The Emergence of Mobile as a Social Marketing Channel

Users’ increasing preference to access social sites from mobile devices has made it imperative for brands to be where their consumers are. In this age of digital Darwinism, there are the likes of Coke and P&G who consider mobile marketing to be an extension of their social media strategy. While it is only natural that these big brands extend their highly successful social marketing strategies to the mobile platform, the smaller players are also rapidly catching up.

Thismoment’s research on what makes mobile a rapidly growing social marketing channel unearthed some significant findings:

• In social media years, the concept of mobile marketing is fairly recent; which means this space is far from saturation and is expected to thrive in the coming years.
• Mobile retail sales are on the rise. In Q1 2012, the percentage of retail sales via mobile devices was recorded as 8.2% of online sales (In Q1 2010, this figure stood at 0.4%) (IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking Index).
• According to a May 2011 study by eMarketer, 27% of US mobile internet users used social media to compare or check prices before, during or after shopping. 24% checked reviews on their mobile devices.
• Facebookhad +500 million mobile monthly active users as of April 20, 2012.

Extending the Reach of Your Social Campaigns

To market to the mobile consumer, brands need to extend their reach of their social campaigns to the mobile platform. Here are some suggestions that will help brands design their mobile social strategies better:

1. The Content Creation Phase

   According to Nielsen’s 2011 Social Media Report, 40% of social media users access content from their mobile phones. This number is only expected to grow; which is why marketers need to especially focus on designing social content specifically suited for mobile devices.

   
   • Keep it Simple: Optimizing content for mobile devices means working within a restricted amount of space. Therefore, it’s important for marketers to keep it simple by deciding beforehand what information to include. This means eliminating unnecessary text and including only that information that the ‘on-the-go’ consumer wants to see.

     Created on Thismoment’s DEC platform, OnStar has extended their Facebook campaign to the mobile platform. The OnStar mobile channel has a clean layout that features only the necessary information. By using DEC, OnStar was able to deliver impactful, mobile engagement experiences to their audience.


2. Increasing User-Engagement

   By optimizing social campaigns for mobile viewing, brands can engage with with customers they would otherwise miss out. The fact that 59.5% smartphone and tablet users paid full attention to ads they saw while visiting social sites on their devices (Prosper Mobile Insights), means brands have huge opportunity to improve engagement.

   Travel brand Viator engages with the mobile demographic by featuring a mobile compatible social conversation module (created using DEC). This means users can view conversation streams, post updates and comment on posts.

3. Leveraging Location-Based Platforms

   With more and more people accessing social sites via smartphones, marketers have increased opportunity to connect with their consumers through location-based services like Foursquare, Yelp etc. While location-based services may not be suited for all businesses, they’re perfect for restaurants, retailers etc.

   • Targeting Mobile Consumers through Location-Based Services

     Through geo-targeting using location-based services, local businesses can aim their marketing messages to mobile consumers in the vicinity. By using these platforms to run mobile promotions like “check-in for a digital coupon” etc., marketers can direct traffic to their brick-and-mortar stores and improve sales.

The Future of Mobile as a Digital Marketing Platform

eMarketer predicts that the next few years will witness an increase in mobile social network users. By 2015, the number is expected to reach 79.1 million users. A significant percentage of their target audience being ‘mobile’, brands will especially focus on extending the reach of their social campaigns to this platform. This means marketers will design content that’s specifically suited for mobile viewing. Meanwhile, with consumers using smartphones and mobile devices for everything from ‘checking-in’ to following brands on social sites, the future of mobile as a powerful digital marketing platform certainly looks promising.

- Shama Ahmed
Thismoment

Andrew Sielen

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