Thomas Patrick Ward
The widespread adoption of the smartphone has led to the mobile sphere and wider digital industry being transformed and has changed the way brands and consumers interact. Disover some of the key trends that are already shaping 2020 and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
The demand and expectation of personalised marketing has grown in recent years and this will continue into 2020. It will be important for brands to ensure that their mobile marketing strategy is based upon a multichannel messaging approach that ensures that personalisation is at the forefront, from the planning through to the final execution.. Fortunately, there are numerous channels that can be used to achieve this experience.
The personalisation capabilities of email marketing are well known but the emergence of Rich Communication Services (RCS), is one of the most exciting developments within the mobile sector for some time now.
Essentially, the channel provides the functionality of a mobile application within an SMS and includes sophisticated chatbots to deliver an enhanced personalised experience.
The utilisation of the Android ecosystem means that users are already familiar with the functionality, including the ability to pay via Google Pay. This is a really exciting combination for brands, as a highly personalised user experience complemented by the ability to pay with a simple tap of the finger provides the opportunity for high levels of revenue generation.
More countries are expected to become RCS capable in 2020, meaning that awareness of the channel will increase.
Consumers are now spending more time on messaging applications like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Therefore chat apps should be a key focus for brands looking to take advantage of the number of users communicating and using these channels.
The most exciting part of this for brands is that the channel is an ideal place to engage with an audience and provide quick answers, resolve problems and even assist in a company’s registration process and encourage customers during the conversion funnel.
If you have not considered using a chat bot as part of your mobile marketing strategy, then now is the time to start doing so in order to make sure that you don’t fall behind your competitors.
Video is still an incredibly powerful medium to engage users and can be used effectively across a variety of channels. This is certainly the case when it comes to mobile marketing where there are numerous opportunities for videos to be utilised.
More and more brands are including video in their online content to assist in increasing the amount of time spent on websites and incorporating videos into their advertising efforts to engage their target audience.
Complementing bulk SMS marketing with interactive mobile landing pages is a powerful way in which to bring your brand to life to increase user engagement and to tell your story more effectively.
This is especially lucrative for small business owners as it helps to increase engagement, while ensuring that you are keeping an eye on your budget and keeping it under control.
Despite the advances in technology over the years since its inception, the SMS is still as powerful as ever and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. As mobile ownership continues to grow around the world, we can expect to see the number of people receiving marketing alerts and service information via SMS continue to grow.
The number of people receiving business-related SMS is expected to increase to 48.7 million in 2020, an increase of 23% compared to 2016. It is also worth remembering that consumers redeem coupons delivered by SMS around 10 times more than other types of coupons.
The new fifth generation of telecommunication systems will provide ubiquitous, ultra-fast bandwidth with low latency connectivity.
This will mean that the technology will be used across a range of applications and sectors and will transform the current landscape of mobile connectivity and mobile marketing. It is expected that it will be of interest to governments and vertical industries, such as automotive, financial services, healthcare providers and utility providers.
However, in 2020 it will still not enjoy widespread rollout and brands should take the time to analyse the current landscape and determine where there are opportunities to take advantage of in the future – it is expected that there will be as many as 1.2 billion connections by 2025.
