If there is any doubt in your mind about the degree to which mobile has become an
integral part of your daily life, perhaps you should ask yourself – “what would I be
prepared to give up in order to keep my smartphone?’
Last year Heidi Cohen, president of Riverside Marketing Strategies, published a
report on her website which revealed that 45% of Americans would give up alcohol,
13% would give up sex and 34% would give up chocolate for their smartphones.
Smartphones have opened the door to a mobile marketplace where consumers use
apps, watch videos, connect on social media and search for information. For
marketers and advertisers, this creates a number of possibilities for brand
communication which are not always achievable using only traditional forms of
media.
Sarah-Jane Boden, chief firestarter at strategic content marketing and social media
agency Soul Providers, says that it is fast becoming standard practice to include
mobile advertising as part of a broader digital advertising strategy.
“It’s no longer a question of whether someone, no matter their economic status, has
a mobile phone or not, but rather how smart their mobile phone is and where on
their phone we can communicate with them the most effectively.’
“Moment’ advertising
Wading through ad clutter is a daily exercise for the average consumer. However,
the key to reaching potential customers via mobile may be less about shouting the
loudest and more about being available to present them with a potential solution,
when they are looking for one.
Shaun Rosen, CEO of mobile media agency Mobiclicks explains: “In South Africa and
Africa, mobile is a mass medium – almost everyone has a mobile phone
irrespective of LSM, age, gender or location. Businesses are able to directly reach
consumers on their devices and communicate with them. Mobile as a medium
therefore allows marketers to reach the right audience at the right time to drive
higher quality leads for brands.’
Boden adds that understanding how a particular target audience spends time on
their mobiles is crucial in successfully connecting with them. “Your more affluent
target audience is using apps so in-app ads are highly relevant,’ she explains. “Your
broader markets are using social media platforms so the ads we’re placing on there
have great results. In-browser ads are always going to have relevance and uptake –
how often do you pick up your phone to Google?’
Reach and scope
What makes mobile a particularly handy communication tool above all others is that
it is a non-stop, can’t-live-without, carrier of information and connectivity. Don’t
know what time the movie starts? Want to read a review before you make a
product purchase? Where’s the nearest pizza place? – Mobile is the one place that
can conveniently give you this information on-the-go. Boden sites the always-on
and in-consumers’ pockets benefits as well as cost, ease of media management and
low barrier to entry as mobile triumphs over other forms of media.
Rosen adds: “With SIM card penetration at 128% in South Africa you can see what
the potential is. This means that there are more SIM cards than people in the
country. Mobile also allows for Key Performance Indicators to be set right from the
word go and monitored hourly in order to drive sales and reduce costs, when
compared with other media.’
Because mobile reach can also be accurately measured, marketers are able to
adjust their campaign strategy based on real-time data and results – a super-power
when it comes to delivering a return on investment.
Annnnd action!
“We have found that mobile campaigns can work for all audiences, from lower end
feature phone users to the more tech savvy tablet users. What is important is how
you engage with them with the correct, powerful call to action,’ remarks Rosen.
For all marketers playing in all mediums, the end goal is to entice people to enter
brand conversations, converting them from passer-by consumers into engaged
customers. Mobile seems to consistently deliver these responses, if the correct call
to action can be mechanised. “For example a marketer targeting the lower LSM
would need to have a simple landing page that renders correctly on the lower end
feature phones, whereas a brand that wants to interact with the higher LSM
smartphone and tablet users could use more rich media to engage users on these
devices,’ Rosen explains.
Boden recalls a recent campaign which effectively delivered the desired results by
integrating mobile mechanisms. The goal was to recruit medical doctors in rural
areas.
“We spent time researching the mobile and digital behaviour of three different
doctor profiles and we then established where best to reach them on their mobile
phones and launched a highly-targeted rich-content campaign,’ she explains.
“We observed the data and results very carefully and then tweaked our content,
targeting and placement, as well as our spend, to optimise our returns. The results
were incredible; we managed to recruit over 800 high quality leads in less than two
months. Our client was blown away.’
– Carly Barnes
