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Mobile marketing matters: the story of the small screen In May 2013, the analysts at McKinsey Global Institute put a finger in the air to guesstimate what the big
technologies in 2025 might be. As you would expect with predictions twelve years from hence and with numbers in
the trillions of dollars, the McKinsey team were careful to point out that their work was largely conjecture. But the
fact remains, mobile internet topped the list, being valued at more than renewable energy, genomics, 3D printing
and advanced robotics put together.
Unfortunately, unless you work in mobile technology,
that won’t go straight into your bank account. But
mobile is clearly becoming more
important. There are several
reasons for this - and there are
consequences for every
business owner.
1) You can do more on a
smartphone than ever
before. Two years ago, we
would have been pretty
excited just to get email on
our mobiles. Today’s
smartphones are so
powerful that in order to
remain competitive,
communications (email
along with Twitter, LinkedIn,
Yammer and any number of
other comms tools) are just the baseline. Smart
execs – and this applies to busy owner/managers
even more than to big company players – must be
constantly connected; because they know that
their competitors will be, too.
2) And we’re not just connected to each other;
we’re connected to everything. Thanks to the
Cloud and online storage tools, our mobiles are
now gateways to every possible repository of
useful stuff. If you have a CRM system, keep your
documents on SkyDrive, or use Office 365 to keep
in touch with your clients, you can
get the same experience on your
phone or tablet as you can at your
desk. In the words of a Deloitte
Australia review, communication
on-the-go has now been augmented
with “productive use of downtime,
apps which assist with
organisational processes, document
review and decision making.”
3) Then, whole businesses are
emerging which are based on
mobile technology. If you like the
sound of remote medical
monitoring for our ageing
population, home automation (a
bath which runs itself when you’re
on your way home, for example…), or having
information superimposed on the screen when
you scan museum exhibits, all these are new
business models driven by mobile devices. And if
that’s all a bit too Harry Potter for your liking, the
fact remains that the UK is overwhelmingly an
information-driven economy: the most recent
estimate (2012) suggests that 78% of the UK’s
GDP is from the service economy, underpinned by
access to information and knowledge.
“We’re glued to our
pocket pals. Mobile
traffic already accounts
for almost a third of all
UK internet traffic.
Whatever your
business, the way you
market it online has to
change.”
4) Finally, there are cultural shifts at work.
Technology allows one person to do the work
previously carried out by a whole department.
Whilst we’re clearly more productive, this means
we’re also more individual. We often work in
isolation; at home or on the road, making
decisions for ourselves and without the support
network of a department or even a boss. We work
our own hours, wrap our work around other
commitments, and often
work for many people at
once. Many commentators
have highlighted that our
devices are becoming a
part of our identity; few
have pointed out the
natural conclusion that, in
fact, these devices may be
the only thing which
connects the many
different hats we wear at
work.
The result? We’re glued to our
pocket pals. According to
platform operator, Mobify,
mobile traffic already accounts
for almost a third of all UK
internet traffic. Last year,
nearly a quarter of us used our
mobiles to do the Christmas
shopping. This means that,
whatever your business, the way you market it online
has to change.
Make your marketing
mobile-friendly Bridget Randolph is a consultant specialising in mobile
for London/NYC/Seattle marketing agency, Distilled.
She says, “People underestimate how much happens
on a mobile because the technology has developed so
quickly. They also see mobile as a marketing channel
(like social media, or outdoor advertising). It’s not –
it’s a technology, and
increasingly it’s simply how
people use the internet, which
impacts all the other
channels.” Here are the big
considerations for small
businesses:
1) Says Randolph, “The
starting point is what the
experts call a ‘responsive’
website – one which changes
according to the size of the
screen used, or ‘dynamic
serving’ in which different
content is served to mobile and
desktop devices; so that the
site can be read properly. Small
businesses are less likely to
have mobile-friendly websites,
because they are short of time
and resources and think it’s
expensive (it doesn’t need to be). 40%+ of
mobile users who land on a non-mobile-
friendly site will leave for a competitor’s site;
57% won’t recommend a business after a
poor mobile experience.”
