M-commerce and mobile marketing benefits
The use of mobile marketing and m-commerce is becoming increasingly common due to reliance on mobile devices, like smartphones. People use these devises to browse the internet and shop whilst ‘out and about’.
There are a number of benefits to selling and marketing on the mobile web. These include:
reaching the widest possible audience with your digital marketing due to an increasing number of consumers using mobile devices to access digital content
instant, adaptable, easily monitored communication – you can send single or bulk messages from anywhere, at any time with immediate tracking and the ability to record results
the ability to target a large active consumer group by specific demographic information – eg age, location, gender
cost efficiency, with low production and distribution costs, and additional revenue from replies to promotions and competitions
a direct link to consumers through 24-hour billing/sales/service/assistance
viral marketing potential, as consumers can forward messages
cross-media integration, which is easily tied in to other advertising media – eg TV or radio
How you can use mobile marketing and m-commerce
When deciding on whether to use mobile marketing or m-commerce solutions in your business, you should consider the following points:
How mobile marketing fits into your marketing plan. Will you use it to market your product or service, acquire or retain customers, or solely as a sales tool?
Your target audience and how they communicate – how your customer base – or potential customer base – use mobile devices and whether a mobile application is necessary for them.
Whether a mobile application or service would improve your current product or service – eg you could switch from paper discount vouchers to SMS-based vouchers.
If your competitors use mobile devices or applications, how do they use them? Are they successful, and how could you improve them?
You also need to consider the most effective mix of mobile content that will benefit your business.
There are a host of opportunities for you to develop content for m-commerce and mobile marketing. Some of the options you could consider are:
mobile applications – this includes social networking apps, rich media content, games or viral content
mobile websites – websites that are designed for ease of use on a mobile device
location-based services – eg mobile services that use the users’ location to personalise the content that is served
mobile advertising
Generating revenue
There are a number of ways you can make money through m-commerce and mobile marketing.
One simple way is to allow your product or service to be purchased through a mobile-friendly website. Often a responsive website template is used to change the look and feel of your website, to make it more accessible to mobile users. See mobile web design best practice.