There are 6 billion people in the world, 3 billion are connected. Nokia
researcher Jan Chipchase travels the world to study our behavioral patterns.
He’s found that the top three things we carry with us where ever we go are our
keys, money and our mobile phones. We feel these things are needed for
survival. Keys symbolize shelter and warmth, money buys us food, and our mobile
phones are great recovery tools. I cannot deny the deep emotional bond that I
have with my smartphone. I love my phone, it is my everything. My phone keeps
me connected with my close friends and family, it wakes me up, keeps me
organized, it tracks the miles I run, I can shop, listen to music, watch
videos, pay bills, play games, take pictures of my kids, share pictures of my
kids, the list goes on. It’s just amazing that all of these features are
bundled up into one mobile device that fits in my pocket. I can take it
anywhere and access it anytime. I know I am not the only one that finds
great value in their smartphone and so do organizations trying to find the best
way to market their brand.
This week our class readings and discussions were centered on mobile
communications. The way we connect has advanced and we are living in a
multimedia environment. Smartphones and tablets have certainly changed the way
we consume information, interact with each other, and do business. The role of
strategic communication professionals has increased the need for trained multimedia
communicators in order to succeed in today’s mobile evolution. Mobile
technologies have created a whole new process in which organizations market
their brands.
Some organizations have adopted the “Mobile First” strategy. This is
where they create content for the mobile medium first and everything else next.
This strategy works for companies such as news establishments, but “Mobile
First” does not tailor to every organizations marketing plan. Instead of
“Mobile First” maybe “Mobile Too” is a better solution for most businesses.
Integrating seamless customer experiences across all mediums of communication
is important for today for most organizations. In this mixed delivery market,
consumers will choose the best available device at the time or place they are
connected. Marketers must be available on each platform in order to grab the
attention of the consumer.
With new social networking platforms popping up from behind every
corner, it can be hard to know exactly where to commit your time and resources. The
world of social media is evolving at a rapid pace. Mobile social media
marketing is on the rise and falls under the mobile marketing umbrella. The
mobile device allows mobile marketers to know the geographical position of the
consumer with technologies such as GPS and Bluetooth. Mobile media offers data
on the consumer’s time and place. We have phones that not only know where they
are, but know which direction they are pointing and how fast they are
moving. No other channel offers these two pieces of information. Mobile
social media allows marketing messages to be distributed at certain times and
locations.
Geo location apps like Foursquare have been created to send you deals
and tips based on your location. from anywhere in the world to interacts with
friends so they know exactly where they are and what they are doing. For
marketers Foursquare offers a opportunity to use geo-location based services to
promote their brands in real-time.
Due to the mobile evolution, marketing strategies are not only mobile,
but they are social too. In the article If you love something, let
it go mobile, Andrea’s M Kaplan describes the 4 I’s of mobile social
media to help firms in this new environment.
Four I's of mobile social media:
- Integrate their mobile social media activities into the lives of
users to avoid being a nuisance.
- Individualizing activities to take account of each user's
preferences and interests.
- Involve the user through engaging in conversation.
- Initiate the creation of user-generated content and word-of-mouth,
which allows for tighter integration into the users' lives.
There are endless opportunities for brands to engage with their
customers. Good customer engagement strategies make it easier to promote new
features and updates, collect feedback and build a loyal fan base.
Cross-platform campaigns increase product awareness across a
variety of mediums.Beats by Dr. Dre launched a very successful #showyourcolor
campaign. They identified their target audience and found they cherished
individuality. The campaign was driven by the self-expression of the fan base.
First, television ads were run on major networks featuring popular sports,
entertainment, and social figures posing with their Beats product of choice.
Next, consumers were invited to like Beats by Dr. Dre on Facebook, where they
could design a custom profile cover with the same design as the TV ads. The
most creative were rewarded. Finally, Beats took over Times Square for a day,
allowing pedestrians to take photos in a photo booth, posing with the Beats
products. Their photos and caption of choice were then displayed on one of
three digital billboards in Times Square. As a result, Beats by Dr Dre increased
Facebook likes by 1.7 million, Instagram followers by 76 percent, and YouTube
subscribers by 57 percent.
Pew Research estimates that by 2020 a mobile device will be the primary
Internet connection tool for most people around the world. Generation Z or
the Net Generation born between 1990- 2000 do not read newspapers or watch
regular TV. Social media has been present for the majority of their lives. A
study on GenZ by Wikia finds that teens users are connected nearly all waking
hours of the day; engaging with open-platform communication and information
sharing. In the next decade strategic communication professionals will have to
develop new strategies to marketing to this generation.
What social media strategies do you foresee in the future?
No comments:
Post a Comment