Handheld Internet: 5 Ways Mobile Users are Changing the Marketing Game

Since 2010, the marketing industry has been feeling the sharp impact of the smartphone revolution. It only took a few years after the introduction of the Apple iPhone for marketing professionals to realize that playing field would be drastically transformed by advanced mobile devices.

According to marketing trade publication Digiday, the time we spend interacting with our mobile devices has surged by more than 1,000 percent since 2010, which means that advertisers have a greater opportunity to reach target audiences on their smartphones.

To get a better understanding of how mobile users are changing the dynamics of modern marketing, it helps to think about the following five points:

Intimate Communications

Smartphones have an interesting ability to create a certain feeling of intimacy between advertisers and their target audiences. Consider a train commuter who subscribes to the RSS feed of a podcast that is recorded and released at noon every other day; let's say this commuter sets up her podcast listening app to download the show to her smartphone while she is at work.

When this woman listens to the podcast as she is riding the train home, she will be thoroughly engaged by the recorded content. This high level of intimacy offers a great opportunity for marketers to deliver promotional messages via mobile platforms.

Mobile Payment Systems

The integration of mobile payments and advertising into a single promotional strategy is the next big thing in marketing. In 2012, the American Marketing Association recognized the efforts of Dunkin' Donuts as a pioneer in the exploration of mobile payment solutions as part of their marketing strategy.

When the coffee and donuts giant introduced its mobile app, users were delighted to discover that it offered Visa Checkout and Apple Pay integration; this functionality allows individuals to place their orders and pay for them before arriving at the store. As can be expected, the mobile app also rewards customers with generous coupons that encourage them to continue using the app.

Smartphone Notifications

In recent years, mobile alerts have been used and abused by marketers who have been trying too hard to expand their reach. As they learn from their mistakes, marketers are turning to Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to enter what is known as the "physical web."

Instead of bombarding mobile users arbitrarily, BLE beacons take advantage of proximity schemes to extend offers to prospects who are near brick-and-mortar businesses.

Presence and Location

Marketers know all about the value of understanding the moment of discovery. What happens when an individual discovers a new brand or product? What were the environmental and behavioral factors that caused a woman in Taipei to search for an English language tutoring service early in the morning?

Thanks to GPS and mobile tower triangulation features, for example, marketing research can now include location-specific data points; this information is valuable because it gives advertising agencies the insights they need to create content that goes beyond resizing television commercials for smartphone screens.

Big Data Analytics

For behavioral marketing professionals, mobile devices are like workshops or data fountains. Massive amounts of data are being generated at any given moment by smartphone users: think about the millions of taps, calls, swipes, tweets, likes, shares, text messages, and views taking place around the world at this time.

To get an idea of this Big Data magnitude, it helps to consider that Netflix subscribers will have streamed nearly 70,000 hours of video by the time you finish reading this article according to Domo. The mobile space is a Big Data cornucopia begging to be discovered and exploited by marketers who wish to gain an edge over their competitors.

It is safe to say that the mobile communications sector is only getting started in terms of technological advancement. Marketers must stay ahead of mobile developments for the purpose of making the most out of them.