One of the most exciting elements of working within marketing is its dynamism. What was ‘hot’ and cutting edge one year can be seen to be ‘old hat’ the next. This rapidly changing picture presents plenty of challenges for brands and marketers and puts an emphasis on being able to correctly predict changing marketing trends. Mobile, alongside video content, has quickly bubbled up to be a major marketing challenge. With the battleground identified, the crucial factor for brands is working out how to gain the edge over their competitors.
It will come as no surprise to seasoned marketers that collecting data is the key to successful mobile marketing. The year will be dominated by online marketers and brands seeking to gain accurate and relevant information on mobile brands. However, big questions need to be answered about what is the best method of data collection, which pieces of information to use and what action to take.
The sources of data are fairly intuitive, Google, Facebook , Twitter and Amazon all hold a staggering amount of information about their users. With more people using their mobiles to buy goods, interact on social media and do their day-to-day internet browsing, the volume and quality of data is growing exponentially. The crucial element, and the advantage mobile has over data collected on other channels, is location-based data. Location-based advertising is potentially one of the most effective ways to reach consumers and maximise the value of a marketing campaign on mobile.
The challenge is how to better understand consumer behaviour and linking this information with wider multi-channel advertising campaigns. In short, it’s not enough to know where a consumer is, to correctly target them you have to better understand their needs and what method of communication they will respond to. For example, if I walk past an ice cream shop at 7pm I’m probably not going to care about a special offer on medium-sized cones. Similarly, if I have just visited a supermarket, I’m probably not going to appreciate being bombarded by ads for goods I have just seen and may have already purchased. As with good comedy, the timing of ads and their content is king. The burden is on marketers to determine when to reach consumers, the best content to send them, how this content links with material they have seen on other channels and to determine and refine the effectiveness of their approach. Technology is rushing in to fill this gap and the savviest marketers will be scanning the ad tech market for the latest innovations to invest in. Nevertheless, effective location-based mobile advertising remains a tall order and is made more challenging by increasing concerns over privacy.
Despite a series of well-publicised privacy controversies, for the most part, consumers continue to reveal and share more about themselves. The ideal scenario for marketers is consumers seeking their own type of ROI on the ads they receive. If consumers receive useful content they will engage more with ads. This in turn will provide more data which will allow marketers to target and re-target even better. To manage consumer data effectively, data management platforms will grow in importance. These software solutions provide a layer of marketing data-management that spans many different systems and channels.
As consumers engage more with native ads rather than traditional banners, we will see more native ads blending into the content consumers are exposed to, especially on mobile. We will also see more emphasis on rich media for mobile devices from advertisers, specifically concerning video ads. Pre and post-roll video ads can provide a richer branding experience. The equation, if the content is right, is simple: more engagement equals higher conversion rates.
Currently, an unknown factor for online marketers is which method of mobile use to focus on: the mobile web or mobile apps. Advertising through either channels has its pros and cons, however, I expect that this year we will see one avenue gain pre-eminence. The trick will be predicting in which basket brands should put their eggs. At this point, with brands expected to spend record amounts of budgets on mobile, the safest choice could be for marketers to hedge their bets and continue to pursue both mobile channels.
By the end of 2015, mobile advertising will be the most important channel for most brands. Location-based advertising will be a game-changer for many marketing campaigns and ad tech companies will rush to help brands better understand and target their consumers. The winners will be brands, marketers and ad tech companies that can best mine and leverage consumer data collected by big technology companies. The note of caution that every player in the mobile marketing space should heed is in relation to privacy. Marketers need to balance effective use of data with concerns around the exploitation of personal information.
By Eliav Moshe, Senior VP of Mobile at dmg.
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