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Jan 30
Looking at Mobile Marketing for 2017
By Tuhin Ghosh
Pic Credit : Advanced Television
We look at our mobile 150 times a day. So it is an imperative for marketers not to miss out on mobile opportunities. It is no longer the 3rd screen , but the 1st. There are multiple aspects to focus on in mobile marketing, but here are three of them as we look forward to in 2017.
Social Purchase can be a key driver
Smart phone are now driving most of the transactions in e-commerce. With all the brands vying for our attention there is a confusing array of products and service to choose from. So we tend to search for recommendations and reviews before we purchase any product – be it an electronic gadget in Flipkart or a restaurant in Zomato.
As per a report by Falcon Software “There is no single attribute that delivers as much selling weight as trust. Trust online is the silver bullet. So much so that elements of trust are at the core of the complex Search Engine ranking algorithms. Trust is also the catalyst to developing fruitful, lifelong customer relationships.”
Brands who can leverage this social element of trust smartly through active recommendations and reviews will pull in more shoppers to their cart. The intimacy and immediacy of mobile channels helps to strengthen this social commerce vector as your customers are most likely to give the reviews and recommendation on the go. So make this experience as much mobile friendly and smooth as possible.
Here is an example of SWAAG which is mobile community, where the people interested in streetwear and snickers talk about the different brands , share and tag photos with friends. This app also allows you to directly purchase the product recommended by your friend.
Analysts have been sceptic on the efficacy of the ‘social buy’ button so far except for the likes Taobao which “generates up to 20 million product reviews every day, and involves 5 million users sharing content with friends” . I believe if done smartly social commerce can give the extra kick to the e-commerce conversions.
Location marketing will be big
And big means really big!
Imagine yourself next to a Café Coffee Day, and you get a notification “Drop in and enjoy a 20% discussion on your Latte”. Well Café Coffee Day don’t really do this, but I wish they did as I spent many of my meeting and writing hours in CCD 
.
. Many other brands are doing it through technologies like Geofencing, QR Code and Beacon. They are targeting customers based on the proximity to their store, or that of the customer and even in mobile local search. Such timely and personalised targeting are resulting in higher footfalls as well as greater conversion at the point of sales.
As I see that brands are still a bit reluctant to adopt this, but we will soon see the change. And then perhaps Café Coffee Day can advertise like Starbucks do
Pic Credit : E-consultancyMobile videos to capture imagination
With bigger screens becoming a common feature in smart phones we are viewing more videos in our mobile. Also app based televisions like Hot Star and launch of video services like Amazon Prime and Netflix in India are giving consumers wider options to watch videos beyond the YouTube.
As per Ooyala we see there is huge shift of video consumption from desktop to mobile . Studies have also revealed that video contents can increase online sales by 64% and people tend to watch them for a longer time (more than 2 minutes). So as a marketer you need to include video in your mobile marketing arsenal to promote your products or services. You can increase the reach (videos are more viral than text and image based contents) and engagement. New forms like live videos can create authenticity in your marketing communication whether you are covering behind the scene moments or taking a live testimonial.
Opportunities in mobile marketing are huge. Their efficacy depends on how you pick on some of these ideas and apply to your mobile consumer journey. Stay tuned for some more ideas in mobile marketing in 2017 up next.
Do share your predictions and thoughts of mobile marketing in 2017!
Tuhin Ghosh
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