Embedding mobile into the consumer journey
GfK’s Wendy Jones and IAB’s Alex Kozloff look at new research that helps us to understand the ways in which mobile has changed the path to the consumer – from Apple’s Passbook to Marks & Spencer’s in-store Wi-Fi offerings – and ask what brands need to do to ensure success.
Reaching for your phone – how many times do you do it every day? The phone is an encyclopedia, map, briefcase and shopping list. It advises, checks, compares and reassures.
Mobile is changing the way that consumers access information and is already fully integrated into the purchase journey, at least from the consumers’ point of view. Always on, always available – has the path to the consumer ever been more open?
It’s the go-to device for quick research: price-checking, product information and locating a store, often while its owner is out and about. Although research is more focussed than on a PC, with people visiting fewer domains and fewer pages per session. If you miss this chance of being available to your consumer, you miss a critical moment to engage them.
It’s no longer a luxury to implement a mobile strategy
The good news is that 57% of the top 100 brands in the UK now have a mobile optimised site, up from 37% in just six months. You can use the immediacy of the mobile to your marketing advantage, if you can inventively ‘own’ the moment and be available to the consumer.
This means engaging with them precisely at the point when they’re actively searching for information or reassurance and in doing so, nudge them towards your brand in the way that you want. This was the main theme of GfK’s recent NAKED – Digital Laid Bare event which drew upon GfK’s own studies in partnership with IAB.
Successful brands think mobile
When we hear Debenhams claim 30% of their website visits came from mobile and Dominoes say that one in five online purchases reach them via mobile, the influence that a mobile-optimised site can have over the route to your consumer and its potential impact on your bottom line becomes apparent.
But, despite mobile advertising being proven to drive top of mind recall, brands seem to be hesitant to divert spend into mobile advertising.
The fact is, the hard proof of ROI analytics isn’t available yet, making mobile advertising more of an unknown quantity, albeit one that seems to pay off.
Location searching puts you right in front of your customer
Perhaps the wealth of exciting prospects being opened up with locational data will entice brands to pay more attention to this channel. People use their mobiles not only to locate a store but also to search for vouchers and money saving offers.
Even Apple is investing; its Passbook technology saves locations and vouchers for future shopping expeditions. These developments give you the opportunity to position yourself in front of your customer precisely when you need to be – when they are considering where to go or what to buy.
Moreover, mobile activity isn’t restricted to seeking inspiration. Consumers are just as likely to seek reassurance by searching for competitive pricing information and user reviews on a product they are considering purchasing when in a store.
Fight or flight – what do you do when the moment of disruption arrives?
Do you fight the disruption in the customer journey, or accept it, facilitate it even? Canny retailers like Marks and Spencer’s have already rolled out Wi-Fi across their stores to help their customers gain reassurance on their purchase exactly when and where they need it.
Of course, it helps at this point to know your competitors’ pricing strategy and ensure your own is consistent across all your distribution channels, but you could always follow Amazon’s lead and get your customers to run price checks for you.
And the future?
Not only are consumers able and increasingly willing to purchase products via mobile browsing or apps as contactless payment systems become commonplace, they will further embed the mobile in their purchase journeys.
As digital technology is integrated into the marketing mix and the focus is shifted to the creation of memorable branded experiences, the mobile will become the channel of choice for forward-thinking brands to connect with their consumers.
Whether that be via tailored advertising or an immersive augmented reality experience, the mobile allows communication to be relevant to the consumer, their current purpose or locale.
Your customers’ expectations are high, make sure you meet them
It may seem that the only thing stopping you in launching a killer mobile strategy is the limits of your imagination. There’s always the opportunity to think bigger and better than your competitors and be as switched on to mobile as your customers.
They have high expectations of their mobile service, so, as long as you don’t disappoint with the basics, you have a chance to make a lasting impression with your inventiveness, relevance and contextuality. And this is precisely where mobile comes into its own in a way that no other device can or, as yet, has.