Tag Archives: mobile

The Rise of [the] SoLoMo

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I recently read a post on iMedia Connection on digital marketing trends to look out for in 2013. A good article but I feel like I’m seeing a lot of the same stuff. Especially the first item on the list “Social Media Marketing”. That one’s sort of like any year between 2002 and 2010 where people kept saying “next year is the year of mobile” till it just happened and people stopped (sort of) talking about it.

When I look further down the list I get a little more excited… “Gamification”… that’s cool, but what really makes me go “hmmm” is the last item on the list: Rise of SoLoMo. I think I’m most exciting about this category and I hope the iMedia prediction is correct, I hope SoLoMo goes more mainstream.


The Rise of The Guardians, not rise of SoLoMo… but close

For those that don’t know SoLoMo is the super cool abbreviation for Social + Location/Local/Locale* + Mobile, sort of like North, Tooth and Bunny pictured above. You know, this awesome team that does stuff together.

I think SoLoMo is an interesting tool for both marketers and consumers receiving those messages (or messages they will get in the future). From the consumer side I like the idea of more relevant information because of my location and connection with me on my phone and through my networks. And as a marketer I definitely like the idea of thinking of new ways to tell a brand’s story through new and very personal technology channels.

I’m still looking for that great SoLoMo marketing campaign. Have you seen any? If so leave a comment below. Hopefully we’ll see something great in 2013 as more and more consumers and marketers adopt this blend of technologies. In the meantime, I’ll continue to enjoy the scraps of LoMo interaction I get from my iPhone. Siri is pretty good about reminding me to do something when I arrive at a particular location or when I’m in contact with someone on my Find Friends app.

*I like the Lo standing for Location, but I’ve seen other definitions as being considered part of the SoLoMo mix.

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O Android, Where Art Thou?

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The latest IDC predictions for global smartphone marketshare continue to point to an Android-dominated market. Whether you look at today’s numbers or the numbers in 2016, Android smartphones outnumber iPhones 3-to-1.

Let me try to phrase this statistic in a couple different ways (that I’d hypothesize to be at least directionally accurate) in ways that may resonate a little better for marketers:

1. For every iPhone user that you’ve found through Litmus (or any other method) to be reading your emails, there is at least one Android user reading that email as well.The October comScore numbers provide good support for this theory.

2. If you’re more of a visually-oriented, right-brain type of person, this might help you grasp what the global smartphone market looks like:
3 Android Smartphones for every iPhone

<!– SIDEBAR: I owned an iPhone 3G and an iPhone 4 for a tenure of 4 years. I’m now an HTC One X owner that still loves his iPad. I have a Mac Mini and a Chromebook at home. So please refrain from labeling me as a fanboy of either camp. –>

Preview Text Can Help Identify Android Users

I often talk about how the secret to winning in email marketing lives in the minutia and nuances of things like subject lines and preview text.  Here’s a perfect example of how preview text can help your Android audience self-identify.

Check out how Lucky Brand‘s emails look with images on and off (in Gmail for Ice Cream Sandwich):
Lucky Brand Emails in Gmail and Android

Four things to notice:

  1. 4 lines of preview text which include a link to the primary call-to-action AND explicit mention that they have a mobile website that I can visit
  2. A passive request to to do something easily actionable to keep the emails out of my junk folder by tapping on the ‘STAR’ right next to the reply button.
  3. Even though the logo and (ostensibly) the entire layout are all center-aligned, the preview text is LEFT aligned.
  4. The ‘Show Pictures’ and ‘Always show pictures from this sender’ are two clicks that could also help identify Android email recipients, but the value in turning on images has to be there. (Perhaps that’s a whole separate petition to be made with someone on the Gmail for Android product team.)

My hope is that simple tests and adoption of some of these tricks can help paint a more accurate picture of the total mobile email consuming universe.

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Mobile Innovation?

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Last week many of the top marketing sites posted an article about a new and innovative campaign by Coke and Auntie Anne’s. You can check a few of the articles out here…

Adweek | Yahoo | ClickZ

So what was the big deal and how are they doing this? It’s actually a pretty simple idea but takes two different technology platforms and a great partnership to pull off. The partnership, of course, is between Coke and Auntie Anne’s. Taking the number one brand in the world, that happens to be a consumable, inexpensive, and often impulsive purchase and matching that with a chain that sells their products and often lives in malls (easier to geo-target since anyone located in the mall is in striking distance) doesn’t hurt a geo-targeting campaign.

