Time to Shift from Mobile Marketing to Mobility Marketing

Consumer mobility is reshaping both purchase behavior and marketing triggers.

 More than ever, we’re living in a mobile world. In 2017, total m-commerce sales reached over $1.3 trillion globally, according to eMarketer. And that figure only includes the times when people clicked “buy” on mobile devices. When you consider that shoppers also use mobile devices earlier in their path to purchase, the implications for marketing are truly staggering.

It can be easy to think that mobile marketing is simply a matter of shrinking our existing digital strategies onto a smaller screen. But are we truly leveraging the advantages smartphones offer, as they move physically along with consumers throughout their days? This entails a shift in thinking from “mobile marketing” to “mobility marketing.” Here are three key insights on thriving in a world where mobility rules.

1. Moving from data collection to data collective

Marketers are obsessed with collecting data, but we rarely know what to do with the data once it’s stored. Historically, marketers have segmented data based on categories such as audience demographics (age, HHI, etc.) and psychographics (interests, needs, etc.).

Consumer mobility has introduced new data layers that are most valuable when studied and leveraged together. New data points such as movement patterns, time of day, and weather-triggered actions providing marketers with unprecedented insights.

Weather data, for example, might seem unimportant to buying patterns compared to a traditional category like income. But companies stand to gain enormously from responding in real time to shifts in the weather, which can influence people’s moods and buying patterns. That’s why, for example, IBM bought The Weather Company, combining that company’s data with IBM Watson to offer hyper-targeted recommendations to enterprise-level clients. But you don’t need an in-house meteorologist to know where it’s raining and adjust your marketing to location-based needs accordingly.

2. Real-time information requires real-time marketing

Having a smart phone in your pocket as you go about your day can generate a lot of information about your activities and interests. But, it also allows you to stay connected to the information that guides your decisions. Connectivity means that you can access information in real time, and that simple fact has upended entire industries.

Want to check out movie reviews before you buy a ticket? Now, studios are complaining that they can’t sell tickets to movies that everyone knows in advance are bad. Want to check out product pricing online while at a store? Physical retailers now have a whole new world of competition. Want to taste the cuisine that’s crowding your Instagram feed? Geo-tagging, maps, Yelp reviews, booking apps and more can help you get that coveted table.

You are on the go, and so are your decisions. You need real-time messages, reminders, offers, and triggers that help fulfill your needs and can help you make decisions. It’s not about where you were 3 days ago, but rather, where you are now and what can be useful for you. Or even better, anticipating and predicting where you will most likely go in the next 3 minutes.

The opportunity for marketers is to leverage real-time information to create more meaningful connections in those moments of truth — and too often, we fail. In October 217, a team at Nottingham Trent University found that 32% of smartphone notifications actually have a negative effect on our mood. However, separate research from Localytics found that 52% of respondents think push notifications are better than they were a few years ago. Make sure you’ve thought through the best use of real-time messaging, to make sure you’re on the right side of this curve.

3. New media channels beg for new media strategies

Look what happened to the world when we gained connectivity through our phones. Now, imagine all the new media channels that will be born as a result of IoT (internet of things). From smart cars and smart homes to voice technology and drones, it’s happening all around us: communications and interactions.

Today’s consumer is in the shopping mindset at all times, whether or not a screen is involved. In fact, 22% of people who own voice assistant devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home already shop using voice commands, according to recent research from Adobe.

Just because retail touchpoints are everywhere, this doesn’t mean that consumers want to be spammed by ads 24/7. On the contrary, it means that they will likely be more selective about what their choices and more difficult to sell to. The new era of marketing requires smarter strategies to create connections that are additive to the audience’s day.

As customer mobility expands, basic ad placements will become more obsolete while connectivity, data-driven messaging, service and delivery will rise in order to cater to consumer behavior in action.