will be the headline act for most marketers.
The growth in mobile web use and smart phone ownership has been mind-blowing. Last month mobile devices accounted for 10.3% of all web browsing. Look around your office, assuming everyone is online on desktops; how many people are you looking at? One tenth of that number are online via mobile devices while you read this, probably in the same building. Some of them are probably using both device types.
Mobile is huge and mobile devices are creating opportunities that marketers wouldn’t even have considered possible last year. So how will marketers leverage that mobile usage in 2013?
Augmented Reality
This could be the big one, though next year will probably only see baby steps. Augmented reality is the perfect digital marketing tool. It allows brands to create useful services that will generate revenue and make users think ‘cool’. That’s the only word you can use when presented with augmented reality. It works by turning your phone’s camera into a real world browser. The software recognizes certain items, which trigger content.
Augmented reality is already being built into mapping apps for Microsoft and Nokia’s Lumia and it will likely become a standard feature with all camera/map-enabled devices. The opportunities for marketers are huge. Either by placing ands and discounts into these maps, or by creating signature apps that offer in store augmented reality. Imagine walking into a shop and looking through your phone’s camera to see exclusive discounts. Or pointing your phone at a product and seeing it come to life in your hands. Those ideas only scratch the surface of what augmented reality could mean for mobile marketing.
Payments
This one has been in the pipeline for a while, but 2013 could be a breakthrough year. Near field communication (NFC), the system that allows you to send data from a mobile device to a reader is becoming standard to most mobile devices. The system uses a similar function to Visa’s one-touch cards. The potential benefit for users is the opportunity to pay with a phone in one touch.
The opportunity for marketers is to create NFC coupons or discounts. When people start to use such a convenient service, they are likely to lean towards the products that support it. Which means finding clever ways to use it will be vital.
Location Services
So much of marketing is about data and targeting. That’s why social creates such an opportunity for marketers. Campaigns that are targeted at the right demographics are always the most successful and social media lets you target friends of fans within a particular demographic. With location services, marketers can use a whole new type of targeting.
The GPS transmitter that is now standard in almost every device can track where users are when they post online. And people willing check in to places and willingly share their location. For marketers that means three different ways to target marketing efforts.
You could create discounts in exchange for check-ins, literally drawing people to your location. It also allows for geo-fencing, where you target ads at users who enter specified locations based on a set radius. A real opportunity to offer one-off, temporary offers or create really local ads. Finally it allows you to develop profiles of users based on their travel and location patterns. People that regularly pass your store can be targeted as a potential customer.
These are existing mobile technologies. There are marketers working on each as we speak. They key for anyone who hasn’t considered them yet will be figuring out how to catch up.
Mobile marketing is on the rise, it offers several advantages over television and print media advertising and we have developed a guide that covers all the key points that you will need to know about mobile marketing. Download Now!
Have just discovered the Aurasma app, which allows one to create one’s own Augmented Reality mechanism… for free, and on one’s mobile! Can’t wait to try it out!!