In this era of communication where people use mobiles more than ever, mobile marketing is an incredibly important part of any successful marketing strategy. When scrutinizing consumer behavior and preferences, it seems that the future lies in mobile marketing to enhance business-to-consumer interactions.
The reason why mobile marketing can do wonders for businesses is due to the massive increase in the use of mobile devices connected to the internet. And the biggest advantage is that this growth shows no sign of slowing down.
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Chairing a session on Mobile Marketing: From Handset to Mindset at FE MarTech Innovation Summit 2022 held on November 25 at Hotel Crowne Plaza, Gurugram Rishi Sharma, Senior Vice President Business Development APAC, Affinity Global Inc. said that in 2016 there were approximately 300 million smartphone users in India, and today, the number is 900 million. “There has been a 3x increase in smartphone users in the last six years, whereas there has been a 10x increase in marketing spends. So, as marketers, it becomes critical for us to get obsessed with the mobile phone.”
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Explaining how The Coca-Cola Company engages with users on their mobile phones, Ankur Sharma, Digital Director, The Coca-Cola Company, said: Mobile phones have changed the game. As a large advertiser, we want to reach millions of customers, and this handset is the medium now. Targeting the relevant audience at the right time with the relevant message drives our advertisements and consumer interactions.”
Shwetal Basu, Chief of Marketing & Communication, Shoppers Stop, added, “Using the information gleaned from data analytics, organizations can increase user engagement and understand their customers better. This helps in personalizing the content for that particular customer based on his/her interests, mindset and what exactly is s/he looking for at that point of time. At Shopper’s Stop, engagement and content are very important in mobile marketing.”
Agreeing on the importance of personalization and data analytics, Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, said: “Consumers show more interest when you show them your creatives online. But, with mobile advertising you have very little time to capture users’ attention and that’s where the problem lies. However, with television commercials, consumers get to watch ads on a bigger screen and the duration of the ads are longer.”Also, studies show advertisers have about 3 seconds to capture consumers’ attention online. “If you don’t attract her attention in 3 seconds or less, she’s gone. So content has to be of interest and how it is shown is also significant. In Maruti Suzuki, when we work on mobile ads, we only work with publishers who have tech innovation which means the creative has to be visually attractive. That makes a huge difference in attracting consumers’ attention,” Srivastava pointed out.
On the future of mobile marketing, Srivastava said that since there will be huge amounts of data available to marketers, it will enable not just personalization, but extreme personalization. Recounting her stint at Hutch in 2002, Basu said that they would set up booths to explain what an SMS is and how it can be used. “Back then, I could never imagine that in 2022 our world would be inside a mobile phone. So I can’t imagine what will happen in 2032. But, it will definitely lead to better targeting of consumers.”
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