What is mobile marketing?

Mobile marketing is a multi-channel, digital marketing strategy aimed at reaching a target audience on their smartphones, tablets, and/or other mobile devices, via websites, email, SMS and MMS, social media, and apps. In recent years, customers have started to shift their attention (and dollars) to mobile. Because of this, marketers are doing the same in order to create true omnichannel engagement. As technology becomes more fragmented, so does marketing. And in order to earn and maintain the attention of potential buyers, content must be strategic and highly personalized.

When it comes to mobile marketing, this means keeping devices in mind and utilizing SMS/MMS marketing and mobile apps. Mobile marketing is an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to building out any short-term or long-term marketing plan. From email, to pay-per-click (PPC), search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, and social media marketing, there is a mobile marketing channel to reach every part of your audience where they are most comfortable. For mobile marketing to be effective, you need to curate a cohesive experience that customers expect—and that can be a real challenge as you work to acquire, engage, and retain users across a variety of platforms.  

Mobile marketing can do wonders for driving brand value and demand for your products or services by leveraging mobile devices to connect with more consumers in real time at any point in the customer lifecycle. 

How Mobile Marketing Works

Mobile marketing may include promotions sent through SMS text messaging, MMS multimedia messaging, through downloaded apps using push notifications, through in-app or in-game marketing, through mobile websites, or by using a mobile device to scan QR codes.

Proximity systems and location-based services can alert users based on geographic location or proximity to a service provider.

Mobile marketing is an indispensable tool for companies large and small as mobile devices have become ubiquitous. The key players in the space are the brands and companies that they represent through advertising, and service providers that enable mobile advertising.

Mobile advertising targets audiences not so much by demographics but by behaviors, though demography plays a part, such as the fact that iPad users tend to be older and wealthier.

One notable behavior in the mobile marketing space is known as "snacking," which is when mobile device users check in to media or messaging for brief periods. Seeking instant gratification equates to more points of contact for marketers.

In mobile marketing, the device, especially screen size does make a difference; users of smartphones and iPad tablets react differently to mobile marketing.

For example, smartphone users tend to find informative content to be the most relevant, yet iPad users tend to be captivated by interactive advertising that features rich media presentations with eye-catching imagery, the message of the content is a secondary concern.

Planning, implementing, and optimizing your mobile marketing program

Mobile marketing is both a short-term and a long-term strategy, and to create a successful program, there are certain steps you’ll need to follow.

Step 1 

Create mobile buyer personas. Understanding your audience is the first step to any marketing strategy, and buyer personas are a valuable tool to aid in that understanding. Buyer personas are fictional representations of your various types of customers. Create a profile that describes each one’s background, job description, main sources of information, goals, challenges, preferred type of content, objections, and/or role in the purchase process. It is easier to determine a channel and voice for your marketing messages when you have a clear picture of your target audience. Observe mobile habits, utilize A/B testing, and you’ll build out useful buyer personas for mobile.

Step 2

Set goals. Before you launch a mobile marketing strategy, you’ll need to determine your goals and create a plan. Our guide will help you understand customer lifecycles and develop personas, build your marketing calendar and marketing automation toolkit, and define your mobile marketing goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) across all channels. Determine main objectives, key audiences, and how you’re developing cross-channel engagement so you can analyze how the channels you’re currently using can be included in your mobile marketing strategy. 

Step 3 

Establish KPIs. Just like your other marketing efforts, mobile marketing needs to be tested and optimized. Determine which realistic, measurable KPIs define your mobile campaign’s success. 

• • Engagement. Provide mobile-friendly content for potential customers who are searching for information about your industry or product. Make sure your website is mobile responsive to improve mobile SEO.  

  • Acquisition. Make sure lead nurturing emails are mobile friendly with clear calls-to-action. Buttons in emails should be near the top of the message and be big enough to easily tap in order to facilitate click-throughs. Then make it as easy as possible for someone to fill out a form on your mobile-optimized landing page.  

  • Customer service. In a connected, social marketplace, customer service is very much a marketing opportunity. Allow your customers to easily reach you through any platform they want, including simple click-to-call buttons for smartphone users.

Step 4

Monitor mobile metrics. Google Analytics can help monitor mobile usage of your site.  Mobile behavior data reveals how well your mobile content engages your audience and conversion data indicates whether or not some of your key landing pages still need to be optimized for mobile browsing. Dashboard tools can show you the quantity and quality of traffic, page view metrics, bounce rates, and more.