2) “Once your website is mobile ready, you need
to consider the new ways in which people
search for you”. It turns out that around 40%
of searches have ‘local intent’ – and on mobile
devices that can be both a blessing and a
curse. Sometimes a user will enter an
appropriate search term (for example,
“Plumber in Liverpool”). However, today’s
search engines will usually prioritise local
search results to mobile devices. If you run a
local business, you should make every effort
to include local terms (location, phone
number) as text in your web copy, because
you will otherwise be usurped by competitors.
Worse still, what if you’re not a local
business? What if you run a mail order
business, graphic design house, or any of the
many businesses which could be conducted
from anywhere? Your best bet is to offer rich,
deep content which competes in the search
engine wars on relevance rather than
location.
3) “Your website does have to be fast”, says
Randolph. “Online, we want convenience. We
want information now; and that’s
accentuated on mobiles, even though on the
go there may be limited or intermittent
connectivity. One trick is to tweak your site so
that it at least displays some content even if
the rest of it hasn’t loaded yet. Minimise text
represented as images – you want your text
to be readable even for people who browse
with images turned off”. Mobile browsers are
generally simpler – they don’t allow for
multiple tabs; and popups are nothing short
of an abomination. On the small screen,
function wins over form every time. “Also,
implement click-to-call on your phone
number. It’s at most a line or two of code, and
makes life easy for mobile browsers to get
right in touch.”
4) Finally, don’t forget that your other marketing
activities need to be mobile friendly, too. The
good news is, much of the heavy lifting has
been done for you. Are you a social media
fan? Good – because Twitter is mobile-native.
“The same is true of Facebook Pages, LinkedIn
Groups and Google+ - all are mobile-friendly
enough to allow you to engage with your
target audiences without any new effort. In
fact, they’ll do nicely as fill-ins for a responsive
website if you haven’t got that sorted out
yet”, says Randolph. The same goes for any
email marketing you produce. We all read
emails on mobile devices, so email design
needs to be responsive, too.
Nobody would run a business today without having a
mobile phone. Many of us have multiple devices both
at home and in the office. They’re indispensable. To
ignore the marketing potential of small devices is to
ignore a growing chunk of the market; and luckily,
meeting their needs needn’t be a crippling expense in
time or money.
Productivity and security: mobile business demands both
HML, a wholly owned subsidiary of Skipton Building
Society, is a leading specialist financial outsourcer,
managing around £40bn worth of assets. Even though
the company had 180 senior operational managers,
those managers wanted better mobile phones for the
same reason as managers in businesses of any size:
better remote access to data and applications on the
road. As a financial business, of course, security was
as important a consideration as access.
“We had a champion challenge on [a range of] devices
with weekly feedback”, says Paul Runcorn, HML’s
Head of Enterprise Architecture. “And at the end of
that exercise, the Windows device won on a number
of fronts. The primary benefit of Windows Phones is
lower costs but they have also provided the absolute
level of security that we wanted with the added
benefit of Microsoft productivity tools and technology
which we use in the business.” Predicted savings are
70 per cent, year on year, with the ongoing cost per
device at just £12.50 a month.
HML’s security experts were wowed by the fact that
Windows Phone supports:
Full hardware-accelerated device encryption
which helps keep everything from corporate
data to passwords safe
Remote Wipe
The ability to require both a SIM and device
PIN or password
‘App sandboxing’ which prevents malicious
apps from gaining unauthorised access to
data
Employees, on the other hand, get the only phone on
the market with Office Mobile and Outlook Mobile
built in for a seamless experience with Exchange
email, calendar, and contacts. Calendars and tasks are
integrated and accessible from the same view, like a
day planner. Managing schedule conflicts and
attendees or setting an out-of-office message is also
no hassle with Windows Phone. It’s all the tools you
already use, optimised for a mobile life.
Windows Phone also delivers full access to documents
on SharePoint sites, in emails and on Office 365. And
when those documents are opened, rich viewing,
editing and commenting happens with guaranteed
fidelity. The presentation you save from your mobile
is what your client will open at their desk – and that’s
comforting to know. Runcorn says: “There is a much
more consistent user experience with Microsoft apps.
