Maximising your mobile marketing

Adeola Kayode

Mobile technology is a powerful trend that will shape the way people promote their businesses, how mobile gadget users interact with brands and how the effectiveness of marketing will be measured. With the way mobile devices are spreading across Africa and other parts of the world, smartphones and tablets are quickly replacing desktop computers and even laptops as means to access the Internet.

Smart businesses are already working on how to effectively pivot their businesses to ensure they are not losing out on reaching their target markets through mobile platforms. To the uninitiated, mobile marketing is beyond mobile text-messaging.

Mobile advertising is defined as marketing or promoting a business through mobile devices such as cell phones, smartphones and other hand-held devices and can include several tactics from SMS, flash messages, multimedia messaging, mobile apps development, location-based services, app-based marketing, mobile web marketing and every other tactic designed to reach and engage the market through mobile devices.

Especially for Africa, mobile marketing has continued to be seen as a game changer for everyone.

Mobile marketing is becoming a channel for large corporations, small businesses and marketers to reaching their target audiences. However, so many people and researchers have continued to worry that the projected traction and adoption of mobile technology across Africa is not as fast as predicted and not as profitable as anticipated.

Though the economic challenges facing Africa can be considered to be factors, the immense cultural fragmentation of the continent is also one important factor to consider. MPESA, a mobile banking product, is already proving that mobile devices have a huge potential in Kenya. In the last one month, Konga and iROKO TV have taken advantage of this. While iROKO TV announced its closure of its desktop access to Africa, Konga shut down its standard website, directing people to engage with the online shopping mall through its mobile app for a week.

The potential of engaging through mobile platforms provides a lot of advantages for users, and a lot of businesses have started using it to reach their target markets. Mobile marketing provides more advantages, including lower cost, simplicity, easy tracking and convenience.

How do you position your business to harness the possibilities in mobile marketing?

Responsive web design

If your website is not responsive already, you are traffic. Responsive web designs came into mainstream when there was a need to ensure websites have their information optimised for different screens and devices – desktops, tablets, smartphones and feature phones.

On a fixed-sized website, people scroll to read and access information. Once they do not get the information within a few minutes of reaching your website, they will leave.

Mobile app development

Marketing has a great opportunity in mobile app development since consumers do not perceive them as advertising. When you download an app, you consciously give the business the permission to engage you. Mobile applications have been used to deploy self-care applications and mobile versions of websites.

Mobile payment

With banks churning out innovative mobile banking solutions, the potential for integrating instant payment into marketing is becoming more promising. Have you considered people who are not willing to use their banking details on your website? This means people can instantly use their mobile phones to make payments especially if the transactions are time-bound.

Mobile gaming

Mobile phones usually come with small screens and no mouse. This means that navigation on a mobile phone may get difficult for the user, even if it has a touch-screen. In such a case, most ads may go untouched, as the user may find it too tedious to look in detail through them.

The challenge for everyone aspiring to sell products and services is clear: you need to find your customers wherever they are and on whatever screen they are looking at. You should also ensure you have great products and relationship marketing skills to help you deliver.

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Source: Maximising your mobile marketing