Types of Mobile Marketing

There is a variety of mobile marketing techniques to try for a business. Factors like your budget, specific industry, and customer segment determine the success of the strategy. Below are some mobile marketing options:

• Mobile app marketing: Mobile apps allow businesses to include ads in specific mobile application designs. Facebook is an excellent example of ads in an app.

• In-game advertisements: This approach refers to all advertisements on mobile devices that pop up when certain games are opened or in progress. These ads can appear as full-image ads, banner pop-ups, or video ads that show up during loading screens. 

• Quick-response barcode (QR codes): These barcodes are scanned using the camera of a phone, and then the customers are redirected to the linked site from where they can see more information regarding a particular brand.

• Mobile banner ads: These banners are pretty much the same as the ones on the desktop, only that they are adequately smaller to fit on the screens of mobile devices.

• Proximity or Bluetooth marketing: With this approach, consumers get location-specific ads enabled from the Bluetooth on their devices.

• Voice marketing: This is when businesses use computer produced and automated calls to promote their goods or services. It is up to the customer to decide whether to hang up or listen to the phone call.

• SMS marketing: This method of mobile marketing is, by far, the most common. Marketers use this medium to reach out to customers with offers and other relevant information via their mobile gadgets. SendPulse makes it possible by offering professional features for effective mobile marketing.

Mobile Marketing Ecosystem

There are six interconnected entities within today’s ecosystem, each with distinct partners, providers, and, most important, a role in the process:

• Advertisers

• Aggregators

• Content publishers

• Carriers

• Industry organizations

• Consumers

1. Advertisers

Advertisers and agencies are the ecosystem’s newest entrants. Brands from all industry verticals have been active in the past year, adding a new perspective to the ecosystem that entertainment brands alone cannot. More activity by a wider range of marketers has helped spur mobile-only and mobile-boutique agency growth. These agencies, along with an increased number of traditional and digital shops, have the knowledge to help plan and buy mobile marketing programs that will provide value to the end consumer, programs that are ideally integrated into a larger communications strategy.

2. Aggregators

Aggregators, or mobile enablers, are third-party companies (technology and otherwise) that bridge the gap between content owners (brands and publishers), carriers/operators, and consumers. They are a necessary middleman with untapped experience and knowledge that can’t be overlooked or undervalued. However, it’s important to partner with an aggregator or enabler that fits the communication goals of the specific mobile campaign at hand. Not everyone can be a jack-of-all-trades, and that’s not a bad thing when planning programs that reach consumers in one of the most personally relevant media platforms today.

3. Content Providers

Buyable mobile marketing programs are made possible via media companies turned mobile content publishers. Over the past few years, programs have evolved from exclusive partnerships and basic tests to consistent elements on many media proposals. These programs often take the guess work out of the ecosystem for individual brands and agencies. That’s because the majority of legwork is wrapped up in existing vendor relationships that the media company, or content publisher, has already established.

4. Carriers

Thirty-two. That’s the number of U.S. mobile phone companies up to D in Wikipedia’s alphabetical list. Really though, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile are the key names to know. Each works with aggregators and enablers to approve marketing programs crossing their individual networks. While some compare mobile carriers/operators to cable companies, that’s a mistake. Carriers and operators are increasingly becoming more like media companies than anything else.

5. Industry Organizations

Mobile is self-governing. The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), CTIA.org, and Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) have stepped forward to establish committees and best practices and provide an outlet for the ecosystem. The MMA is the most holistic of organizations when it comes to providing a voice and opportunity for involvement, but publicly available resources and committee opportunities for member companies can be found within all three organizations. They offer such great resources as updated stats, facts, and key guidelines and ad standards that further help define the marketplace.

6. Consumers

Engaging the consumer in the mobile marketing ecosystem is essential to propel the industry forward. Consumers, the intended audience for all marketing programs, control their individual mobile experience. Each and every program should provide as much value to the consumer as it does to the entities involved in making it happen.

The number of cell-phone-only households will continue to grow. Ensuring the right partnerships to bring more mobile programs to this growing audience is a matter of dedicating time and resources to making sure your information on partners and providers is as current as possible. That’s something made simpler by revisiting the players every so often.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Mobile Marketing

Advantages

In regards to online related advertising, mobile marketing is much easier to access. You don't need high-level technology or significant technical experience to get started. It's also easier to measure the success of mobile marketing campaigns.

Mobile marketing is also extremely cost-effective. There are a variety of options to choose from for any budget and the impact it can have when compared to the cost is significant. In a common comparison, social media ads are much cheaper than purchasing ad space for radio or television.

Customers can also be reached in real-time with mobile marketing no matter where they are. Radio or television marketing only works when a customer is in front of the television or has the radio on.