It’s often the case that if someone has forgotten a
document, they don’t want to have to fire up their
laptop but they can find it easily on their Windows
Mobile.”
Stay safe on the go
For most business users, a smartphone is a life essential. Many of us have more personal information on our phones
than on our laptops or office networks. And yet… we religiously protect our laptop whilst the mobile is completely
unsecured. Here’s how to keep yourself and your business safe in the new, mobile-enabled world.
1) Lock it. Now.
All smartphones today have ‘lockscreens’ – a
password protected first screen. Some are
protected by numbers, others more visually
by a sequence of swipes.
However, all manufacturers
make these screens
optional, because when you
unpack your phone for the
first time, they want you to
be able to use it
immediately and start
having fun.
So, your lockscreen default
is ‘off’.
However, if you are not
using your lockscreen, you
are missing the single easiest opportunity to
protect yourself from mobile mischiefmakers.
Please: set your lockscreen. And use a proper
password (not ‘1234’)!
2) Set up remote wipe
Following on from the above, the next
essential is remote wipe. Most manufacturers
offer this service, and quite simply, it allows
you to wipe your phone remotely from any
internet connected computer if your phone is
stolen. Think of it as the ‘nuclear button’ of
last resort.
Before this eventuality, you may also be able
to remote-track your phone –
indeed, there have been cases
of excellent sleuthing, where
owners have led police to the
door of the miscreant.
3) Data, not devices
Got insurance on your phone?
Good. But unfortunately, that’s
a red herring. The device itself is
of low value; and it’s instantly
replaceable. Indeed, most
providers will ship you a
replacement phone in 24 hours.
However, the value lies in the
data and information in your phone: the
numbers and email addresses, the meetings
you might miss. To protect your business,
protect your data. Back it up to a good Cloud
service, and sync it regularly.
4) Now it’s personal!
Your phone is a ‘personal’ device in many
senses of the word. It’s with you all the time.
You probably love it. And it’s probably the one
device in which you store both business and
personal information. So, if your business
“If you write your
passwords in a ‘Notes’
application, unsecured,
then I’m afraid we’re
going to have to send
you to bed with no
dinner.”
does have a mobile data policy, it needs to be
realistic and take account of the fact that
there is a crossover here. That requires a
certain tolerance.
You may wish to operate a principle of data
segregation, with business and personal data
stored in separate directories, and with
business data only backed up to the Cloud,
paid for by the business.
5) What’s that app?
Most apps you use are likely to be well known
and thoroughly safe. However, there have
been instances of ‘stealth apps’ which are
designed specifically to elicit information from
you or steal data from your phone.
There are also apps which, as a side effect,
may make more information about you
available than you might have planned. For
example, it’s perhaps not wise to pop “Having
great fun at the Megacorp conference” on
Facebook, especially if the location setting
automatically adds ‘in Manchester’ to your
post.
Finally, with lesser known apps, consider what
might happen to your data if that app is
withdrawn from the market. Will you miss it?
Could it be used by someone unscrupulous?
All in all, if you’re worried, don’t install.
6) All your password eggs in one high-risk
basket
Our love of mobile convenience means that
there is a juggernaut of a trend towards
keeping passwords conveniently on our
smartphones. If you write them in a ‘Notes’
application, unsecured, then I’m afraid we’re
going to have to send you to bed with no
dinner. That’s just unforgiveable.
However, there is also a bundle of apps on
sale which offer to store your passwords
(usually protected by a ‘one for all’ password).
Don’t use them. When you think about it, this
is just a case of putting all your eggs in one
basket for convenience, and it represents a
very false economy indeed.
7) There is such a thing as mobile antivirus.
And it’s becoming more important. Plus, many
mobile antivirus solutions are either free or
cheap (check your appropriate App Store).
Often, antivirus forms part of a Mobile Device
Management (‘MDM’) suite. If you’ve got
more than three to five employees, formal
MDM will start to make commercial sense.
8) Always on? Always open.
We like our phones to be on 24/7, and switch
seamlessly between networks. We leave
home, check train times, scribble an email,
jump onto LinkedIn, make a Skype call in the
office and then head out for a meeting.
