Remember the old song, “Me and My Shadow?” It’s been around since 1927. And even Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. did a version of it.
What’s your shadow now? Come on, admit it. It’s your mobile phone.
Advertisers know this. Or should know this. It makes a huge difference in marketing today.
Now, columnist Charlie Hunter-Schyff, head of planning and insights at Telefonica’s digital services, is saying mobile would do better if it invested in quality control.
“Mobile has become a big part of our lives,” writes Hunter-Schyff. “Where you go, your mobile goes. With it comes the web, and through that – connectivity. In advertising, mobile’s role in consumer life has created an entirely new market. It has the ability to deliver better personalisation, relevancy, engagement, and effectiveness across all media channels.”
Hunter-Schyff believes there are three mobile trends affecting the way marketers work.
He writes:
“The first trend is that people are ‘always-on’ and their mobiles are forever at an arm’s reach. I was recently at A&E and met a guy who’d sustained an injury playing football. He was in full kit and had clearly come straight from playing. He didn’t have bags, other clothes or even normal shoes. But the one thing he did have? His mobile. For marketers, this means that there are more opportunities than ever before to reach customers, with the typical multiscreen user consuming seven hours of screen media per day. It also means that consumers are being bombarded by content all day, so any campaigns will really have to stand out.”
What else?
Hunter-Schyff believes that never-ending content consumption should prompt marketers to rethink the purchasing cycle.
“The second trend is that with their mobiles close at hand, people are constantly consuming content,” he notes. “Whether it’s sourcing answers to questions, streaming live TV, reading articles, or consuming one of the many other sources of content out there, there is an unprecedented demand for content.”
Then, there’s a third truth.
“The third truth about the hyper-connected era, is that it’s all about sharing. For example 80 per cent of UK users access Twitter, and 70 per cent of US users access Facebook, via their mobile,” Hunter-Shyff contends. “But it’s also about more than just social networks. A good article, joke or other piece of content creates discussion, it can unite people on the train or in the workplace. Mobile is an integral part of every-day communication, and as a result it is also successfully increasing the quality of more traditional advertising. People use their mobiles to share opinions and ideas, and combining this with TV can enhance the viewing experience.”
Any problems, so far? Yes, says Hunter-Schyff.
“The problem with mobile media advertising is that the true value of mobile is not being considered. It’s estimated that a massive 31 per cent of display adverts are not being seen, (source: ComScore), and average banner-ad click through rate is 0.04 per cent (source: Doubleclick) as-well-as 50 per cent of all clicks being accidental or fraudulent from bots (source: GoldSpot Media).”
That impacts the ultimate value of mobile advertising currency and dissuades advertisers from investing.
Hunter-Schyff’s solution? Investment in high quality mobile campaigns.
What should be done? He lists three things. To review, check out the must-read commentary here.