Market insights of Mobile technology taking on the World has started the transitioning where mobile technology has embarked on several types of different platforms , ranging from the SMS text messages all the way to full- fledged mobile apps , mobile advertisement , mobile ready video and commercials
The power of Mobile Social Media technology lies in the fact that more and more people are accessing the internet through their smartphones rather than any other device. This is mainly due to the fact that adoption of mobile devices have evolved tremendously by leaps and bound . In addition, more and more websites are adapting to this by making their content mobile-friendly and even shoppers -friendly
To help you understand the big picture, here are a few interesting statistics
· More than 86% of Americans are cell phone owners.
· An average of 5 billion text messages per day were delivered .
· Visa and Paypal are expanding its E-wallet services and challenging rivals with their new in-store payment system, as the company broadens their services to the retail stores industry also with mobile technology
· Almost 60 % of Consumer who own a smartphone have used it for offline and online store related shopping
· Mobile fundraising will be another new way of giving donation
As you can see, smartphones are becoming increasingly important in people's lives, and as it happens, they are an excellent way to reach out to a enormous number of people.
They open your brand and business to a whole new and unexploited market which is only waiting to be tapped into, and that's precisely what most people are going to do in the near future. If what you are looking to do is increase your brand's exposure and have the opportunity to market yourself to millions of new potential customers, then you should get into Mobile Social media marketing straight away; a market stays untapped for only so long.
Today’s Mobile Marketing Trends
The mobile social media outlook is a positive .
With prediction that there is high possibility rate of Mobile overtaking traditional PC Internet access in the next few years, simple math tell marketers that abundant opportunities exist within all this Go Mobile technology to present media ads to the right audience at the right time
Beside with the advent of low cost telcos mobile plan , virtually everyone will at least have access to almost free SMS text messaging capabilities or newer application like - Whatapps .
Beside SMS , other new mobile marketing trends with use of devices like the smartphones and PC tablet are increasing in numbers introducing new application , like the Mobile apps , LBS and QR codes therefore boosting the industry with multiple benefits as such they serve more than just mobile customer but also provide new marketing element for brands and retailing business to interact with customers to increase their businesses both in exposure and profits.
Furthermore, more location-based services (LBS ) platform are being introduced and marketing campaigns using both mobile coupons and QR codes will be easier implemented , translating into more venue search traffic for retails and shop establishments .
Many retailers were at helm to drive and utilize this new technology to their favour ,as it offers a new approach for retailers to push for in-stores sales using the different features offered by the Mobile technology . According to estimates, such promising drives will translates possible over US$ 750 billion in forecasted in-store sales for 2016 for Global market including the Greater China
Indeed, a recent released report from Microsoft, “Mobile in the Consumer Journey,” finds that 30% of average consumers use their smartphones to compare prices during shopping for both in-store , a figure that rises to almost 71% among savvy smartphone users , while another report from Deloitte , it mentioned that Over 60% of mobile shoppers use their smartphones while in a store, and another 50% while on their way to a store.
Deloitte recently developed a metric called the “mobile influence factor,” which measures the percentage of traditional in-store sales being influenced by mobile devices, versus by straight dollar figures. This report advise that Shopping mart and appliance stores see the highest smartphone use and frequency among 11 types of retail stores (including department stores, apparel, grocery stores, etc.), where smartphone use influences 5.1% of sales on average.
They call it “showrooming”,initially retailers do fret about consumers using smartphone in their stores ,but it turns out consumers who use smartphones when out shopping are 14% more likely to make a purchase in the store than those without. The best conceptual understanding is that consumers are increasingly going to stores, getting up close and personal with whatever items they’re shopping for, then turning to their smartphones to buy said items on the spot in-store or instead from competitors online or otherwise , the smart buying factor may also include checking product’s review to judge on performance or possible comparison of prices online as it works around a new fond concept called
“In-Stores Showrooming ,Browsing Boost Smart Buying”
The whole process in turn encourage entrepreneurial in-store retailers to aggressively pursue mobile app development for their product or brands rather than lamenting on the effects of third-party services or apps and this strategy may be proven as the right direction if they do not wish to lose out to competitors who has started in-stores mobile apps which target smartphone based promotion campaign .As recent studies confirms that 43% of smartphone owners surveyed do download specific retailers’ app at their stores to make product purchase ,and smartphone owners has high tendency to browse online for data of products which they intend to purchase in order get a personal justification to the specific product’s right pricing or features , giving them a peace of mind
Connected Devices
The Big Paradigm shift has happened already ,connected devices are going to become increasingly important to Brands’ mobile strategy with the biggest growth in the area of mobile search ,as more customer uses their phone for engagement and to locate products or subject of their interest.
As smartphone ,phtablet and Pc tablet are becoming more and more popular , the industry will see an increased opportunity for rich creative media as the industry adopts them and more new developments will be invested into new incremental innovation for dedicated application that increase social consumer engagement via mobile
Continued development may focus on target advertising solution for behavioural targeting and ensuring ads that are sent are contextually relevant to consumer based on customer choice
Source : compliment : Benjamin Wane ,TextHK