Kim’s Jewelry: Mobile Marketing Strategy

According to Ian Dodson (2016), the idea of mobile marketing is “… centered on the fact that mobile now overshadows the desktop world” (p 251). There are massive opportunities at present in mobile marketing, and Kim’s Jewelry shop is able to take advantage of those opportunities through a series of steps designed by Dodson to lead the business to success. Today’s mobile phones allow us to keep what amounts to a personal computer, a personal organizer of events, a camera, a device for entertainment and education, and access to the internet all in the palms of our hands (Dodson, 2016). People are more willing to purchase the newest mobile phone as capabilities have increased and owning the newest version of a particular phone has become a social status symbol of sorts (Dodson, 2016). Dodson even reports that today “… there are more Android activations every day than there are babies being born” (2016, p 252). Because of this, there is a vast audience for digital marketing, and ample opportunity to reach them quite easily.

Opportunity

There is a very large (over three billion) mobile phone customers globally, which means that reaching a wide audience through mobile phone marketing is almost a given. The benefits of mobile include personal connection, access to customers and immediacy of delivery, wide distribution, seamless user interaction, and cross-platform capabilities (Dodson, 2016). People check their phones upwards of 150 times a day and interact with their phones more than with any other technology to date (Dodson, 2016). All of this means that any message a mobile marketer is trying to send will be received quickly by the consumers they are trying to reach. Of course, with all these opportunities are a few challenges. Social media has given consumers a voice, and negative consumer experiences can be seen and heard by millions in just a few seconds, requiring many businesses to have a static social media team dedicated to responding to consumer comments in a timely manner (Dodson, 2016). A business can no longer have a static website but must optimize their websites for mobile phones and include interactive calls to action, such as “Call Now” buttons which allow the consumer to actively interact with the business in ways many businesses have not predicted (Dodson, 2016).

Optimize

Optimization describes a process in which an existing website can utilize JavaScript to allow their full website to be transformed into something that can be read on the smaller screen of a mobile phone (Dodson, 2016). If the content is too small, mobile phone users frequently become frustrated and will leave a website before fully interacting with it. Today, there are smart TVs, laptops of varying sizes, tablets, and mobile phones, and the sizes of the screens must be considered. This can be accomplished in two different manners; the adaptive site, which reads from where the request was seen and delivers a different browsing experience depending upon the destination’s capabilities, or a responsive site which delivers the same content to all users but orders the content differently dependent upon the device with which the user is accessing that content (Dodson, 2016). When creating a mobile strategy it is important that content be prioritized over navigation, that there are large tap targets, that unnecessary content be removed, that consumers have the ability to perform tasks quickly, that download speeds and power usage have been considered, that customer interactions have been considered, and that a mobile marketer understands that they may be unable to collect cookies (data) from mobile consumers (Dodson, 2016). Understanding the fundamentals of touch design is imperative. From past research by Apple Technologies, it is known that the average finger used to touch a phone’s touchscreen is 44×44 pixels (Dodson, 2016). Placing buttons close together or not keeping this size in mind may result in user frustration. Touch gestures such as swipe, scroll, expand, and contract can also be used to make the mobile site more interactive and user-friendly. Also keeping in mind, the usefulness of mobile technology can make the user’s experience much more seamless, while providing the mobile marketer a gamut of useful knowledge. For example, GPS technology is available on all mobile phones, and this can help the user obtain location specific information while providing the mobile marketer location information for each customer (Dodson, 2016).

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Mobile optimized websites are one avenue for mobile marketers. This option allows marketers the immediacy of delivery, compatibility with all devices, ease of upgrading and updating, ease of location, a longer life cycle versus a mobile app, cost over time effectiveness, and ease of support and sustainability (Dodson, 2016). There is also the option of a web app, which combines the core HTML functions of a mobile site with the coding options of an app, so that browsers can save sites to their home screens, where it becomes a “… native app that happens to live on the web” (Dodson, 2016, p 260). The final option would be creating a mobile application, which has the advantages of not requiring uninterrupted Internet access, better phone integration, and is platform-specific (Dodson, 2016). Apps also have the possible side benefit of becoming revenue options, if there is a price attached to downloading the application.

Getting started with optimizing a website is usually very easy and can be performed with minimal expense. If developing a site from scratch it is important that the developer be able to justify exactly why they are needing a mobile-optimized website, build it with help from experienced developers, go live with the site (and then test it!), promote the website, measure results using Google Analytics, and update the site accordingly.

Application Development

The features that make a native app so wonderful revolve around the facts that apps fulfill customer needs, offer simplicity, interactivity, and accessibility, and are secure (Dodson, 2016). Getting started with a mobile app involves many of the same steps as interactive website development. Justification for the necessity of a mobile app over an interactive website must be made, then the app must be built (with the help of a developer), go live (and test), promote the app, measure use of the app, and update the app accordingly (Dodson, 2016).

Advertise

Mobile advertising can help a business achieve business goals, product goals, communication goals, and marketing goals (Dodson, 2016). For advertising, the standard mobile banner ad format is only 300×50 pixels or 320×50 pixels and should involve a call to action which allows the user to seamlessly interact with the advertisement (Dodson, 2016). Unlike many ads, however, the mobile ad has the capability to expand, virtually taking over the user’s screen (and their attention). Click through rate on mobile ads is much higher than on desktop ads, as well (Dodson, 2016). Ads can be imbedded in other apps, as well, and allows developers a way to earn money with the free apps they produce and can be more easily targeted than mobile searches (Dodson, 2016). Again, it is important to justify the reasons why you need a mobile ad campaign, build the campaign, go live and test the campaign, cross-promote the campaign, measure the effectiveness of the campaign, and update the campaign as needed (Dodson, 2016).

Proximity marketing may be a key way to reach users and can help a mobile marketer get closer to customers (Dodson, 2016). It is much more effective than “shotgunning” a mobile banner ad at the general market, and can be cheaper, simpler, and more manageable because it targets content to wireless devices based on their locations by using the “cells” in which cell phones work, nearby Bluetooth or WiFi enabled phones, or NFC (near-field communication), or even QR codes (Dodson, 2016). SMS marketing through text message is also a possibility with cell phones. An SMS provider can allow a mobile marketer to obtain analytics regarding customers who have opened the text message and change the campaign accordingly (Dodson, 2016).

Analyze

Analytics play a large part of every mobile campaign and drive all updates for any mobile platform chosen (Dodson, 2016). Because mobile phones are so personal, the metrics received from analysis allow the marketer to personalize any updates to make their platform just that much more user-friendly for the individual user. Google Analytics allows the marketer to see just how users are interacting with websites, and updates can be made accordingly through obtained information there as well.

Reference

Dodson, I. (2016). The Art of Digital Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Creating Strategic, Targeted and Measurable Online Campaigns. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, New Jersey.