The whole internet is rapidly being re-written to cater for mobile devices.
If you haven’t yet spent any time thinking about how your business might operate differently/better if everyone one of your customers was connected to the internet all the time via mobile devices then now is the time to.
Did you travel for Christmas this year just gone?
I did and I kept a loose track of how I used my iPhone(you can happily replace iPhone with any other smart phone brand) on the drive there. I wasn’t at the wheel needless to say.
* Checked the rain on the highway ahead via the Bureau of Meteorology Radar Maps
* Looked up the Road Traffic Reports
* Pulled up the lyrics for a song that was playing on the radio
* Googled who the Bruce Highway was actually named after
* Read part of a book via Kindle App (the book was bought via the phone earlier)
* Listened to a podcast show
* Took a photo and updated a Facebook business page with it
* Got directions and used the map to get to our destination
* Cleared my email inbox
* Connected on LinkedIn with someone that might be a JV partner in 2012
* Asked Siri to give me the best pork crackling recipe
Now I could have actually written, formatted and uploaded this post during the drive all from the iPhone as well but didn’t – I was on holidays after all!
What did happen though is that the list I was keeping on the phone as I went was syncing with the cloud so that as I sat down to finish this blog post all the information I needed was already transferred from the phone to the laptop. (Evernote – is the application that achieves this if you are wondering)
So that’s how some of your on-the-move customers might be using the internet
– perhaps looking up the closest/most recommended place to eat, drink, sleep, get petrol, get their hair cut
– maybe they are finding your business, maybe they aren’t
What about more sedentary, home loving customers in your market?
Are they using mobile devices to get online?
Yep!
Did you watch the cricket on Boxing Day?
The on-screen advertising in addition to the on-field advertising all had overt online calls to action – cricket.com.au and other websites dominated the boundary advertising signs. These organisations and companies are looking to engage their audience on multiple levels, moving them online to continue the interaction started on the TV.
And being cricket its not as though the pace of the game would stop people browsing the web at the same timeā¦
But seriously, just how many people would get up from the couch, walk over to the computer to call up these websites. I’m guessing very few. However they will be pulling out their mobile devices to go take a look.
Vodafone as the Test’s major sponsor also had an App which people could use to vote on questions/polls posed by the commentators. This also pushed the online interaction of the TV audience.
Kraft has previously run a TV campaign prompting people to enter an interactive competition on their website.
Right now ‘Louie the Fly’ is on the chopping block with a TV campaign using an interactive call to action for views to visit the website to vote if he should keep his position as the villain of the Mortein brand.
This cross channel marketing is where things are moving.
If you are doing any advertising at all in 2012+ then try to work this cross channel approach into your efforts. There is a reason companies are doing this – its called improved ROI.
Oh…
and make sure its mobile phone friendly so your customers and I can access it.
Got an advertising piece you are about to send out? Email it to us and we’ll give you some ideas.