Disadvantages

There are privacy issues concerning how the data collected by mobile devices are used and whether or not companies have the right to collect such data without explicit consent. Such data can be used for identity theft or to send spam if it falls into the wrong hands due to data theft or poor security of the information. Also, the tracking of an individual's locations and movements may be considered crossing the line by some.

A particular drawback of mobile marketing is that it has the potential of increasing costs for the user. For example, if a campaign directs a user to a video that requires a significant amount of data and the user does not have an unlimited data plan, it may eat into their monthly data allowance or result in charges if they go over their allotment.

Mobile marketing also needs to be perfect from the start. As users have smaller attention spans and a variety of companies competing for their attention, a poor mobile marketing plan will fail to grasp a user's attention and possibly lose their interest forever. For this reason, a mobile marketing plan does not have room to be less than perfect.

Examples of Mobile Marketing

Samsung

For the release of its Galaxy S6 phone, Samsung worked with Indian tech company InMobi to develop interactive ads. These ads created a personalized real-time battery identification mobile ad unit that displayed the product and service to a user with a demo on their phone when their battery levels were low. The mobile ad highlighted the new phone's "super fast charging capability" right when their battery was low, enticing them to upgrade to the new phone.

Pond's

Pond's is another company that partnered with InMobi. Pond's created an ad for one of their acne products that was interactive in that when a person looked at their phone, the camera would capture their features and highlight acne-prone areas. The ad didn't require any software to be downloaded or for the user to visit any other site.

Ruffles

Ruffles witnessed declining sales in Brazil and decided to target teenagers with interactive ads. It created a mobile reality game called AmiGo. The user saw what the game showed them while their friends saw what the user's camera showed them. Friends would see Ruffle chips surrounding the user and they could send voice commands to their friend on where they can grab the chips. The more chips collected the more points the user would receive. Ruffles ranked the highest-scoring users on its social media accounts.

Nissan

Nissan created the "Evil Snowmen" ad for its Rogue SUV. The ad was a video where its Rogue SUV fought a gang of snowmen. The ad also contained hotspots on the screen that users could touch to learn more about the SUV's features. Other hotspots also provided weather and snow safety advice.

What is Mobile App Marketing?

Mobile app marketing is about interacting with your users through their entire lifecycle — from when they first hear about your app, to when they become a loyal and regular user. To do this effectively, you have to figure out who will use your app, where to find those people, what to say to them, and what they want from you.

The typical way to think of mobile app usage is as a sequence of stages, or “funnel”. There are many funnel stages, but here’s a simplified view.

• Acquisition is the first step in a user’s interaction with your app. How do you get them to download and install your app in the first place?

• Activation is next. The exact meaning of “user activation” differs from app to app, but in general, activation refers to a user’s first actions, such as adding their email address or making an initial purchase.

• Retention means turning your app into a regular destination for your user.

The funnel concept is useful as a model, though in reality users often go back and forth between stages, so you may also hear this referred to as the “mobile engagement loop”.

Each stage requires different strategies and tactics, and each is required for a successful mobile app marketing strategy.

Mobile App Acquisition

The first part of building a successful app is, of course, getting people to use it. From a messaging perspective, you have to convince a prospective user that your app can solve a problem they have. Some of the most common channels for sending these messages include:

1. Social

One of the most popular app acquisition channels. Unless you already have a large audience, paid social advertising, in particular, is likely to be the most effective channel. An even more effective channel, once your app has traction, is getting users of your app to recruit their friends as users.

2. Real

world incentives. Offering a product giveaway, sweepstakes entry, or some other tangible reward in exchange for an app install is a common strategy. One pitfall of using real-world incentives is that users who sign up this way may end up immediately removing your app as soon as they’ve received their reward.

3. Search advertising

Google Play and Apple’s App Store both offer in-store advertising that app managers can purchase to drive downloads. Ads appear when users search for specific app keywords — for example, ads for mobile payment apps might appear when a user searches “send cash.” Search advertising can also be purchased through platforms like Google AdWords, so that someone searching Google from their phone for “buying a home” sees an ad for your real estate app. The link then goes directly to your app store page.

4. App cross-promotion

If you have more than one app, a good way to acquire users is to use one app to promote another. For example, if your company produces a restaurant database, you can put ads in it that refer to your travel app, since users who are interested in one might be interested in the other.

5. App store listing

App stores require text and picture descriptions of every app. Writing your listing thoughtfully is critical to convincing users to download it. The text in your listing influences, among other factors, whether users will see it as they look for apps in your category.

