The Mobile Explosion
“Hi, my name is Kate and I’m addicted to my smartphone”
Our very own Kate Prior isn’t alone. Having invested in a brand spanking new iPhone just before Christmas, the number of hours I’ve spent Facebooking/checking emails/searching/YouTubing/gaming is probably into the millions… Ironically the number of minutes spent actually calling anyone is probably only about five. My point, and the point of this article, isn’t to inform you that I don’t any friends; rather that smart phones are taking over OUR LIVES. But, you probably knew that already. In fact you’re probably reading this on your smart phone right now.
125 years of Angry Birds is played EVERY DAY
Did you know that there are 1 billion mobile internet users globally; they account for 23% of all time spent accessing the web? These people are browsing, using applications (including a lot of Angry Birds), emailing, watching videos and buying. 40% of all tweets are from mobiles. If this doesn’t tell you the importance of mobile Internet use then I recommend you put down your dialup modem, leave your house for five minutes and look around. Or alternatively take a trip on the London Underground – where I imagine 124.9 of the aforementioned Angry Bird years are played out.
But what does this mean to the everyday marketer?
I’m not here just to ramble about mobile use in general – this is atom42’s blog after all. The thing you need to disseminate is that there are a lot of people going online from their mobiles, and of course from products such as the iPad. As marketers, we need to use this to our advantage. After all, a lot of people aren’t yet realising the size of the mobile market, meaning that at this relatively early time, there’s a lot of opportunity to be had. If you own an online shop, consider that since June 2010 there has been a 600% growth in online mobile sales.
However, it’s important if you do set up specific mobile channels, that you track them effectively. You might consider managing them separately to your usual campaigns; to better see the return on your investment.
But don’t do it for the sake of it!
So yes, there’s a lot of opportunity. But to stress, this isn’t to say you should immediately speak to your development team and create an app, a mobile site and redirect all traffic from anything other than a desktop PC to them.
No, the important thing is to think about it carefully. Does your business suit the mobile environment? Are people searching for your brand, your services, or your products on the move already? In fact, are people already reaching your business from smartphones?
You might consider using an Analytics web package to investigate the traffic to your site, and use tools such as the Google Keyword Tool to see trends in the market.
The last thing you want is to rush into a decision and end up with a forgettable experience and a large invoice, or worse, end up being plastered over the internet for your incompetence.
Mobile marketing naturally doesn’t suit every business. Make sure you know it suits yours.
The future of the smartphone online experience
Currently 85% of all new mobile handsets are able to access the Internet…
Mobile advertising spend is set to grow 781% in the UK – and up to 1024% in Europe – by 2015…
Even secure services such as accessing financial details will be done by over 1 billion people by 2015…
The growth of mobile certainly isn’t finished yet, in fact we’re just starting to touch on the exciting new possibilities that it has to offer. Personally I think the next explosion will be the purchasing of products through mobiles. It’s only a matter of time before you’ll be able to wander past a shop window, point your phone at an item of clothing, and immediately be taken to a purchase screen for the item.
Think Shazam for clothes.
It’s all very exciting…
