The definition of mobile marketing is straightforward.  Mobile marketing uses a wireless medium to deliver marketing content onto potential customers’ mobile devices.  Many use words like pervasive, ubiquitous, and spontaneous to describe mobile marketing.  Justifiably so.  The combination of consumer demand for mobile devices and the ever expanding list of features on mobile devices, mobile marketing content is evolving from a simple ad at the bottom of the screen to a fully interactive content experience for potential customers.  This presents new challenges to many marketers.  To be successful, it is not only about presence but also about engagement.  How do you go about this?

There are numerous frameworks available.  For example, you want to enhance brand loyalty; you can release an exclusive mobile discount book.  Others integrate social media and various other mediums into their mobile marketing content.  Some utilize LBS platforms, SMS Aggregators, Ad Servers, and many others.  And most importantly, to truly engage the consumer, we must view mobile marketing not only as a medium for advertising and information, but also as point of sale.

All statistics point to the continued growth in mobile marketing.  The challenge with always be how to capitalize on this.

Standardization, as we have seen in numerous other industries, helps drive down costs, creates common units of measurement, and increases adoption by smaller users.  For example, in the auto industry, before standardization, drivers had to relearn how to drive each time they got into a different car.  Some automakers insisted on using a brake lever on the steering wheel as others used pedals.  Some automakers place the accelerator pedal on the left while others placed it on the right.  Basically, each automaker placed items like the instrument cluster, gas tank, levers, pedals, etc. wherever it felt was appropriate.  Eventually, automakers realized the benefits of standardizing items like these; accelerator on the right, brake in the middle, and clutch on the left.  As a result, parts became more interchange across different models, instrument clusters adopted common units of measurement, and people started to purchase cars by the millions.

To a large extent, this is the standardization that the digital signage industry needs. The technology providers in the industry are using so many different platforms that it is causing a compatibility nightmare.  Furthermore, there is a lack of standards in areas such as basic media capabilities and audience measurement.  This limits the adoption of digital signage by smaller users, such as local grocery stores and coffee shops, and makes large media buys more difficult to complete.  Recently, technology manufacturers such as Intel, HP, Microsoft and others are beginning to work together to develop a coherent set of technology standards.  This is good.  A set of standards will lead to the development of standalone signage solution and will allow software developers to focus on content and innovation rather than figuring out if their solutions work on a specific platform.  Lastly, given today’s connected consumer, standards will make digital signage integration with other forms of media easier.  A smarter and more connected digital signage is beginning to take shape.

Value Proposition

While many in the media-buying world are already invested in the digital signage market, there are still quite a few who are not convinced.  We talk a lot about metrics and proof of concept as a proxy for value.  This is good but we also need to show that digital signage is not confine to the conventional media business value proposition.  The advancements in digital signage technology, such as Intel’s AIM Suite, gives industry players the ability to solve problems for brands and customers.  Digital signage is not just about selling features.  It is also about selling solutions.

Standards are Critical

Another key factor in the expansion of the digital signage industry is the development of standards.  Standardization, as we have seen in numerous other industries, helps drive down costs, creates common units of measurement, and increases appeal to smaller users.  Furthermore, standardization allows industry players to focus on innovation rather than on platform capability.  As a result, standardization drives the reach of digital signage, simplify metrics for media-buys, and assist in the development of integrated solutions.

Integration

We have talked about how today’s consumer are more active than ever.  Mobility, interactivity, and social networks are transforming consumer behavior.  Brands have to deliver a consistent sales and service experience to wherever the consumer may be.  Digital signage will play an important role in this.  Take the recently unveiled “The Connected Store” by Intel.  “The Connected Store” creates a retail environment where digital signage interacts with mobile devices, social media, and all their ancillary capabilities to achieve the personalized experience that consumers demand.

As standards emerge and integration takes place, the digital signage industry will continue to make its strong case for the most valuable ad delivery infrastructure.