In determining an acquisition strategy, it’s important to keep track of your cost per acquisition, or CPA. Some channels — like your app store listing, or a webpage, or organic social posts — don’t cost anything, but are time-consuming. Others — like paid ads — can be expensive, but are easier to optimize and scale. Determining the right balance of acquisition activities is critical for the long-term success of your app.

Comparing the CPA to the lifetime value of your customers will tell you whether an acquisition strategy is worth the money and time you’re putting into it. And the lifetime value calculation depends heavily on whether you can activate, and then retain, the users you’re acquired.

Mobile App User Activation

Once you’ve gotten a user to install your app, you have to get them to use it. Most users abandon apps shortly after download, so it’s important to have an effective messaging strategy that reminds users how to use your app, and why.

Effective use of these strategies depends, of course, on your user actually seeing the message you’re sending. There are three major app channels you can use; picking the right one can dramatically increase the likelihood of that happening.

Mobile App Channels

• Everyone’s received a push notification. If you get a user to install your app, you can send one at any time; your user doesn’t even have to be in the app to see it. Push notifications are easy to brand, and you can even specify actions for the user to take with a single tap.

• In-app messages are similar to push notifications, but they’re delivered to your users while they’re active in your app. You can put real-time updates in them, and, unlike push notifications, they don’t require opt-in in order to be received.

• The message center is a passive channel inside your app; it offers a user a way to see past notifications if they’re interested. It’s a great way to deliver messages that don’t require immediate action and that might be most useful when a user is already in your app.

Each of these channels is appropriate for different ways of activating your users.

User Activation Strategies

• A welcome message is a push notification that is sent soon after the initial install, typically within 24 hours. A proven approach is to thank the user for installing your app, and then reinforce the app’s value proposition, or introduce them to a key feature. For example, if a user installs a home automation app, you can send a push message thanking them with a link to start the process of setting up their home in your app.

• Successful app marketers take it one step further, and put together a proper onboarding flow. A good onboarding flow is a tour of the product, showing where key features are and explaining when and how to use them. Thoughtful onboarding increases engagement and builds trust, which in turn makes it easier to ask your user for permission to send notifications and other messages.

• It’s extremely helpful for further marketing efforts to get app users to register using their phone number or email address. This will help with cross-channel marketing efforts, and will also give you another channel to engage or re-engage with your user.

• Depending on your app, it may be appropriate to offer a conversion incentive upfront. For example, if your app allows users to shop for clothes, offer them a quickly expiring coupon to get them in the habit of shopping through your online channel.

Once you’ve activated your user, you’ll need to think about keeping them as a user for the long haul.

Mobile App Retention

Keeping your users engaged is a long-term proposition; retention is especially important because it’s a key factor in calculating the lifetime value of a customer, and therefore whether your efforts have been profitable or not.

Imagine the difference between:

• 1,000 new users, of which 10% stay, for an average of one month, and

• 500 new users, of which 30% stay, for an average of two months.

In the first example, your 1,000 new users dwindle to 100, then after one month, half have left. That’s 50 net users.

In the second, your 500 new users become 150, and after one month, only a quarter have left. That’s 110 net users, more than double the number in the first example, though you acquired half as many.

User Retention Strategies

• Send users discounts or coupons for items that they’re interested in. These are most effective for retail, travel and local apps. Use your knowledge of what the user has expressed interest in before — perhaps even what’s in their cart — to get them back into the app.

• Special content. For a sports app, can you provide an exclusive guide to building the perfect bracket, available only through the app?

• Feature messages. Let users know about an update or enhancement you’ve made recently, and help them use it. For example, if you just added the ability to share playlists from your music app on Facebook, let users know.

• Better personalization. Once your users have used your app for a while, you’ve probably learned a lot about them. Can you use that knowledge to increase the utility of your app? For example, if you just relaunched your recommendation engine, send users a push notification inviting them to see their new picks.

• Updates on friends and family who have joined. One way that LinkedIn and Facebook got so popular is that they let users search for people they know on the service. And they keep them coming back by sending updates. Tell your users how many of their friends have joined since they left.

How to Communicate with Your User

No matter what channel you use, your user’s attention is a precious resource, and you have to make sure that what you’re sending is valuable to them. Every time you send a message, be sure to answer these questions:

• What’s the purpose of your message? Is it valuable to your user?

• What action do you want the user to take when they receive it? This will help you communicate your intent more effectively, and better measure its effectiveness.

• What context does your message matter in? Mobile messaging is all about context: time, location, user preferences.

• Will your user care? If you’re Twitter, it might be OK to send 20 push notifications a day. If you’re Candy Crush, maybe you shouldn’t even send one push notification a week, because your user is a casual gamer who doesn’t care about new features.