Mobile: From Smart to Smarter

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Mobile has arrived! From just having a mobile device to having a device that is really smart (cool too) - mobile is driving unprecedented innovation. The consumer uses the smart(er) phone for so much more - to talk to people, email, & engagement.

Your phone is becoming smarter in three ways.

First, your mobile phone has graphics and is extremely intuitive. Second, your mobile phone knows where you are and can help you find things. Third, your mobile phone is 'your' mobile phone - it can be personalized & can serve 'your' specific needs. For marketers to leverage the smarter phone they need to leverage each of these features.

Graphical Intuitiveness
Your content has to fit the norm and your applications need to be accessible. Merely enabling your web site to work on this device is not going to cut it for the consumer. You need to think about reducing the amount of scrolling that is required, reduce the number of steps it takes to complete a transaction, & allow the consumer to navigate through options intuitively. This may mean a re-engineered user interface for what you do, but it is vital for engagement.

I Know Where You Are
Your phone company knows exactly where you are. With applications being available from businesses, the business can deduce your location as well. If the phone knows where you are and can help the consumer find things, the marketer needs to leverage geo-location into their marketing mix. You can vary content, & offers to the recipient if you know where they are at with their device. NFC or near field communications type technology is going to drive significant innovation to the anywhere consumer.

Personally Speaking
Your phone is personalized, it is your lifeline in many ways. It is your phone. This means that it could be your gateway to preferences, your mobile wallet, & even your identity. Applications need to be written to leverage the personalization by remembering user preferences before serving up content. The key now is not to overwhelm the consumer but to tactfully engage them in a useful and relevant dialogue.

Three things will drive smarter communiqués - knowing what consumers want, being available when they need you, & communicating with empathy. The mobile phone allows for anytime access, it is much more powerful - serving up really good content, & comes at an incredibly low price point. Businesses need to enable C2B access. Mobile facilitates that engagement.

Our focus this month is on mobile and the impact it can have in enhancing consumer relationships. In addition to a series of posts, we will publish the results of a mobile survey, give you some very practical ideas for applications, & close the month out with an opportunity to engage some real experts in a Q & A session.

Join Mickey Alam Khan, Editor in Chief of Mobile Marketer & Barg Upender, President of Mobomo in a discussion around what to expect and how to prepare for effective mobile enablement. The call is set for Friday, April 30. More information on the call is on the Service in Action site.