LINDSAY SMITH - CEO, Massive Media
Whether it’s photographing cheques, chatting with customer support or buying shoes, we want to use our mobile devices for all our everyday interactions. Increasingly, brands are beginning to adapt to the knowledge that their target audience is now looking for them on their phone. As is the rule, those quickest to adapt will overtake their competition. The next step in the growth of mobile, where the innovators are, is high-level interactivity and customized experiences to build that mobile bridge to your consumer base.
Interactivity is about merging the mobile digital experience with our physical environment. As information becomes more real-time, and users begin to expect fewer steps in their search for information, new technologies are being leveraged to meet these demands. Near-field communication (NFC) technology allows smartphones or other devices to link with nearby data transmitters, or each other, while beacon technology pushes messages to devices within geo-fences.
Tap your mobile phone here for more info. Tap here to play. Tap to enter. These are new interactive media that are on the market right now. Globally, 80% of smartphones are Samsung and come pre-enabled with NFC. Brands such as Tesla, Paramount Pictures, Virgin and Google have already used NFC to bring their signage and campaigns to life. In the near future, these technologies will become integral to the future dialogue between customer and company.
Companies should consider implementing these new technologies to keep up with the demand for mobile interaction.
ADAM ROOTMAN - Senior digital manager, Vancouver Whitecaps
In the past year, traffic to our site from mobile sources has pushed over the 50% mark, and that number is also significantly higher on match days. So what are we doing to adapt? First and foremost, we are focusing on enhancing our fans’ mobile experience in 2015. To that end, we are launching a new responsive design of our site.
We all see it every day on the streets and we see it here in venue: folks on their phone flipping through their Facebook news feeds. We had a lot of success with targeted Facebook advertising in 2014. Shifting additional budget over to Facebook to target mobile users will be part of our 2015 digital advertising strategy. Specifically, we are keenly monitoring when Facebook Local Awareness advertising will be released in Canada. We believe that this new tool will be an excellent way to geo-target our fans sitting at BC Place who are engaging with their phones on match day.
In 2014, we saw excellent mobile engagement with our visual content such as infographics and video. As such, we will be moving away from long scrolling articles to content that is visually rich and can be easily consumed and shared on mobile.
In summary, our 2015 mobile strategy is centred around optimal mobile design, visually rich content and technologies that deliver geo-targeted ads to consumers.
MICHAEL LEBLANC - Senior vice-president of digital retail, Retail Council of Canada
Over the past decade, the impact of mobile technology has been sometimes overestimated in the short term but underestimated in the long run. Truly, the combination of pervasiveness, the fact that mobile phones are one of the most frequently used devices, and the fast-evolving “wearable” sector means that mobile has reached a tipping point that no retailer of any size can ignore. Here are two key elements to think about:
Your consumer-facing digital presence: How your online presence (your digital storefront) is seen by customers on mobile devices, including phones and tablets, should now be given top priority when considering your design/technology architecture, much like search engine optimization. There are two basic choices or tactics, neither of which necessarily rules out the other. First, consider ensuring your site is “responsive” (easily viewable on any mobile device). Second, think about creating a dedicated “app” for consumers to download, which presents a different brand/retail experience than your website – one tailored specifically to the mobile experience and how your customers consume or work with information in that platform.
Integration into your marketing campaigns: Mobile advertising and promotion is very accessible with social media and digital providers such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Embrace the opportunity to test and pilot the mobile advertising element of these different media properties. You will likely find that campaigns – even keywords – perform differently in mobile, so tailor your spending, and the campaign itself, to suit the different providers and devices.
