Why and How You Should Prioritize Mobile Marketing in 2016

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For what seems like years now, marketers have extolled the virtues of mobile marketing, as increased smartphone usage and technological advancement have made it easier for brands to access a global audience in real-time.

While smartphones and tablets are now the dominant force when it comes to Internet browsing and accessing websites, however, the quality of traffic driven by desktop platforms remains superior. This means that brands may have focused too heavily on mobile marketing in the last two years, before the platform has truly matured or achieved its full potential.

Why and how you should prioritize mobile marketing in 2016

The relevance and capacity of the mobile platform should not be underestimated, however, and 2016 may finally be the year in which smartphones and tablets emerge as the marketing mediums that deliver the best ROI to brands. With this in mind, here are three ways in which your brand can capitalize and create an effective mobile marketing campaign in 2016: –

Use a Hybrid App in 2016 to create an enhanced, mobile consumer experience in 2016

The mobile app industry is a multi-billion pound concern, and one that is continuing to evolve with every passing year. This trend will continue in 2016, with the increased sophistication of dominant apps such as Snapchat and Vine contributing to a diverse and increasingly purposeful set of real-time marketing tools.

The next 12 months will also see the rise to prominence of hybrid applications, which will combine the best of native and HTML5 language within a thin wrap. Statistics suggest that 50% of all mobile apps will be hybrid by the end of 2016, marking a huge shift in design principles and alerting brands to the benefits of using such technology to drive their marketing efforts this year.

Primarily, the development of a hybrid app creates a consumer-friendly piece of technology that can be updated with a single upgrade or fix. This drives an improved and seamless consumer experience, which enables users to focus on the benefits of the app in question rather than its operation. Hybrid apps are also easier to integrate with similar mobile features such as GPS and messaging, making it possible for brands to share their message or service without impacting on the performance of their customer’s smartphone or tablet.

By investing in a hybrid application for your business, you can tap into an increasingly popular design to market a brand while also optimizing the consumer experience.

Integrate Augmented Reality into your marketing Campaign

It is amazing how quickly things change in the world of marketing.

Not long ago, the use of QR codes to connect customers with basic discounts and promotions was considered as being cutting edge, but the emergence of augmented reality as a mainstream concept has changed the landscape forever. Instead, brands can now integrate augmented and virtual technology into their mobile marketing experience, changing the real-time consumer experience for the better.

This technology has matured over the last 12 months, meaning that it is more accessible and impactful than ever before. On a fundamental level, businesses can use standard bar codes as an entry point into a branded and augmented reality, which instantly connects customers with unique shopping experiences, personalized rewards and the most innovative iterations of gamification.

The North Face is a brand that has embodied this fully, having released a mobile app that can create virtual representations of international landmarks such as Yosemite National Park and Moab in Utah. It works in conjunction with Google Cardboard, and essentially offers a three-dimensional outdoor experience for consumers who purchase their range of garments.

While this requires an initial investment, it can also deliver an excellent ROI, increased consumer loyalty and higher sales conversion rates. The key is to scale your integration of the technology in a manageable way, while also creating an organic and relevant hook that drives the overall experience for your customers.

Ensure that content Marketing underpins your mobile Strategy

Content marketing remains the most important aspect of any promotional or brand awareness campaign, and this technique will have an even greater influence on mobile strategy in 2016. This was reinforced by the release of Google’s ground-breaking mobile update last year, which used an algorithm that instantly improved the ranking of smartphone-friendly landing pages on search results.

Knowledgeable brands have taken this as a prompt to optimize their mobile marketing efforts, and such endeavor will begin to pay dividends in the next 12 months. The key is to create more interactive and appealing content that leverages technology in a way that truly engages customers, whether this is through the sharing of personalized content or the publication of customizable videos that utilize virtual reality technology.

A good example of the latter can be found at 360° Video, which has a broad and diverse library of audio-visual content for customers to access. Thanks to the integration of VR technology, the brand has enabled customers to pan around their selected video in a complete circle, while they can also select the precise angle at which they wish to enjoy different stages of the footage.

To benefit from this, the key is to focus on insightful and value-adding content that is relevant to your brands niche. You should then look to create media-rich content that includes compelling text, imagery and videos, before using modern technology to present your message in a uniquely engaging manner. Make no mistake; this type of progressive content marketing strategy will be crucial to successfully engaging mobile consumers through smartphones and tablets in 2016.