“In 2014 mobile will take off …” Marketers have been hearing similar “this is the year” messages every year since the inception of the iPhone. New predictions are supported by stats like this one: a 2013 Nielsen report suggested a 64% penetration of smartphones in the US with 80% of all new purchases being smartphones. With that large of audience, how could it not be “the year?”
We believe that marketers will finally realize the value of mobile marketing in 2014, just not in predictable ways. While advertisers dream up ways of delivering omni-channel digital experiences to include mobile, forward-thinking marketers are dreaming up ways to put location driven purpose into their customer touch strategy. In essence, innovative marketers are honing in on two main ideas around mobile touch points:
1) The device as an extension of a person rather than a delivery vehicle.
2) The true value of tapping into location combined with personalization.
While it is understood that mobile devices are omnipresent with consumers, there has been a systemic disconnect in how brands engage with consumers in the moment as brands wait for customers to self-identify their interests. Brands have been sitting back and waiting for consumers to access their content via sites, apps and social channels and hoping to influence decisions, rather than using mobile technology to automate their “check in”. Until recently, location based technology hasn’t been easily accessed, understood or implemented in a way that brands can use to effectively engage their audiences.
We believe that in 2014, the launch of Apple’s iBeacon, the promise of Android’s Datzing, and advances in NFC and RFID technologies will provide the technical infrastructure needed for brands to connect with highly-specific target audiences in real time based on their present location. These technologies enable brands to interact with audiences through three proximity levels and conduct geo fencing at: city/street (IP location), store/office (Wifi) and isle (iBeacon, Datzing, NFC), providing innovative brands with the ability to connect with their customers in the moment in a way that digital marketing today doesn’t.
The urgency for increased sophistication in the use of location-based mobile technology is greatest in the retail industry, where bringing the digital customer experience to the storefront is a growing expectation among consumers. A 2012 Interactive Advertising Bureau study found that 73% of consumers have used a mobile phone in a store with 66% using smartphones to aid in their shopping. Further, there is a desire for the mobile shopping experience to improve for consumers. A recent survey by IBM of more than 28,000 respondents indicated more than half of consumers (56%) are willing to share their location with their favorite retailers in exchange for a more personalized shopping experience.
The potential doesn’t stop with shopping. One national retailer successfully used location-based technology through RetailNext to conduct research for a product line extension across specific customer segments. Rather than investing in traditional market research tactics, the retailer isolated products to segments in a live store environment and measured traffic flows, category traffic and fitting room traffic up to conversion across the segment. The retailer was able to test where and how people interacted with specific test products by their location, and use the data as an integral component to the successful launch of the product line.
So how can digital marketers incorporate these new technologies into their mobile strategies for 2014? Stop waiting for the year of mobile to arrive and start crafting purposeful customer interactions via mobile locations. Here is how to get started:
• Identify your key segments for mobile touch (VIP, High Value, Frequent, etc.)
• Plot out how location may impact business objectives across these segments
• Select a location platform based on those objectives
• Activate the platform with a defined customer experience
• Personalize the location experience through analysis and design
• Integrate data into your customer management system
• Test, learn, refine, repeat.
Stop thinking as mobile as another channel to maintain and start thinking about how it fits within your overall marketing strategy as an extension of person. Your year of mobile will be realized when you integrate the device into your customer touch strategy.