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Mobile marketing is hot. Airbnb is introducing apps for the Apple Watch, AOL-acquired mobile ad company Millennial Media, and Hilton Hotels is turning smartphones into room keys. Today, marketers aim to create a personalized experience that customers will remember and crave. They're tailoring those experiences based on the device each customer is using, information from previous customer interactions, and real-time needs. But they could do so much more by taking into account the complete customer context.
Is the customer standing in line or checking out at the register? Is she running or on a slow city bus? Marketing in context requires understanding customer needs and preferences, automating content delivery across channels, and connecting with customers based on real-time behavior. And far trickier still, marketers need to do all this at scale.
With these four elements, marketers can better understand the customer's situation at the point of interaction and deliver messages based on what the customer is trying to achieve. The average smartphone owner spends almost three hours staring at their tiny screens, according to digital analytics firm Flurry, so it's no surprise that companies are introducing new mobile initiatives to understand and reach customers based on their context. When it comes to context marketing, here are three innovative trends to watch.
Don't leave the app
App developers are pioneering deep linking within a single app -- that is, making content easily navigable without leaving the current app or searching extensively -- but in the future, marketers will take it a step further. Deep linking will exist across apps. A fitness app that tracks your bike ride will suggest a playlist that matches the pace of your workout, then play music without leaving the app. Companies have already introduced this type of app integration to create a better user experience.
Google is at the forefront of contextual in-app experiences with Google Maps and Google Search. Users can order an Uber straight from the Google Maps app and know the duration and cost of the ride. If a customer is ready for his afternoon espresso from Blue Bottle, he can see that 2 p.m. is the busiest time and the line is shorter just 45 minutes later using Google Search's Popular Times feature. By arming customers with this valuable information, they in turn will have a better experience by avoiding the long wait and getting coffee later.
Deep-linking services such as Button, URX, and Quixey have a hand in fueling seamless user experiences on one screen. Their technology is responsible for making sure integrations like Uber and Google Maps have relevant information to provide a contextual experience. Users can stay in one app to make dinner reservations and order a car through a ridesharing service. By integrating apps, customers don't have to reenter their information or open a new app -- the apps feed off one another, and customers have a more seamless, meaningful interaction with both companies.
More than a wristwatch
With a new tech company jumping on the Internet of Things bandwagon every day, it's understandable to see why IDC forecasts that companies will ship 45.7 million wearable devices alone worldwide this year. Wearable devices gather a constant stream of information -- location, identity, and preferences -- that marketers can use to better understand their customers.
For example, Disney World's MagicBand is a smartwatch like none other. It cues Disney's "cast" to greet visitors by name, and Mickey or Snow White could pay you a surprise visit. In the future, if Disney installs more sensors, they could know that Sally has waited too long in line for cotton candy based on her GPS data and could send her a coupon for a free cotton candy, turning a negative user experience into a positive one.
Tech companies are still making way with smartwatch capabilities, but the team behind Fraunhofer Institute's Urban Living Lab envisions a day when smartwatches will be even smarter. When a regular coffee drinker is near a coffee shop he frequents, his watch will ask if he wants his normal order: a medium latte and chocolate chip cookie. If he says yes, his order will be ready and paid for through his smartwatch when he arrives at the counter. Wearable provide additional contextual information -- gold to marketers -- giving them the opportunity to send customers more relevant messages.
The newest virtual assistants
Virtual assistants are a hot commodity -- they're smart and fast, providing directions to the closest amusement park or telling you the best pizza place in Brooklyn. In fact, 62 percent of smartphone owners want to use a virtual assistant, according to research by Mindshare. Some have welcomed virtual assistants into their everyday lives, but most haven't because companies haven't nailed the personalized, seamless experience.
Apple is asking for a redo with Proactive, a new introduction to Siri. Don't think twice about what's nearby for lunch -- Proactive automatically gathers a list of nearby restaurants. Marketers have an opportunity to reach customers in a more personalized manner. For example if Proactive knows that someone loves falafel, a Mediterranean restaurant could appear on a list of "Top restaurants picked for you." When you plug in headphones, Proactive recommends music based on your past selections. Virtual assistants such as Proactive will learn what recommendations you like and which you ignore. With this rich knowledge about customer preferences, marketers can provide more relevant information about, say, show times for the hottest romantic comedy or the best bridal shower gift based on your recent activity. The power of virtual assistants partnered with personalized marketing means customers won't have to think before their tech serves up suggestions handpicked by marketers.
Facebook is also entering the game. Messenger's virtual assistant M takes it one step further by finding information and completing tasks. M makes dinner reservations, schedules dry cleaning delivery, and stays on hold with the cable company. M learns preferences, like what restaurants users like, based on previous interactions. Several hundred users with access to M seem to like their new assistant, but some question whether it will be as personalized and contextual when the user base expands to varying demographics beyond Silicon Valley. That's a challenge for many marketers: providing personalized and contextual experiences amidst rapid growth.
New technology opens new opportunities for marketers to provide more contextual, relevant experiences that users didn't even know they wanted or needed. These three are just the start of what's to come. Marketers must be prepared to adopt the latest and greatest tech to stay top of mind with customers.
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