Mobility Marketing. Where Is Your Advertising At?

We are currently living in a mobility world. Take a look around the next time you’re at a bus stop, a train station, or walking down the street and you will see people tied to their mobile devices. And this use of mobile is no longer limited to personal use. We are increasingly conducting business on mobile devices as well. The first thing many people do each morning is jump on their phone to check email, the weather, or the latest news and many finish their days in the same way. In fact, most consumers spend almost 4 hours a day on their mobile devices. 
Smart Phone Marketing
With mobile technology being a real contender for revenue generation and ad placement, marketers now have to consider mobile almost as a separate channel when planning their marketing mix. That means more than just rolling out a website to a mobile version. It means thinking of mobile as its own delivery platform, designed for a very different reason than the typical desktop centered web sites. As more platforms are designed from a mobile-first perspective, the way people interact with the platforms is undergoing a transformation. Actions taken on mobile are unique to mobile. This requires a new and unique marketing strategy and businesses have to understand and accept this new reality. 
Some companies have already started to work from a mobile-first perspective, recognizing the importance of the channel. So why don’t all brands just move more of their marketing and advertising dollars to mobile? 
Mobile Marketing Hurdles
While over over 1/3rd of adults according to a recent study are using their smartphones often for business purposes outside of working hours, B2B businesses have not gone all-in on mobile advertising, and for good reason. There are certain challenges and considerations B2B companies have that their B2C counterparts don’t. 
To be truly efficient, the B2B marketers have to consider individual actions in the context of accounts they are targeting, which makes tracking and delivering content across devices a bit more complex. company, and then rolled up to an account level so marketers can see all activity within each target account.
In addition to connecting individuals to accounts, marketers also have to deal with complications in tracking actions across devices. By connecting the individuals to an account identity, this allows B2B marketers to personalize ads and mobile content based on that account as well as track both online and offline actions these individuals are taking with a brand. 
How Mobility Marketing Can Win for You
Although there are challenges, that’s no reason for B2B businesses to throw in the towel. With proper planning, B2B brands can experience success with mobile advertising and marketing. There are a few simple steps which, if taken, can increase the probability of success.
First, invest in the data to look at accounts holistically. As mentioned above, tying individual actions to account-level activities is key. 
Second, employ campaign tracking that will tell you whether you are indeed reaching your intended accounts. Technology exists which allows you to see the anonymized individual and the business they represent as they are exposed to your ad or land on your website. Using this, you will be able to tell which people are viewing your ads and visiting your site to ensure the ads are reaching the intended audience.  Finally, embrace some of the latest mobile trends and test them against your business goals to see if they generate the results you need.  
Mobility Marketing Trends
Video advertising might be one of the easiest mobile tactics to test as it has been around longer than other trends. In addition, a recent Adweek survey found 88% growth year over year in time spent watching videos on a smartphone.
Social feeds also offer a new mobile advertising medium for brands. With features such as Instagram’s “stories” and the “swipe up” attribute, brands have a new way to insert storytelling into their ads and engage customers within those stories to drive leads. Mobile-only social networks like Snapchat are also growing rapidly in popularity, and this is driving increases in time spent on mobile devices. 
Beyond general social advertising, in-app advertising could be key for your business. More than 80% of all mobile minutes are spent in apps, offering plenty of chances for your brand to get in front of the right customers. 
Whether you are a B2B company who is trying to reach customers within your key target accounts or a B2C business just trying to connect with consumers, marketers have to start embracing mobility as a mindset and designing campaigns and programs that take advantage of the unique connectivity and reach that mobile devices have to offer. 
-Roy

---

Tags:  #mobility, #advertising, #smartphones, #marketing, #b2bmarketing, #socialmedia