Mobile Marketing

Overview

Mobile marketing is a multi-channel, digital marketing strategy aimed at reaching a target audience on their smartphones, tablets, and/or other mobile devices, via websites, email, SMS and MMS, social media, and apps. Mobile is disrupting the way people engage with brands. Everything that can be done on a desktop computer is now available on a mobile device. From opening an email to visiting your website to reading your content, it's all accessible through a small mobile screen. Consider:

- 80% of internet users own a smartphone. - Mobile platforms, such as smartphones and tablets, host up to 60% of digital media time for users in the U.S. - Google anticipates search queries on mobile devices to surpass desktop searches by the end of 2021.

A person using a smartphone, with various marketing icons floating around the device.

Mobile Marketing: How It Works

Mobile marketing consists of ads that appear on mobile smartphones, tablets, or other mobile devices. Mobile marketing ad formats, features, and customization can vary, as many social media platforms, websites, and mobile apps offer their own unique and tailored mobile ad options.

If you're trying to reach users on mobile devices, you'll want to consider how mobile marketing works within your industry. The key is understanding how your audience interacts with mobile technology and creating a marketing strategy that reaches them on their level.

Types of Mobile Marketing Strategies

There are several ways you can engage with your audience on their mobile devices. Here are a few mobile marketing strategies to consider:

App-Based Marketing

This is mobile advertising involving mobile apps. While 80% of mobile time is spent engaged with apps, you don't have to create an app yourself to get in on app-based marketing. Services like Google AdMob help advertisers create mobile ads that appear within third-party mobile apps.

In-Game Mobile Marketing

In-game mobile marketing refers to mobile ads that appear within mobile games, like in the example below. In-game ads can appear as banner pop-ups, full-page image ads, or even video ads that appear between loading screens.

QR Codes

QR codes are scanned by users, who are then taken to a specific webpage that the QR code is attached to. QR codes are often aligned with mobile gamification and have an element of mystery to them, since users who scan them don't always know exactly which rabbit hole they're jumping down.

Location-Based Marketing

Location-based mobile ads are ads that appear on mobile devices based upon a user's location relative to a specific area or business. For example, some advertisers may only want their mobile ads to appear when users are within a 1-mile radius of their business.

Mobile Search Ads

These are basic Google search ads built for mobile, often featuring extra add-on extensions like click-to-call or maps.

Mobile Image Ads

Image-based ads designed to appear on mobile devices.

Creating a Mobile Marketing Strategy

Just like any marketing strategy, mobile marketing involves a series of steps. Here are the steps to create a successful mobile marketing strategy:

1. Set Your Goals: Like all the different marketing channels, you should have a goal before you start planning. These goals should align with your overall marketing objectives.

2. Understand Your Mobile Audience: Mobile users have different needs and usage patterns than desktop users. Understanding these differences will help you create a mobile marketing strategy that engages and converts.

3. Design Your Mobile-Optimized Site: If your site isn't mobile-optimized, you'll be hard-pressed to attract mobile users. Mobile optimization is a must.

4. Plan Your Mobile Marketing Strategy: Once you understand your audience and have a mobile-optimized site, it's time to start creating your mobile marketing strategy. This includes setting up a mobile ad campaign, setting up a mobile email campaign, and planning for mobile social media.

5. Implement Your Mobile Marketing Strategy: Once you have everything in place, it's time to launch your mobile marketing strategy.

6. Monitor and Optimize: Like all marketing channels, mobile marketing should be constantly monitored and optimized. Google Analytics is a great tool for this.

The Future of Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing is here to stay and will continue to evolve. The future of mobile marketing will likely include more personalized ads, more location-based marketing, and more mobile payments.

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