In today's fast-paced, ever-connected world, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. From shopping to socializing, entertainment to education, our smartphones and tablets have transformed the way we interact with the world around us. As a result, mobile marketing has evolved into a critical component of any successful digital marketing strategy. As we venture further into 2024, it's crucial for businesses to stay updated with the latest trends and innovations shaping the mobile marketing landscape.
In this insightful blog post, we'll explore the most significant mobile marketing trends that are poised to redefine the way businesses engage, communicate, and connect with their target audience. From immersive technologies like augmented reality to the growing importance of personalization and privacy, these trends are set to shape the future of mobile marketing and offer new opportunities for brands to elevate their campaigns and drive meaningful customer interactions. So, buckle up and join us as we delve into the mobile marketing trends that will keep you ahead of the curve in 2024 and beyond!
What is Mobile Marketing?
Mobile marketing is a multi-channel, digital marketing strategy aimed at reaching a target audience on their smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices through various platforms, channels, and technologies.
It is a subset of digital marketing and takes advantage of the widespread use of mobile devices to communicate with consumers and deliver personalized, relevant, and timely marketing messages.
Why Mobile Marketing is so Appealing
There are plenty of reasons why marketing budgets have been dramatically expanded in the mobile marketing segment. Here are a few of the top reasons why marketers are willing to be a little more liberal with their spending in this area:
- Ever Increasing Share of the Traffic - Mobile is seemingly always expanding its total share of all of the Internet traffic that is produced throughout the world. Current estimates show that approximately 59% of the total Internet traffic in the world is generated through a mobile device. The on-the-go accessibility of the mobile Internet is extremely appealing to a large portion of the global Internet market, and that is as good of a reason as any to start marketing to them more heavily.
- Data is Easier to Access - Many mobile Internet users are willing to trade their personalized data for rapid access to the websites and information they desire. Thus, it is great for marketers who want to know more about their customers (as all marketers do) to spend more on mobile marketing than traditional marketing.
The list goes on from there, but the point is that mobile marketing is powerful, effective, and here to stay. So, what are some of the mobile marketing trends that the world can anticipate being used sometime soon?
Mobile Marketing Trends
Content Personalization
The best ads out there are not only memorable but also crafted so that the viewer will not soon forget them. Unfortunately, in a sea of advertising, creating something that hits all those objectives is not often easy. One way to make strides towards that goal is to focus on content personalization.
When an ad is crafted in such a way that it directly appeals to the specific target that views it, then they are probably more likely to act on it. They will feel that they are being spoken to directly, and that matters to people. They want to feel like the companies that they take the time to engage with are truly going to serve them well. The best way to approach this as a marketer is to try to collect as much data as possible about your potential customers and then create ads based on the needs and preferences of those individuals.
Live Streaming on Mobile
An interesting result of the COVID-19 pandemic was that marketers had to get much more creative with their approaches to advertising. This is to say that they had to think about how they could reach a population that was stuck indoors for a prolonged period. One of the ways that they began to make some progress on this was to lean into live streaming.
Live streaming indeed existed before the pandemic struck, but it wasn't utilized nearly as much or as effectively as it was and is now. Companies took some time to try to find their footing in the world of live-streaming, but it doesn't seem that many of them have figured it out.
Live streaming provides an opportunity to get instant reactions and feedback from viewers. Thus, companies may be able to figure out what their customers like or don't like at the moment. It provides the perfect opportunity to do some A/B testing of various marketing strategies.
TikTok Marketing
Don't laugh it off! Indeed, TikTok was once dismissed by many as a silly app where teenagers congregated to lip sync to famous songs and perhaps practiced the latest dance craze. That may have been what it started as, but TikTok has rapidly transformed into a haven for marketers to get their messages out.
The app is perfectly designed for mobile use, and marketsplash.com reports that user engagement is through the roof:
Designed for mobile users, engagement on this platform has skyrocketed since its inception. It's recorded that TikTokers spend an average of 52 minutes daily on the app.
While it's normal for trends to rise and fall, it doesn't seem like TikTok is going anywhere. In March 2022, the app was downloaded just over 100 million times.
In a time when many other social media apps have stalled or even begun to decline, TikTok continues to outshine and outperform. Companies are already seeing many different ways that they can capitalize on the time that users are spending on TikTok. They are frequently interested in the opportunity to pay some of the top creators on the platform to do paid advertisements for them.
