2014 is set to be an exciting year for mobile marketing and advertising. Our dependence on mobile devices has momentously increased alongside our desire for convenience and flexibility in today’s busy world. Phones, tablets and laptops are a vital part of how we communicate, share, and access information every day. According to a recent Forbes article, 87 percent of connected device sales will be smartphones and tablets by 2017.[1] This past Christmas, tablet activation was 10 times greater than 2012![2]
The graphic below, provided by Collective & Nielsen’s The Multi-Screen Dayparting Playbook, displays user preferences for each mobile device:
Luckily for us, the mobile device obsession has produced innovative avenues for marketers and brands to creatively and strategically target consumers. Two of our resident Digital Media Buyers, Lindsay Khouri and Antigone Smith (who both attended a Rocket Fuel lunchtime session on mobile marketing trends this past week) filled us in on trends to keep an eye on this year, along with the challenges and opportunities that will affect marketing strategies:
- Location-based or Geo-targeting Marketing: According to Rocket Fuel, over 52% of budgets spent on mobile marketing will go to location-specific targeting – your devices’ GPS opens you up to being targeted in real time.[3] A challenge for marketers to stay on top of will be Apple products and the way they limit targeting methods due to cookie blocking.
- Clustering: Lindsay let us in on a creative example. “A sneaker retailer company used ‘path targeting’ to follow users along the route of the NYC marathon. In doing so, they created bigger focuses or ‘clusters’ where there was a higher number of people (mainly the start and finish of the marathon route). After gathering all the data based on the wireless devices GPS’s, they were able to re-target the users after they had left the area. Rocket Fuel found that these users came from all over the world from the US to China and Australia!” This example shows how the sneaker retailer was able to use clustering to reach folks after the marathon to continue building brand awareness.
- Marketing Across Multiple Devices: Lindsay has been seeing a shift in multi-screen use growing and notes, “As users acquire many different devices (desktops, mobile, tablet) it’s more important to be able to reach one user across all of their devices in order to match their intent at a specific moment in time.” Mobile consumers do not have the same objectives as consumers browsing online. Looking at Collective and Nielson’s graphic above, it displays that while users are utilizing multiple devices, each serves a different purpose. Mobile is focused on real-time connections and fast, quick information, whereas online users manage life, finances and plan things over time.
- Getting Creative: Mobile marketing will create a unique challenge for messaging and content as messages will need to be simpler, appealing and tailored to the recipient’s interests. “Advertisers looking to target consumers via mobile will need to be on their creative game and not only keep in mind the difference in consumer behavior, but also the small banner sizes and real-estate to share a message,” stated Antigone.
As mobile marketing continues to grow with popularity, challenges will also evolve, forcing campaigns to become more innovative, personal and competitive. We’re up for the challenge and we can’t wait to see what happens.
