Marketers are planning to jump on the mobile bandwagon next year and in the years shortly after. People are using their smartphones more and more and connecting with those people as they go about their daily activities is becoming important for marketers.
Folks in the marketing industry are already doing great things. You’ve probably already seen messaging campaigns for local businesses along with email campaigns and mobile websites directed for consumers that are on their phones.
Something to remember, though, even as marketing moves to a mobile focus is that content still remains most important. No matter what the channel has been in the past – direct mail, search, social, etc. – content has always been important in the equation. Consumers are looking for answers, entertainment, and education and content is the only thing that can deliver on those expectations.
Here are three mobile marketing content ideas to think about as your company moves into the age of mobile marketing.
Mobile Email Marketing
Email marketing will continue to be important for marketers as the mobile age takes over. People check their email on their phones all the time. It’s even kind of rude to have people looking down at their phones when you’re having a conversation with them. The thing that appears to be true, though, is that folks are pickier when they’re reading email on their phones.
This might not always be the case, but for those folks that are busy they seem much more likely to delete an email than they would while sitting at their desktop. In order to reach these folks your email marketing efforts need to be interesting and have some substance. You can create interesting content specifically for email or you can use your content for a variety of channels. This leads nicely into the next part of the mobile marketing initiative.
Mobile Blog Content
Blog content is great for email campaigns. You can send out weekly campaigns with the best articles from your own website and maybe a few of the best articles from the week that you’ve read on other websites. One email I look forward to every Monday is Golf World’s Monday Morning electronic copy. I get it on my phone every Monday and love reading the stories from the week in golf. Some of the stories are the same as in the full magazine, but there is some unique content as well. It’s a nice break from the Monday morning routine and it entertains me, educates me, and just makes me appreciative of Golf World even though I’m paying for the content.
Good blog content can keep your customers and subscribers interested and connected to your brand even as they use their mobile devices.
Mobile Messaging and Reminders
One of the more interesting aspects of mobile marketing is the fact that marketers basically have access to people wherever they are. That hasn’t always been the case. Even with email you can’t always catch a person in the moment. With messaging it becomes possible to connect with consumers in real-time. Think about how that can benefit local businesses. If a local business builds its messaging list they can send out messages indicating a special for a Saturday night. I’m imagining a restaurant or bar sending out a reminder at 6 PM on a Saturday night reminding folks that there is a band playing. The messaging and “in the moment” marketing opportunity is huge.
It all hinges on the content, though. Make sure you use urgency mixed with useful information. Something like a band reminder can be simple. So can something like a reminder from the gym that it’s time for the person to hit the treadmill on Wednesday afternoon. The gym could even sound out a daily exercise tip or a new exercise of the week.
Useful information always wins and in this case it can increase business as well.