The rise of the smartphone technology has ensured that today the world is a highly connected place and this has given marketers and advertisers hitherto unheard opportunities to reach out to their consumers. People carry their smartphones everywhere they go and due to this it offers some very compelling reasons for the marketing community to take this platform seriously.
Smartphone technology by its very nature has been a disruptive technology and as such advertisers and marketers had to quickly adapt to this new scenario. But the highly lucrative nature of the mobile platform means it is high time brands concentrate on it to grow their revenues and customer base alike.
Deploying smartphone technology in marketing and advertising
1. A mobile-friendly website is critical
Gone are the days when having a mobile-friendly website was avant-garde. Today it is more of a business imperative. If your site is not mobile optimized then consumers will just move on to the next website. Thus brands have to create a mobile version of your website that loads fast on tablets and smartphones. Create design adhering to the minimalistic principle so that there are no unnecessary impediments to website loading.
Keep your navigation simple and the icons and hyperlinks clutter-free so that users can easily tap it with a finger. Have your landing page relevant to what people are looking for and keep your call to action bold and in large font.
2. Taking personalized service to a new level
The kind of personalization that the smartphone technology affords is unprecedented. Thanks to the rise of the app ecosystem it is convenient for brands to marshal their users to use their apps while shopping or engaging with the brand.
This way brands can gather highly useful information about the user proclivities, past buying habits, user demographic and the ways of motivating consumers be it through discounts, deals, offers and so on. All this has an inordinate amount of impact on advertising and marketing making both these departments highly effective and result-driven thanks to smartphone technology.
3. Information gathering is instant and seamless
Marketers should come to grips with the fact that today the consumers are more informed and tech savvy than ever before. So this puts tremendous onus on the marketing fraternity to streamline their marketing efforts in order to portray their brand in a good light.
Brands early on have to concentrate on their USP so that they can stand out from the competitors. Users have numerous options to research about a brand be it through online search engines, social media reviews and opinions, user comments on various forums, blogs, news articles and so on.
4. Location-based targeting is a real advantage
Thanks to the GPS-enabled phones it is always possible to locate the position of a consumer at any given time. This opens up a world of opportunities in terms of targeted and real-time advertising and marketing. People are most receptive to your advertising messages when they are already in a mood to buy.
By using the information regarding a consumer collated via the mobile apps brands can build a persona about a user and design strategies for advertising and marketing that best suits this persona. By taking into consideration the location of the user it is possible to deploy push notifications and alerts in real-time so that the user takes cognizance of it and takes the desired action of buying.
5. Communication is one-to-one and in real-time
Since consumers carry their smartphones wherever they go it is easier for brands to have a one-to-one communication with them. The various channels through which such a communication is achievable could be social media networks, instant messaging, web chat, video chat and so on.
All this gives brands never before heard opportunities to talk to their users and understand their needs, problems, anxieties and such other issues so that there is a higher chance of marketing to them and gaining better return on investment.