The two technology companies are what make it really interesting, specifically the pairing of these two services. This is where most of the articles are giving the “innovation” credit, the idea to use the two in conjunction. You have Millennial Media that has been geo- and demo- targeting for a while now, but that isn’t enough on its own. The magic is in tracking the conversion and optimization (in real time), which Sparkfly does for POS systems. The diagram below gives an overview:
[This diagram was produced by these companies and is on several of the article sites]

When I see this I look at the components and see that they all existed prior to last week. We can already geo-target, we can track conversions, we can optimize things in real-time. So why aren’t we (meaning anyone who isn’t Coke and Auntie Anne’s) doing this? I mean, aside from the fact that not many companies have experiment budgets of significance (see that ClickZ article for Coke’s 70-20-10 rule). I think it’s because we aren’t making the effort to figure out how we can use the technologies to our advantage and we’re letting excuses get in the way.

I’m going to go out on a limb and think of some common objections to trying to run a campaign like this, keeping in mind that I don’t think many brands can run a campaign exactly like this. I do think many brands can take the concept and run campaigns that leverage the components in a simpler, yet impactful, way.

Common objection: “I sell X-product and (maybe) have some physical locations but no way to track POS conversions (ex. I don’t have the staff, the training, coupons, etc). Why would I waste my time trying to leverage geo-targeting with conversion optimization? I think I’ll address this concern in letter form:

Dear sir or ma’am,

Geo-targeting at its core is just relevancy marketing (or what I call “marketing”), so the key is to increase relevancy, test, then optimize. If you have physical locations then relevancy may be someone in the proximity of your location. If you don’t then the relevancy you can get from geo-targeting may be in the form of what the user is doing. For example, if I sell cars it may be important to know when a user is near the lot but it may also be useful to know when the user is at a gas station. If I know the user is at a gas station, odds are they are pumping gas and if they’re pumping gas I talk to them about the new hybrids we have on the lot. You hate paying all that money for gas, right? Well let me remind you that there is an alternative out there while it’s top of mind.

Don’t have the ability to track conversions? I would say you have some ability to track some type of conversion. That conversion would come in the form of clicking a link. Even better, what if you were running this as part of your email campaign*. If you have a person’s email address and you send to them on a regular basis then you can track behavior and more importantly, changes in behavior. That’s a type of conversion. We can geo-target to a limited degree in an email so why not hit up that same user near gas stations or your lots with your hybrid messaging in the email instead of the default message? Then track all the users that have received one of those high impact and relevant messages and see if that group has higher conversion rates over the next few messaging cycles (weeks, months, etc).

Sincerely,

Ryan “That’s easy for me to say” Tuttle

One last note, on this innovative campaign: They were using Millennial Media’s demo-targeting (targeting mothers) to pinpoint users in addition to the geo-targeting. What if they had used the person’s email address and their loyalty program (MCR)? Think about the CRM data and impact they could have had. Think about how much more they would have known about the person in order to influence their behavior. What if I opened my loyalty program email and the email server knew I was on a mobile device AND that I happened to be near a mall? Now the message can read “Go to Auntie Anne’s now, buy a Coke, and we’ll double your reward points for purchases in the next hour.”

Think about it.

*You knew I would go there, right?

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Small Companies Get A Big Boost with Google’s New App

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Kudos to Google for rolling out the new Google Maps Coordinate. This application could give small businesses off-the-shelf technology to compete with larger, more sophisticated competitors. The app works in conjunction with Google Maps to locate representatives in the field in real time. Dispatchers or home office personnel can track an employee’s location and be able to provide the customer with an exact time that their representative will arrive at the location. This technology was implemented long ago in logistic behemoths such as UPS, CSX and the like but for the first time a small to medium-sized business can access the technology without having to reinvent the wheel – pardon the pun.