Best of all, the TikTok platform is powered by a very strong algorithm that feeds users precisely the kinds of videos that the app believes they are most likely to enjoy. Given that videos range from 15 seconds to a few minutes, the app quickly gathers hundreds of data points on every user that it serves. That is a very big deal, and it makes TikTok one of the giants when it comes to mobile marketing.
Gaming Industry Marketing Opportunities
People have loved playing games throughout all of human history. However, we are currently in the midst of one of the largest booms in game development and exploration that the world has ever seen. Not only are people enjoying playing games for themselves, but there are entire websites and mobile apps created for people to watch other people play these various games. That is just how far the obsession has grown, and it shows no sign of letting up anytime soon. This is great for the mobile marketing industry as it constantly seeks new ways to reach people.
Right now, one of the types of gaming that is very much on the rise is something known as social gaming. These are games that are played among friends, often over the Internet. Players can engage with one another and build more meaningful bonds when they play games with one another and share in some laughs and enjoyment over a shared experience. The gaming industry knows exactly what it is doing when it puts out enjoyable content like this, and marketers are often beginning to see the upsides of it as well.
Placing advertisements into the games thoughtfully and creatively is an excellent use of one's time, and it is a great way to reach certain customers who might not otherwise have been reachable.
Influencer Content
A company that is looking to do some app marketing and wants to get the word out about how great its app really is may consider looking for an influencer who can best put their message out to the world. You see, sometimes the best way to get a message across is to consider the source. Some people respond better to hearing certain types of messages from the people that they already trust and believe in. Thus, influencer content is precisely what is needed in certain instances to make sure the right messages are being heard loud and clear.
Video testimonials are very big with a lot of brands this year as they seek to ensure that the messages they put out have the feeling of being very authentic. After all, authentic messaging is a big deal for a lot of brands, and they don't want to risk their reputation on a poorly conceived message from their advertising team. Thus, it is best to try to collaborate with the types of influencers that are most likely to resonate with the audience that you seek to reach. This is one of the app marketing trends that is expected to continue.
Video Content Reigns Supreme
There are plenty of ways that a company can reach out to customers, but video content remains far superior to many other available options. It is also the method that more and more advertisers are selecting for their pitches. Sarah Fisher reports on Medium this stunning statistic about how dominant video content remains in the advertising space:
Video marketing is crucial for your marketing strategy. Video is a digital marketing trend that is here to stay, with online videos making up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2022 (Cisco).
There is just no getting around the fact that video content is the primary advertising method. It is one of the app marketing trends that has been around for years and will continue to hold its spot for as long as people enjoy watching videos.
The good news about this for marketers is that users are prone to share videos that they like or that strike a chord with them. Sure, they may share some printed content from time to time as well, but this is not nearly as common as sharing videos that they like. People simply want others to know about the things that they are watching and why those things matter to them. If a company can produce something that happens to hit all of the right notes with their audience, then they can cash in on people passing the video around to one another.
A few quick tips on how to make video content that may prove to be engaging with your audience include:
- Keep it Short - Videos that range from 15 to 60 seconds are easier to consume and are more likely to be passed on. Rambling videos that don't get to the point are often skipped over or ignored.
- Include a Call to Action - The video should end with a call to action that encourages the viewer to take some direct course of action as a result of having watched the video. For example, an app marketing video would encourage the viewer to download the app at the end of the video.
Make a Point - Producing a video for the sake of producing a video will almost always backfire. You need to have a reason to have created the video. If you are announcing a new product, service, app, or anything else, then it is time for a video. Otherwise, you need to be careful about putting out TOO much content.
Augmented Reality Marketing
Finally, we need to talk about the rise of augmented reality as a potential place to try out some marketing efforts. Augmented reality (AR) is a virtual place that does not truly exist in our physical world. However, it appears real to people who are directly in it at the moment, and that allows people who participate in augmented reality to be able to do many things that they couldn't do in the real world. For example, it is quite common for companies to allow a customer to "try on" an article of clothing via an augmented reality scan of their body. They can see, in a virtual sense, what a piece of clothing might look like on themselves before they make the purchase.
The augmented reality world is still relatively new, and not all companies are so eager to get involved with it, but some practical uses may benefit certain companies and brands. At the very least, it is a trend worth keeping up with.
No matter what your approach to marketing or your knowledge of the various trends that impact the world around you, you can trust us at Storyly.io to help you receive the help and information that you require. From keeping you up to speed on the latest developments in marketing to coming up with a plan to put some of those strategies into action, we can help you with all of the marketing needs that you need to be met. Get in touch with our team, and let us go to work serving you.