During that process we have been
permanently connected, through three
different wi-fi networks and innumerable
mobile networks. Some of those networks
may be insecure, and in some cases outright
predatory.
Convenience and security come with
something of a trade-off; and it takes a
strong-willed person to log in and out of
networks every time; but it’s worth keeping
an eye on new wi-fi networks as they are
presented to you, particularly if they are
password-free.
9) People come, people go
Even if you don’t employ anyone else in your
business, chances are you have a raft of
people around you involved in the business in
some way. Perhaps it’s suppliers, or freelance
talent whom you bring in on an occasional
basis. You need to have some sort of plan for
when individuals cease to be associated with
your company; particularly if they have used
their own device rather than one purchased
by the business.
It’s draconian to expect someone to wipe
their own phone (indeed, if your work is that
critical, you should fund a separate phone for
their use…), but some sort of pre-defined
agreed agenda for data security is wise.
10) Scammers love mobile
Finally, as we move towards a mobile-first
lifestyle, remember that scam emails and
scam websites are as valid on your
smartphone screen as in a full-sized web
browser. In fact, they can be even more
seductive. It’s all too easy to click on that fake
‘Update your details now’ link from your
handset and so blow all your hard won
security in one unguarded moment. Stay
vigilant: if it’s not wholly credible (and it
usually isn’t), don’t click.
“On a scale of 1-100 of mobile innovation… we’re at about 2!” Gerd Leonhard is a futurist, author and CEO of The Futures Agency, with clients ranging from the Financial Times to the European Union. We asked him for a glimpse into the future of mobile…
“Let’s be clear: to talk about the future of mobile in business is to talk about the future of business technology in general. Mobile is already the default for many functions, and within five years, it’s predicted that 80% of all internet traffic will be between mobile devices (tablets, phones etc.) Only large-screen work (spreadsheets, video editing, say) will be done on desktop machines. There are some central trends which will help to drive this forward, and which will also change the way we do business.
To make smaller devices work seamlessly, and to get the most out of them, we need new interfaces. We are already seeing sophisticated gesture and voice controls which will make it easier to get what we want out of our devices. Within three years, we can expect to see holographic interfaces which will allow for a new degree of visual engagement and similarly some new, naturalistic 3D control gestures.
Augmented reality – the superimposition of data onto visuals – will be extended to “ambient vision”. You can already hold your phone over a museum exhibit to display extra information. With ambient augmentation, we will be permanently connected to relevant data. Imagine being able to avoid the embarrassment of forgetting someone’s
name when you bump into them – because it pops up in your field of vision...
With that connectedness will come richer interaction with the raw knowledge in the cloud. For example, from millions of voice queries, your favourite search engine will learn the meaning of tone of voice: it will appreciate that “I’m just tired – find me a hotel in Bath” implicitly includes the sentiment that it needn’t be a luxury establishment with a spa: you just want to go to sleep. We’ll need to specify
ever less to get more of the results we want, at just the right time.
But we can take this further. Rather like a digital butler, personal devices in tandem with cloud services will rapidly learn to use and connect information more effectively than humans can. I will be able to ask a search engine or computer system to research, say, ten competitors; then create a presentation about them which features licensed pictures and ensure they’re paid for, and simply pick up my presentation ten minutes later. Similarly, booking travel will cease to be a ten-point juggle of sites and options, replaced by simple voice commands and prompts.
Indeed, the eventual end-game is a transparent permanent layer of digital assistance; computing
which can second-guess our needs and come up with elegant options, often before we even knew we needed them.
This all sounds exciting, but probably frightening, too. It requires the things we say and do to be analysed and interpreted. So there is a need for new legislation, social standards and ethics. We need to know that we can remain private when we want to. But just as the railways ousted the horse and cart, rest assured, progress to the data-enabled world is an inevitability. All this represents a simultaneous quantum leap in the fields of personal device interfaces, big data and search. We are entering an economy where data will be more valuable than oil. Running your business, this means two things. As a device owner, your life is going to get ever simpler, more productive and more seamless. Your mobile devices will become the indispensible, first-choice tools of business. As a business marketer, though, you’ll have to ride a wave of innovation. Your mobile will be the gateway to your customers, and the nature of that engagement is changing every day.”