The way consumers interact with information digitally is changing rapidly, and the mechanisms of mobile apps and sites are changing too, which means new strategies for mobile marketers to keep in mind going into 2019. Consumers now spend more than five hours a day on smartphones and, in turn, mobile advertising is expected to represent 72% of all US digital ad spending in 2019.
Here are 5 trends that will impact your mobile marketing strategy this year:
1. Augmented Reality
It’s coming: a predicted 58.8 million US consumers will be using AR by 2019. Global Market Insight predicts the AR market will be worth at least $165 billion globally by 2024. With Facebook moving AR ads to the newsfeed last summer, there’s no question that the AR revolution is here. Beauty and retail brands like Michael Kors and Sephora have already started experimenting with AR-driven ad formats that allow users to virtually test products from their mobile devices. For mobile marketers, the key to this trend will be leveraging it to add “try before you buy” functionality that adds to the mobile user experience and increases ROI rather than for the sake of the novel functionality.
2. Mobile first indexing
While desktop has historically been considered the primary forum for digital engagement, the explosive growth of mobile-first users has encouraged Google to shift to mobile first indexing to rank sites based on their optimization for mobile browsing. This means companies need to prioritize the content, speed, and user experience of mobile sites. This shift is fitting since mobile now accounts for over 70% of all digital media time compared to desktop.
Google has been gradually rolling out this new method of indexing sites over the past year. Any site accessed through a mobile device must be sized correctly to fit device screens and leverage accelerated mobile page ads for faster loading times. Load speed is essential considering sites that load in at least 5 seconds on mobile get 25% more ad visibility and 70% longer session durations. Marketers that have optimized their sites for mobile also ensure higher rates of viewability and CTRs on mobile ads.
3. Dynamic Creatives and personalization
Personalizing the mobile user experience is one of the most effective ways to drive engagement in the highly competitive mobile space. Seventy-four percent of marketers say targeted personalization increases customer engagement, and a 20% average increase in sales as a result.
Look-alike modeling is an essential tool for effective personalization. It works by gathering data that can help segment customers into different categories by building social profiles of different customers or customer types. Using this segmentation, marketers can serve relevant ads to users based on their demographic, interests or mobile browsing behavior.
4. Artificial Intelligence
AI is already being used to help personalize mobile ads to the individual user’s tastes, and while 80% of marketing executives predict that AI will revolutionize marketing only 10% are currently using the new technology in their marketing. Dynamic bidding in programmatic advertising is one example of AI at work. Dynamic bidding enables marketers to optimize their ad spend by adjusting their bid higher or lower on users based on their likelihood of taking a desired post-install action. Consumers using an app first trigger an ad request, which also provides information about that user. This information is used to determine key characteristics for each consumer, and those with the most matches to a set of established standards are the ones that see the ads. The process takes less than a second, and the profiles for users continue to get more detailed as more data is collected.
5. Omnichannel Marketing
Omnichannel marketing creates a seamless shopping experience for consumers across brick and mortar stores, smartphones and desktops. Brands using omnichannel marketing strategies retain 89% of customers versus the 39% retention rate of companies without omnichannel marketing strategies. The Starbucks app is one example of effective omnichannel marketing: it serves as a practical and time-saving supplement to the brick-and-mortar store experience and offers rewards to keep Starbucks customers engaged. Effective omnichannel marketing facilitates the delivery of the right message to the customer at the right moment to leverage the specific channel and position in the sales funnel they are in, unlocking an array of opportunities for marketers to build stronger relationships with customers by offering them personalized offers through their mobile devices.
Key Takeaways:
- Creating a more personalized user experience is a top priority. In fact, according to one study, 71% of consumers said they prefer personalized ads and 49% of customers said they are open to having their buying behavior tracked as long as they were offered better deals as a result.
- Curating a practical and seamless experience for consumers between physical spaces and mobile use is essential for keeping up user engagement
- New technologies for engaging customers need to show more than just novelty, it is also essential that they have a practical use in order to maintain customer engagement and increase acquisition and retention rates.
