IMPACT: Multi-tasking Connected Devices Can Boost Mobile Marketing Campaigns
Standalone devices delivering one service are in danger of being steamrolled by multitasking machines designed to bring more value and connectivity to demanding consumers.
Case in point: the first-generation of e-readers. At first, reading books on a big, clear screen was enough. But Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook would never make it without continued innovation.
Amazon has certainly beefed up the Kindle. Now, Barnes & Noble, the largest physical book retailer in the U.S. is improving the Nook, an e-ink, e-reader device released on the market in November 2009. This week, the company unveiled the NOOKcolor, a device that uses a 7-inch LCD/LED screen to display books, newspapers and magazines. The NOOKcolor will hit the shelves in the U.S. on November 19 and sell for $249.
Beyond the color screen, NOOKcolor will offer games, music via Pandora, integration through social networks, a limited productivity suite, and Nook Kids, which aims to bring books to life through a “read to me” application.
HOW I SEE IT: The market research firm NPD Group forecasts a drop in spending on consumer electronics this holiday season. Think of that before you buy the hype that people can’t live without the latest, greatest gadgets. Barnes & Noble is touting the anti-glare feature of the coming Nook. But that feature probably only matters to consumers who have passed on the iPad because the device is tough to read in bright light. So are consumers willing to pay for it in a time of tight budgets? In a sluggish economy, it’s all about how many cool and useful features you get in a device for the best price. Once consumers make their choices, it’s up to marketers to render experiences properly. The end-game is — and will continue to be — about pushing the benefits of mobile marketing and advertising to the device consumers have in their hand. And the multitude of multi-tasking devices presents us with the opportunity to push marketing the furthest we’ve seen.
Smartphone market split
A milestone figure that speaks volumes. Gartner group tells us that worldwide mobile voice and data revenue will exceed one trillion dollars a year by 2014. Mobile will generate revenue from a wide range of services such as advertising and application and sales.
“We see three major eras of mobility,” Nick Jones, a Gartner analyst, said in a press statement. “The device era was characterized by iconic devices such as the Motorola RAZR and was dominated by device manufacturers. This was followed by the application era, which arrived with the iPhone, popularizing application and media stores. Going forward, the service and social era will build on the application era, but it will be characterized by cloud services and streaming media. Applications will survive, but often as a component of a more complex end-to-end experience involving the cloud.”
No matter how many connected devices hit the market, none will have the impact of smartphones. In mature markets, Gartner says, smartphones will dominate device sales for the foreseeable future. Predictably, the most popular mobile device type shipped globally through 2014 will be feature phones. They will continue to see huge uptake in emerging markets.
HOW I SEE IT: The digital divide used to be about the information haves and the have-nots. The Gartner report confirms another split between the smartphone markets (primarily North America and much of Western Europe) and featurephone markets (Africa, Asia and the rest of the world). Mobile isn’t complicated, but it is becoming much more fragmented globally. Global marketers will have to make the effort to understand and address the differences. But there is good reason to make the extra effort. Don’t think the creatives are split across geographic lines, with text messaging for emerging markets and rich media for developed markets. No matter how simple or sophisticated the device is, starting a conversation via text may be the most effective mobile marketing mechanism of all.
3 things to do mobile marketing – fast
As we head into the holiday shopping season, allow me to leave you with some valuable insights I picked up on during a recent webinar.
Whether you fly or fail may depend on how well you get three things right: loading speed, easy navigation and quality and relevancy of content. This was the key message that Joy Liuzzo, senior director of marketing and mobile research at InsightExpress, delivered during her presentation.
“If you get these nailed down, you are more than halfway there,” Joy told participants. “If you want to encourage purchases on the site, then think about the number of steps consumers will have to go through and try to keep it to the smallest number.”
HOW I SEE IT: According to some estimates, 40 percent of consumers will begin holiday shopping by Halloween. If you are a marketer trying to pull together your mobile website in these hours, then good luck. We all know that successful marketing programs, mobile or otherwise, take planning. If you are hell-bent on getting started now in time for the holiday shopping season, then focus on the mobile tactics and mechanisms that take the least time to implement. You can still jump in with mobile display advertising or text messaging, for instance. And check Joy’s three criteria for a good mobile experience off your checklist as you go along. But don’t take another step until you understand how the endeavor ties to your business goals.
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A career author and sought-after speaker, Jeff Hasen builds, strengthens and protects brands. Companies benefiting from his talents have landed on Wired’s list of most innovative entities on Earth and been named pioneers and the early leader in the burgeoning mobile marketing category. Jeff co-created the certification program for the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). He is one of only two individuals certified by the MMA to train professionals and students on mobile marketing definitions, techniques and benefits. At Hipcricket, he conceived and led the execution of an accelerated rebranding effort in advance of the mobile marketing software and services company being named “the early leader in the mobile marketing space in the U.S.” by Frost and Sullivan. Hipcricket also won consecutive annual pioneer awards from CTIA — The Wireless Association. Follow Jeff on Twitter (@jeffhasen).
