Digital reality today, globally and also in India, is dominated by mobile phones. According to analysts and industry experts, number of mobile phone users in India in 2017 was 730.7 million. In this same year the number of smartphone users in India was 340 million. The number is expected to reach almost 468 million by 2021 and the number of smartphone users is also expected to grow by more than 50% in the next few years.
Today, nearly 63% of global website traffic comes from mobile devices. The world has entered a post PC era, where access to information is made available through ubiquitous networks facilitated by handheld devices – smartphones and tabs.
Mobile marketing is fast emerging as the most effective marketing solution. It is therefore imperative for marketeers to take mobile marketing seriously. The future of all advertising will revolve around setting up successful campaigns on mobile devices. Hence, the prospect in this space is tremendous both for job seekers and entrepreneurs.
Stoodnt.com got in touch with Skannd Tyagi, founder, E Info Solutions, to know more about the dynamics of mobile marketing. According to him, mobile only marketing strategy can be created through one or all of the following mechanisms:
SMS
MMS
Apps
Mobile SEO
Mobile searches
Bluetooth / NFC
QR / AR / Image recognition
Tyagi illustrated the mechanisms further-
1. SMS – Short Message Service (SMS) is still one of the top mobile marketing tools in developing countries. Brands can set up various formats of SMS campaigns – from direct messaging to short code based interactive brand engagement.
2. MMS – Multimedia Message Service (MMS) allows rich media to be delivered to the phone in the form of an image, video or even a sound clip. An augmented form of SMS, they are really effective in conversion – especially in developed countries where internet bandwidth is relatively cheaper.
3. App based marketing – 80% of mobile device time is spent on apps, with games being the largest time investment for app users. Services like AdMob and InMobi help advertisers create mobile ads that appear within third party mobile apps. The same can be extended to app based games where in-game ads can appear as popups. Location based campaigns can also be administered based on the location being detected through the mobile OS.
4. Mobile SEO – Websites which are optimised for Mobile devices are called Mobile Responsive websites. Based on the the SEO performed on-site and off-site really augments their appearance on searches made on search engines on mobile devices. Location based targeting also plays a role here.
5. Mobile searches – These are search engine based ads which inspire the user to either click to call, register or click on a location to be guided by maps. These ads are characterised by CTA (Call to Action) properties and have to be worded and designed to inspire action from the TG (Target Group)
6. Bluetooth / NFC – Devices like iBeacons have allowed for brands in retail spaces or commercial spaces to send messages or offers based on the mapping the micro location of the target audience. These are deployed using Bluetooth or NFC (Near Field Communication) and can be made very customised and micro-locationally specific.
7. QR / AR / Image recognition – The advent of technologies like the Apple AR kit have brought Augmented Reality into mainstream apps. QR codes made an entry into the marketing world a couple of years ago. Google’s Computer Vision Algorithms have made image recognition take a quantum leap in being able to create interactive content around physical products which can be viewed through handheld devices. Brands can now add another layer of information on physical products which can be interactive and only be viewed through mobile devices.
Mobile only marketing campaigns and concepts have now become main-stream and they will define how brands will interact with their customer base. The faster brands pivot to the mobile only ad campaigns and reassign physical marketing budgets to innovative and interactive marketing, the more effective they will find their investment.