According to Narrative, of the nearly 50 million unique browsers in South Africa in March 2019, over 70% were on mobile. With mobile penetration reaching saturation levels, as well as the emergence of wearables, the mobile device has increasingly become a cybernetic extension of its user.
Granted, there are ethical arguments against this, the fact is, this has empowered marketers with new abilities to glean insights into their target audiences.
The following 8 essentials are some of the key considerations to make when constructing a successful mobile campaign.
Understand your Audience
Quite often, the distinguishing factor that differentiates successful mobile campaigns from the melee is the ability to connect with the audience. Apropos, every digital marketer should aim to identify the consumer habits of their target market and correlate the data to the ideal client profile.
This smart profiling will inform the structure of the campaign, including what platforms will work best in it. Further insight can be gained through targeted research by way of surveys and competitions on social platforms like Instagram and any other app the audience habitually uses.
Optimize for Mobile
For a seamless journey that does not jar the consumer out of your proposition, a brand’s landing page or app must be optimised for all desktop and mobile platforms, so that the user can navigate app easily. A perfect example of this is Vodacom’s Site Builder proposition which offers subsidised landing pages, with multiple levels of functionality, that do not require the consumer to have any data in order to interact.
Optimising for mobile can also include leveraging the fact that consumers are always with their device, hence, with a little creative copywriting, can be urged into opting in and signing up to receive further engagement.
Construct a clear call to action (Back to basics)
A clear call to action drives the user to the next step in your online sales funnel in a way that feels natural and intuitive.
The sales funnel itself should be as short as possible, without too many steps, as there is attrition with each click. Therefore, at every step, there should be a link directing your customer a final engagement, whether it is to your website, or a landing page that talks about your brand, a purchase environment, or signing up and subscription.
Treat SMS as the king it still is.
In spite of the emergence of display and video because of the ever-increasing processing power of mobile devices, the simple SMS is as ubiquitous and effective as ever.
In a broad market like South Africa, where both feature and smart devices are aplenty, this is evidenced by the sheer enormity of the volume of text impressions served – for example, Vodacom serves over 2 billion text ad impressions monthly. That is billions with a “b”.
SMS can be used to drive users to a brand’s online sales funnel to sign up and get special alerts, for reminders or to enable the customer to provide feedback. Links can be inserted, which can direct the customer to a particular landing page or to the brand’s website. How crafty a brand gets with this trusty old platform is up to their creativity – Vodacom for example, has an SMS service that includes a video link that does not require the user to have data in order to watch. Now that is clever.
Leverage Social Media’s power
With the majority of social media users accessing their chosen services through mobile, it is crucial for a brand to maintain its social media profiles on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Instagram and stay updated and engaged.
Mobile users are constantly plugged into social media websites to share photos, posts, chat with friends and other personal extensions. This enables brands to connect with the market on passion points in a personal fashion. By using social media, the brand gains a human touch and a stronger bond with customers.
A classic example of the power of social media is the meteoric rise to prominence of the South African recording artist, Sho Madjozi. This mercurial muso practically turned the entire music business model on its head by not signing to a record label but rather developing a fan base on social media and monetizing it. Her independent debut album went on to win two awards at the Vodacom sponsored SAMAs (South Africa’s equivalent of the Grammy award.)
Use pictures & video
The old maxim rings true; a picture does speak a thousand words. Humans are visual creatures. We cannot help ourselves. When a campaign involves strong visual elements, we connect more easily and readily. This is evidenced by the amount of sponsored video and image content on social media platforms that has increased rapidly in recent years. From short videos to glossy ads, GIFs and memes, visual content has become increasingly successful in mobile marketing.
Measure
Mobile’s ability for measurement is a blessing to the astute marketer. A brand must foster feedback from its consumers and then treat that feedback as a precious treasure. By acting on customer feedback, you get to attract more traffic to your mobile marketing campaigns.
Reward Engagement
We all just love a treat. Rewarding customers for engagement builds both affinity and loyalty. Consumers will be more inclined to follow a link or share content if there is some kind of reward involved. A brand providing incentive in the form of prizes, extra content, discounts, contests, gifts, movie tickets or free exposure will effectively drive up ad clicks.
A clever example of this is the usage of such tools as Vodacom’s Data Rewards. Not only does the consumer feel rewarded, they are more likely to spend that reward re-engaging with the brand.
Another is SwitchOn Benefits, a rewards platform that offers deals, discounts, vouchers and coupons in the mobile space.
These strategies will apply to both online as well as physical brands. Enhanced brand equity is the future, and mobile is the key to it. To find out more about how you can also leverage of the Vodacom mobile advertising capabilities like the subsidised site build, SMS with Video and advertise in applications, go to www.eziADS.media
