A prominent executive in mobile marketing has offered some key advice to creatives holding media jobs in mobile advertising agencies: focus on customer experience.
Writing in the online marketing news and information outlet iMediaConnection, Debora Lance (Executive VP and Managing Director of mobile marketing agency Walhstrom) draws attention to research from Borrell Associates. This research forecasts that advertisers are set to more than double their spending on local mobile advertising this year, from $1.5 billion in 2012 to £3.2 billion.
She writes, “If your mobile campaign solves a problem, makes life easier, or fulfills a need, customers will interact with your ad, ultimately driving sales.”
Lance recommends the deployment three core strategies.
Use geo-targeting wisely
Location-targeted advertising is, according to Lance, an “extremely powerful” means of identifying interested consumers and prompting them to visit or make a purchase. As she puts it, “Imagine receiving a reminder to pick up charcoal for the grill when you’re standing in front of the meat counter at the grocery store or learning about a great kennel when you’re with your dog at the local dog park.”
Foursquare’s recent experience demonstrates the power admirably. It tested self-promoting listings with a cluster of small firms in New York which let them push out mobile offers rapidly and easily. It was a big success, and will go nationwide shortly.
Push and customize
Mobility lends a new twist to incentivized calls to action. They can be immediate offers, like a restaurant offering a mobile coupon that’ll expire at 6.00 p.m. But timing is key – the offer needs to go out when the customer is most receptive and not too far in advance (or they’ll forget about it).
Finally, campaigns need to be customized to the advertiser’s target audience. Mobile website Fooducate, which aims to help people make healthier food choices, uses visitor data like birthday, health goals, weight and exercise levels to pleasantly surprise users with relevant promotions. These could be an offer on new tennis shoes from a local retailer after 300 miles of running, or an ad for a new outfit after losing ten pounds.
People will share information so long as marketers use it to give them the right offers and experience. And recent research by Flurry shows that consumers expect mobile advertising because they know it provides free content.