As a retailer or brand, if this isn’t on your radar today-you are missing a critical channel in your go to market strategy.  A client of ours mentioned that a major retail brand used to promote their end of season sale via email and made $100,000, just a year ago.  But this year, they made $1.4 million in the same time frame on the same end of season sale.  How did they do it, you ask? Facebook.

In a study conducted by social networking site my Yearbook, 81% of respondents said they received advice from friends and followers relating to a product purchase through a social site; 74% of those who received such advice found it to be influential in their decision. (Click Z, January 2010) Now you know the power of social media and commerce.

• Content always matters. Customers, especially ecosystem partners that work with you and some of your competitors, want to know that the company they represent has the expertise, experience, and authority in the industry.  The best marketers use content marketing as a means to communicate this to their customer. Thought leadership pays off.
• Lead generation and nurturing. Acquisition is not the only thing-retention is the key to organic growth. Statistics show that 90-95% of prospects are not ready to make a purchase when they come into contact with you.  Keep talking to them until they are. The best marketers have systems in place to score their leads and then build relationships with qualified prospects.  Nurtured leads are more likely to buy more, require less discounting, and shortening sales cycles.
• Use metrics. The best marketers constantly measure the effectiveness of their marketing initiatives.  Whether Google adwords in a PPC campaign or an email blast special offer or an ongoing newsletter, properly developed metrics show what is working and what is not.  Keep what is-even if it’s not the sexy “new thing” like Facebook or Twitter. The most successful marketers do not abandon proven marketing efforts.
• Have a social media strategy.  The best marketers use social media to support existing marketing efforts and assist in launching new efforts/products/services.  Remember to keep your social media strategies in line with your business and brand DNA—if it’s true to the brand, it will work; if it isn’t, prospects will shun you for being a “fraud.”

The main advantage of digital signage is its captive audience.  A digital sign placed in a doctor’s office generally displays advertisements related to health and medicine.  Similarly, a digital sign, located in the lobby of a corporate building, shows advertisements for corporate events and meetings.  Currently, the industry is shifting from being merely electronic billboards to a more interactive form of marketing.  Recent developments in general shape recognition software, software that calculates the gender, height and age of passersby, is allowing marketers to further target advertisements.  Additionally, touch screen technology is providing marketers the ability to generate leads on the spot.

Today’s consumers are active.  They, for the most part, are not passively sitting in front of a TV anymore.  They are on-the-go.  The digital signage industry is at the forefront of providing for this change in consumer behavior.  Savvy marketers are already incorporating digital out-of-home media into their overall marketing strategies.

Compete on Value

By Chris Brogan

But here’s the big point: I compete on value, not price. Meaning, if I give you something at whatever price point I charge you, I’m going to give you as much value as I can afford to put into it. The difference, in my view, is everything. Some people look for ways they can give you something cheaper than the other guy. Others look for ways to make a less-functional version of what they sell at higher points. But that’s competing on price. To compete on value, the goal is, “always deliver more than what people expect at that price.”

Essential Tips for Social Media & Content Marketing

By Adam Singer

We need content for nurturing, as a lead solution, for lead scoring and risk mitigation.  A lot of people don’t even consider the risk mitigation aspect – by publishing content and making people feel like your company is providing great information and is a leader, they’ll choose you.  Without content, you’ll never even have the chance to be found.

How can organizations use lead nurturing to develop a conversation?

By Justin Gray

The characteristics that make lead nurturing impactful—targeted communications, calls to action and time- or activity-driven engagement—also make nurturing programs a challenge to build.

This leads us to the question: How do you achieve the right balance between traditional media.  As a result, many marketers are juggling their marketing efforts and investments between the two.

• Establish goals.
• A means to the end.  Traditional and social media marketing are both tools in a business marketer’s arsenal.  The key here is integration.
• Consider the costs and benefits.  Like everything else, traditional media and social media both have pros and cons.  For instance, as good as social media is at spreading a message, it is not so good at staying on message.  You can lose control of the conversation if you aren’t careful.

Although social media is constantly growing and evolving, it will not replace traditional marketing efforts.  Today’s best marketers are the ones who learned how to integrate them together into a marketing strategy to achieve a set of established goals.