It’s feasible that this technology could also allow customers to track the company’s representative directly in much the same way we track a UPS package out for delivery. For a customer whose stuck waiting around the house for the furniture delivery, the pizza guy or the repair technician, this service could save hours of frustration and enhance the entire customer experience.
This app could also save companies some serious money in other ways as well. Here in Atlanta, we know a thing or two about traffic delays – and those delays cost time and money and I really haven’t seen a traffic delay “enhance customer service.” But with this app, representatives in the field can instantly know that a traffic delay will prevent them from meeting their time commitment and perhaps another representative who might be closer to the location might be a better resource.

But beyond the customer experience, I’m most excited about the implications for the family experience.  We’ve got three kids moving in four directions and I rely on a very strong network of friends and family to keep us all going in the right direction.  I’d love to be able to locate a friend or family member through a simple app and be able to know that they are on their way to a pre-arranged pick up or drop off.  In an ideal world, I could locate my husband on his way home and ask him to pick up our favorite take-out as he approaches the restaurant.

I also really like the “invisible” feature on this app. I’m a stickler for privacy concerns and this app allows employees to turn the tracking off after their shift is completed or during a lunch break. Another round of Kudos to Google for getting out front on privacy rather than the usual afterthought.

Some small firms may balk at the $15 per user per month that Google is charging, but for organizations that strive to exceed customer expectations while eliminating wasted time and money, Google’s price may be a bargain.  And for a busy mom with family members on the go – that’s money well spent.
There’s just one catch for this dedicated iPhone User – it’s only available on the  Android platform.

Watch your back, Apple – Google’s tracking you.

 

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How Social Media Adoption is Growing in Kenya

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This is Part 2 in a 2-Part series about my visit to Kenya and the interesting facts I was privy to learn on my trip. Read Part 1 about Kenya and the widespread use of mobile payments here. 

Social media is a worldwide concept, so it should come as no surprise that my visit to Kenya revealed not only that citizens are online across myriad social networks, but that they’re presence on these channels are on a dramatic rise.

Facebook has found a considerable amount of adoption by Kenyans recently. Current statistics report over 1.3 millions Kenyan users on the social network. In addition to the growing user-base, Kenyan brands are faring well, too. Safaricom, the mobile service that is responsible for m-banking platform M-PESA, appears to be the top brand in the country, with over 127,000 likes on their official page.

Twitter is growing in popularity as well. This seems logical seeing as the 140-character network allows for concise and immediate updates to a large network. @KenyaRedCross sees success on Twitter by sharing news on accidents, natural disasters, safety tips, and ways in which one can donate. This account was invaluable during my stay as this was one of the first places my sister and I had heard news of the #HellsGate floods, and learned to stay away from certain sections of the park. You can read more about the tragedy here.

With the adoption rates rising on both of Facebook and Twitter, Kenya has now risen to the second largest African user-base of social media, trailing just behind South Africa. According to The Portland Group, Kenyans produced over 2 million tweets during the last quarter of 2011. This put the country only second on the continent to – surprise – South Africa, whose citizens created over 5 million tweets during this time period. 

So, how has adoption been able to take place so rapidly in Kenya? There seem to be two driving factors to drawing Kenyans to social media: access to SMS-supported mobile devices and the explicit support from the government.

The mobile revolution that has taken place in Kenya is the driver of much social media involvement, with many Facebook updates and tweets being distributed through SMS. For instance, a village chief of Lanet, Kenya, a village very close to Nakuru, informs the community of important information about the village through Twitter updates he submits through his mobile device via SMS. The chief even holds learning sessions in which he informs villagers about the importance of this social network. See below just how much the mobile access of a platform such as Twitter has helped Lanet:

(via Al Jazeera English)

The inherently mobile nature of social media provides a gateway in which the general public can access social media and networks, but the acknowledgement and advocacy of social media by government officials has helped Kenya’s dramatic rise in adoption rate as well. Even Kenya’s President addressed the importance of social networking at a recent conference.

(via KENYA Citizen TV)

There’s no denying that social media is becoming a staple of Kenyan society. So the obvious (and rather vague) question I have is…what’s next? As with mobile payments, will Kenyans set a precedent for the rest of the world when it comes to the proportion of users accessing social networks through their mobile devices? Will consumers worldwide increase demand for SMS-based marketing strategy? 

What do you think?


 

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Kenya and Mobile Payments

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This is Part 1 in a 2-Part series about my visit to Kenya and the interesting facts I was privy to learn on my trip.

