It’s no secret the iPhone has changed the mobile landscape as a whole with it’s sleek user-interface and “full web-browsing” capabilities, but the underlying benefit for large brands and advertisers alike is the powerful new marketing platform it provides.
In an article from B to B Magazine, a marketing strategy publication, they outline the future of marketing to iPhone users, as well as some surprising statistics. There was a study that found that iPhone users spend only 46.5% of their time making calls with their device, compared with 71.7% for the typical cell phone user. The other time is spent taking advantage of the unique and highly useful features the iPhone has introduced, such as Google Maps, email, and full web-browsing just to name a few.
Advertisers are slowly taking notice, and are introducing unique campaigns that make use of this increased user interaction, with the most popular being optimized landing pages, specific to iPhone screens. According to Justin Talerico, CEO of Ion Interactive, a company that offers iPhone-optimized landing pages and other post-click marketing services…
“…optimization should improve consumer’s interactions with marketing messages. Even though the iPhone was designed for easy browsing of the Web in its traditional format, there’s room for improvement. iPhone users come to the table in a more purposeful state of mind. In a way, theyâre easier to convert, but you make them harder to convert if you give them an experience thatâs subpar. Companies can deliver more satisfactory iPhone browsing experiences by simplifying landing page messaging, developing pages that load quickly over lower bandwidth connections, using fonts that are readable on a 3.5-inch screen and eliminating the need to scroll, regardless of whether the device is in portrait or landscape mode…”
A perfect example of success using optimized landing pages effectively, was the Land Rover campaign that was recently introduced in April using AdMob’s platform. When iPhone users clicked, they reached landing pages where they could watch videos, view pictures, access a store locater and click-to-call for a test drive. The campaign was a huge success for Land Rover, and further proves that iPhone users are becoming more and more active.
Payless Car Rental has also recently jumped on the iPhone-optimized bandwagon, with it’s recent launch of an iPhone-specific web site that helps consumers research and reserve rental cars with minimal typing and clicking. The site focuses on the functions that most interest mobile users, with buttons for âReserve a Car,â âView, Modify, or Cancel Reservationâ and âLocations.â It also has a âCall to Bookâ button that connects directly to a call center.
With the addition of Apple’s Software Development Kit, iPhone-optimized marketing will again be taken to the next level, with the possibility for brands to develop their own branded widgets and web-apps to further their brand awareness and user-interaction via Call-To-Actions.
It should be interesting to see what they come up with next, given that this is only the beginning!