IMC – Integrated Mobile Communications

Currently one billion people in the world are online; however 4 billion have a mobile phone. What does this tell you?… The mass market is mobile.

With sales of smartphones still rife, accessibility growing and Google’s new Nexus 1 tipped as the successor to the iPhone throne, it’s a brave (or stupid?) businessman that turns his back at the proposition of mobile marketing.

But once you’ve increased targets, briefed creative, set budgets and made the tea the question still remains as to what exactly do we actually do? Mobile is expanding its digital capabilities as fast as it’s expanding its market share and just when you thought you’d got you’re head around multi-channel strategies including mobile, there is now multi-channel mobile strategies. From display advertising and mobile compatible websites to creating downloadable content and branded applications, the mobile marketing world is quite literally at our fingertips.

Web content for mobiles

If someone had told me 10 years ago, while I was playing snake on my Nokia 3210, that by the time I’d graduated and was working in the online industry I’d not be able to play snake anymore, but I’d be listening to music, surfing the web, updating twitter and finding the nearest takeaway all from my slim, lightweight device I wouldn’t of been able to even imagine it. But according to Nielsen’s recent survey [http://www.nielsen-online.com/pr/pr_091110_uk.pdf], more than 10.4 million people accessed the internet through their mobile phones in the third quarter of 2009. With statistics like this floating around it’s obvious that mobile web is a growing opportunity for brands to reach customers at a critical stage in the buying cycle, and businesses are failing to capitalise on it. Although applications have started to evolve, essentially simplifying websites to their core purpose, consumers wanting that bit extra information still have to trawl through the dense forest on standard websites in order to find what they’re looking for. In contrast, speed, clarity and simplicity of content are needed as small screens and complex sites don’t mix. A flash filled creative site may work superbly on a standard computer, but on a handset a lot of text and multiple navigation tabs mean excessive scrolling and difficult usability. For companies wanting to ensure their website is accessible to web users wherever they are, a mobile compatible design is crucial to influencing consumer choice.

Display Advertising

In terms of banners and display advertising, mobile brings a new level of engagement for advertisers as consumers are accessing sites at the point of sale, a critical point in the buying cycle. This increases the impact of the ad, and can also support other media such as outdoor and ambient campaigns. However, it also means that marketing needs to be even more relevant and better targeted to take advantage of the closeness to purchase. Similar to websites built for mobile display advertising needs to work with the medium as well. Bold, simple ads will draw attention and not frustrate the consumer by being difficult to interact with. The main effects of mobile advertising are increased brand awareness and intent to purchase. With these targets in mind brands need to ensure ads are attention grabbing and engaging while maintaining a relevance to both the brand and target audience.

What this means for businesses

The mobile internet is not the static internet; users browse for very different purposes, in different ways and places, therefore are in completely different mindsets when they interact with companies or are subjected to their marketing.

This means that brands need to think about their mobile strategies in a completely new light as well. Mobile is a new medium for both marketers and companies to understand – it’s a new space, with new functionality, and new consumer mindsets. These factors, their influence on brand engagement and the way they interact together must be understood before marketing messages are allowed to go mobile.