I recently traveled to Kenya – yes, Kenya as in Africa! – to visit my sister, Jessica. She has been living in various parts of Africa for the past two years working with Projects Abroad, so I thought it was time to pay her a visit and use some of my time off! It was, to say the least, the adventure of a lifetime, filled with exotic animals, a safari, and even standing on the Equator. My trip was short, but I got to see some incredible sights whilst learning a lot along the way.

Though I went on this trip with the intention of escaping technology and work, the reality is that there is inspiration for the digital realm no matter where one travels, and this was made blatantly clear in the widespread mobile trends I was able to witness in Kenya.

Though tablets and laptops are far from commonplace, mobile devices run aplenty, especially in cities such as Nakuru (the city in which I resided for most of my time abroad). Sidewalk shops are found left and right selling Samsung, Nokia, even Blackberry phones. Though smartphones don’t have as much presence in Kenya, mobile phone technology has developed a great deal and supplied users with options for greater usage through SMS.

Maasai Tribe in Maasai Mara

The Maasai hold onto tradition, but have adopted mobile usage in order to help support business in the village.

One of the most surprising uses of mobile devices I discovered while on my trip was that of M-PESA, a mobile money transfer solution supported by Safaricom. Though bartering among street vendors seemed like the most common type of transaction taking place in Nakuru, this mobile payment system is used by many. Even in Maasai Mara, M-PESA was used in transactions among villagers.

So, how does it work? It’s simple:

  • Sign up with a local M-PESA agent – the website has these listed
  • Deposit up to Ksh100,000 into your M-PESA account with the certified agent
  • Complete!

After activating the account with a secret word, funds from the user’s account may begin transferring to both M-PESA users and non-users. All one needs to transfer funds is another’s Kenyan telephone number. Even if there is a mistake in SMS transfer, an M-PESA user can contact a certified agent to have this reversed (so long as sufficient funds remain in the account).

The idea is so simple: SMS money transfer options, no third-party app involved, no WiFi connection needed. Americans have one of the largest cellphone adoption rates, but by no means do we have a mobile payment system that is commonly used outside of the world of eBay, like at salons, farmer’s markets, food trucks or other every-day businesses.

Now the question…why is it that we lack something similar to M-PESA here in the U.S.? Why are we finding our mobile payments market to be lagging behind countries such as Kenya? Is it the lack of trust in our service providers, or does the mistrust lie with the third parties, such as PayPal? Could it be that we’ve just found less time-consuming alternatives (if that’s possible)? I’ll admit I’m a skeptic myself, but is there a valid, rational reason for being so? That I’m not so sure of.

Stay tuned for Part 2 in my Kenya & Digital Series.  Next week – social media. 

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Culture, Language and Relevancy

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Please excuse the chain thought, but it’s how my brain works…

I’ve seen a few articles and blog posts this past week on Intel’s “StudyBook tablet PC for emerging markets“. It’s the next step in getting technology in the hands of under developed regions, a follow up to their Classmate PC that’s been around since 2007 and has found it’s way to millions of classrooms. This and other programs like One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) reminds me of a question I received a few years ago that really caught me off guard.

Image from: amazingpics4you.blogspot.com

I was at a conference giving a keynote presentation on mobile marketing, but this was almost two years ago so it wasn’t as played out. Besides, two years is like forever ago in mobile marketing right? Anyway, I don’t remember the exact wording of the question – just my answer. The question was something like, “With the push to get inexpensive devices such as netbooks into emerging markets how will this effect mobile marketing efforts?” The guy asking the question also used, “introducing low cost netbooks into India” as an example. The question was out of place with all the other questions I was getting like, “Wait, explain iAds again?”, “Why did you show a video of someone driving a car with an iPad?” or “What was your name again?” My super clever response was just as out of place. I didn’t know how to respond so took the math high road and said something like “caveat, caveat.. blah.. blah.. well, if you introduce a billion* new devices into any market it’s going to change the dynamics.”

What?

I’m still not sure what the person was asking, mainly because I don’t remember the question, but I could have gone in several directions with my answer. What I should have done is thought about how introducing more users from a different culture would impact marketing efforts.
[Past Ryan] Oh, man. My bad.

