Context is now the key to mobile marketing

With mobile phones dominating consumer communications, it is predicted that smart phones will achieve 'critical mass' within 12 to 18 months

After nearly a decade of discussion and strategising - mobile marketing will at least become a viable channel to reach the masses, according to Rob Smith, digital director for Blueleaf Digital.

With the rise of the smart mobile channel in mind, the time has come for marketers to take a completely different approach to the mobile channel, starting with the idea of 'context'. What is the consumer trying to achieve, how quickly, and why? With the mobile channel, there are several contexts that we can safely assume in most cases. For example, when people are using a mobile device, many of the following scenarios apply:

• They're on the move.
   
• They're don't have access to an internet-connected computer.
   
• They haven't got the time, ability, or desire to complete complex tasks.
   
• They have a specific need that must be fulfilled quickly.
   
• They're likely to be distracted regularly by outside influences.
   
• They're often filling time before doing something else.

With these points in mind you can formulate a mobile marketing plan, which is generally a three-step process:

1. Define your objectives
   The first step is to decide on your aims and objectives for mobile marketing: what you aim to achieve, and how to measure the level of success achieved afterward.
    
2. Define your target audience
   The second step is to carefully consider the profile of a typical customer: how do they use their mobile device? Are they time-starved affluents who will be using the device to do things they didn't have time to do at home? / write emails / make calls? Are they mothers who just want to stay in touch with family and friends? The profile will determine the approach that is most likely to be relevant and succeed.
    
3. Define the customer's needs
   What comes next is the 'how' of the campaign. In fact, the whole reason for many mobile applications being utility-based (i.e. they accomplish or at least help with a specific short task) is due to the software publisher combining steps two and three here.

A good example of this kind of context-based mobile marketing can be seen in the UK-based insurer, More Than, which produced an application allowing customers to fill in the blanks on a mobile-based insurance claim to record the details of an accident. There is a need to make sure that all the right details are collected at the time of the accident and, as this is often a time when people are shaken or upset, having a mobile guide on-the-spot can really help the situation. 

And, of course, most people have their mobile device with them when travelling in a car. One obvious objective - apart from better and quicker customer service - is to increase customer/brand contact and satisfaction during times of trouble. The target audience here is the mobile-using driver. The need is to be able to deal with a traumatic event quickly and painlessly. Although not every customer experiences this application in action, it is a master-stroke of mobile marketing.