I hear people often say 'this is the year of mobile' - which people convince me it is. However, people also say 'every year they it's the year of the mobile but it never is' which then makes me think, maybe it's not? Though, after a presentation by one of Google's top advertisers for mobile communication, I have been more inclined to think that maybe this is the year for mobile advertisement.
The mobile revolution was started by Steve jobs - he brought about the iPhone; the most internet friendly smartphone which changed the way in which we use our phones. This revolutionised the market, which later Samsung and Motorola fully embraced, bringing some tough competition to the market.
The mobile has now become our constant companion, something we check more than we think we do. In fact, on average our phones are never more than 80cm away from our body. This has brought about habits such as dual screening, where we watch TV with our devices at hand; 54% of people actively use their smartphone whilst watching TV.We know how often people use their smartphones - think about how often you unlock your phone, it is something we use throughout the day at different touchpoints - but it's knowing how and when people use it, in order to determine whether to invest in mobile advertising. It's about knowing when to jump on the band wagon. For example, purchases made via a mobile phone usually have low price points - 28% of items bought via a smartphone include flights, concerts and trains. This is where Easyjet were smart to develop an app which allowed people to buy and manage bookings via their mobile phone as a result of some valuable market insights of an emerging market. On the other hand, if you sell luxury cars, you might not necessarily sell your cars through the phone but you might direct them to a show room.
There is also a trend of brands creating apps just because everyone else is, but this is dangerous territory and could be counter-effective, The point of the app is for people to use it regularly, which statistics say that we only have maximum of 8 apps which we use actively. There are too many mundane apps which people do not use or want, but brands feel they should be there. If anything, we are starting to experience 'app fatigue', so making sure your brand is relevant for an app is absolutely crucial - they need to be engaging as that's why we have apps in the first place.
I do feel however, every website should be mobile optimised - to allow people the choice to find out more about the brand via mobile should they wish too - after all, you do not want to be missing out on potential visits to your site. A staggering statistic shows that 40% of people will go to a competitor website if they suffered a bad mobile experience - so this in fact can tarnish your reputation as a brand! Despite Easyjet having a brilliant app, they still have not mobile optimised their site - which suggests to me that they have missed a trick there.
Some tips about how to go about mobile optimising your site are;
- Simplify navigation
- Be thumb friendly
- Design for visibility (use of colours, plenty of space, 3D effects)
- Make it accessible
- Make it easy to convert
- Listen, Learn and Iterate
(for a full personalised report - howtogetmo.com)
In all, mobile advertising is a great place to be, with some very strong statistics backing this up - but making sure you understand how people use their mobiles will help you develop a mobile advertising campaign relevant to your audience. You can get mobile statistics for free at ourmobileplanet.com.