We do a lot of email marketing here at BrightWave and one of the first rules in email marketing is to stay relevant. So, in introducing new cultures (or existing cultures in greater quantities) into our user mix we need to consider how to maintain relevancy. This is nothing new, there are many agencies out there that specialize in marketing to various cultures and even a few agencies that claim to be multicultural marketers. Just Google anything on Hispanic marketing trends in the U.S. and you’ll find that this group is increasing, spending a ton more, and there are several agencies that will “help” you figure out how to market to this group.

I’ll tell you one way to market to this group, or any other… make sure your messaging is just as relevant to them as to the rest of your customers/subscribers/followers. Relevancy will come in many forms. In the case of completely different cultures and languages by empowering emerging markets with StudyBooks and Classmate PC, relevancy will be a very unique value proposition for those users. In the case of the growing Hispanic market within the U.S. relevancy may be more subtle. In this case it may just be a shift in the language used (e.g., Spanish instead of English) and less in the value proposition (e.g., All U.S. kids want to run faster in new Nike shoes).

We as marketers need to start thinking of what we will do to increase relevancy to the new cultures that will start subscribing to our lists. For me, I think I [and by "I" I mean the team at BrightWave] am going to develop a way to send email that auto-detects the default language on your device and delivers** the appropriate content (language). I don’t know if it can be done, but if it can we’ll figure it out.

What are you going to do?

*You know, because obviously everyone in India was going to get a netbook
** I really do think it can be done. We can deliver content in real-time by auto-detecting your device, so why not do the same with your default language?

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Social Media and the Move to Mobile

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People like to say that social media isn’t going anywhere. Facebook has upwards of 800 milion users, Pinterest is gaining incredible momentum while still in private beta, and so on with the other big networks. Social media has become a huge part of the online experience, becoming the top reason people log onto the Internet. One can’t refute that strength of these online platforms.

I agree. Social media is essential to marketers, and consumers really. But it is going somewhere. Social media is going mobile.

mobile phone user

photo courtesy of gailjadehamilton on flickr

If you haven’t heard the rumors, then you’re behind the times. Internet users, meaning social media users as evidenced by the aforementioned Internet usage tidbit, are getting online while on the move. We live in a society where no person can physically stay in place for too long, so this is the logical next step, but social networking having grown to being an activity of more than 50% of mobile users? That’s a statistic worth paying attention to.

How are social networks faring in the mobile arena? The big three (how many refer to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) have gotten into the mobile arena because their audiences demand it. The mobile app market for iPhone and Android device users offers myriad social third party social networking apps that allow for greater ease of use for the tweeter, or the antsy pinner that MUST get that animated cat GIF online immediately.

Why the flood on mobile social networkers in the past couple years? Well, for businesses, it may be too late to be asking that question. At this point, it’s adapt or die get lost in the shuffle. Optimizing emails and the web experience for a customer is essential for ensuring that lead translates into a transaction, whether in-store or online. If the mobile experience isn’t a good one, customers will go elsewhere, and could very well choose not to return.

How can laggard brands get involved in the mobile revolution? Step one is adapting the marketing plan  to include mobile initiatives. Following this, there are several approaches that can be taken. Below are a three I would recommend:

  • Test your emails for mobile devices or risk losing customers. Email is one of the biggest drivers to social networking sites. If subscribers have a negative experience with reading email on their mobile device, it’s highly unlikely they will follow through with the call to action to either visit the website or head to Facebook to “join the conversation”. Litmus is a great tool to help test your emails on mobile before hitting the send button.
  • Just as with social networks, mobile marketing is not the same as traditional marketing – so don’t treat them the same. What may work on a newspaper insert – let’s say, a QR code – will fail miserably in your mobile marketing efforts. Survey the mobile landscape  and decide marketing initiatives accordingly.
  • Use mobile to provide the link between online and in-store. Mobile coupons are easy to create and easy to use. Even mobile users that don’t own a smartphone can be rewarded through mobile via text message that can provide a code for in-store redemption. Offering an incentive through mobile both increases the likelihood of in-store purchases, it also allows for easier measurement of the successes of mobile marketing efforts.

Though mobile marketing is nothing new, there’s nothing wrong with getting into the game a little late. What is a travesty is a brand denying that the necessity is there.

What brands do you see the have successfully entered the mobile marketing realm?

 

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