Make Your App Go Viral

Key Ingredients To Make Your App Go Viral – Smashing Magazine.

Wicked smart mobile usage

62% of smartphone owners use their device to help them with shopping at least once a month or more, and 17% are hardcore, using mobile for shopping at least once a week. And among those who do use their smartphones to help with shopping, 84% are doing so in the store.

A newly released study from Google breaks down current mobile usage trends. Very useful ammo when you are putting together a 360 campaign and need to understand how the consumer used their smartphone in a retail environment. MediaPost article here.

What’s on my radar this week

Articles

– From MediaPost: “Tablets have become the mobile device choice for consumers shopping online. Those using tablets treat them like a PC, comparing products and making purchases.” Read on at MediaPost

– The pealing of the bells for the death of QR codes has been in our ears for some time but this article sums it up well with some compelling numbers. Here at Mobile Marketer.

Apps

– Bondsy. Tipped by a buddy of mine in SF, its a friendly social network for friendly transactions and trades. Very clean and intuitive UI/UX.  Worth a peep.

– Tempo. A feature on Untether.tv this app is a smart calendar that unites all of your smartphone events and info across some 30 data point.  In short, its wicked, wicked cool. The UI/UX is fun and flexible with a lot of thought and planning to an adaptive interface. Pick it up!

Music

Holydrug Couple played recently at SWSX and killed it. Their name is f*cked up but their music makes up for a very fresh take on psychedelic rock. Listen here.

Alec Baldwin interviews Tom York from Radiohead for Baldwin’s show, ‘Here’s the Thing.’ I love this show because Baldwin can coax his subjects to just relax and talk. Listen here via Pitchfork.

“In May of 2012…

“In May of 2012, eMarketer published a report that showed 63 percent of marketers have no mobile measurement in place at all,” said Benjamin Diggles, director of digital marketing at Webtrends, Portland, OR.

What I find comfort in is knowing about ignorance. Not to be insulting but this number is shocking. Measurement or ‘metrics’ should be the foundation of every digital project not just mobile. As a digital creative, I understand that the best idea in the world is essentially blind and short-lived without metrics. If the goal of your mobile project is about retention, relevance and driving relationships with the consumer, hadn’t you better find a suite of tools to back it up? Don’t just rely on your media or strategy peeps to wave their fingers at the client and talk about ‘top of the funnel’ nonsense.  Back up your kick-ass mobile idea with solid measurment and that way your can tell a complete story with a happy ending.

Link to the article

680 Million Monthly Active Users

Thats a big number.  Actually, thats a huge number but as the expression goes its really not just a number, is it?  That number represents Facebook’s subset of mobile users on a monthly basis. Thier total number of monthly users is 1.06 billion, which is also, as they say up in Boston, wicked massive. What does 680 million monthly users on mobile mean? It means that for anyone building a marketing campaign if you don’t create a strategy and execution with a Facebook mobile user path, you are missing the boat about the size of a huge cruise ship. This group is a solid, engaged user base that are on smart phones and checking their Facebook accounts at least twice a day. They are female, male, gen z, gen x and they are global. Everyone from Shopper Marketing to Brand to Experiential to Social should know this number, 680 million.  This number is not really a number but an arrow and a beacon. As an arrow, it shows the path is towards mobile engagement and as a beacon it clearly showes us where we as marketers need to be steering the ship. If your next engagement doesn’t have this number factored in then, chum, your’e missing the boat.

Top mobile technologies to watch out for in 2013 – Mobile Marketer – Strategy

Top mobile technologies to watch out for in 2013

The writing on the wall, er… on your Android powered smart phone is clear, that mobile landscape is crucial to connecting with your consumers. Mobile Commerce drove a 250% increase in 2012 for PayPal mobile payments. And you can’t roll out a strategy half-assed. Full API eCommerce integration, not just a screen scrapped version of your Ecommerce site. As for mobile marketing and while I hate QR Code campaigns, it is crucial to keep experimenting with scannable codes, geo-fenced offers and incentives, Shazam-esq apps and interstitial ads on music and video apps. Creative, Strategy and Media need to keep pushing forward. It ain’t a revolution but rather its a big slow march and we need to be in front.

Great article below from Mobile Marketer. I have paraohrased it but you can find the whole thing here: http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/strategy/14631.html#

 

Augmented reality brings content to life

It is evident that mobile has captured the attention of many top brands, and technologies such as QR codes and augmented reality have helped pave the way. Now, marketers are looking for the next big trend that will drive customer interactions and, ultimately, sales.

Mobile is becoming the go-to medium for many companies and marketers are integrating it into their day-to-day initiatives. In 2013, marketers must make a bigger investment into the space and look at new technologies to help develop deeper relationships with consumers.

Key message
To be most effective, marketers need to deliver a message that resonates with the consumer at a relevant time via the appropriate messaging channel.

The extent to which a marketer can execute on this objective dictates their success, per Mr. Ritchie. 

Marketers should aggressively seek out flexible messaging systems that facilitate their communications to consumers across multiple channels.

Mobile payments
Last year, many were speculating that 2012 was going to be the year of mobile payments and near-field communication.

That proved to not be the case.

However, mobile payments and NFC are seeing a great outlook this year.

Mobile payments will no doubt play a big role this year.

Consumers are becoming more comfortable making purchases using their smartphones and companies such as Starbucks, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts are making it easy for consumers to order their favorite meals and beverages and pay for it using their mobile phone.

Integrated experiences
According to Wilson Kerr, vice president of business sales at Unbound Commerce, Boston, 2013 will be all about mobile-triggered consumer interactions.

“Now that having an integrated mobile commerce site is established as essential, my prediction is that the next big trend will be around tracked mobile-triggered consumer interaction, at the point-of-sale,” Mr. Kerr said.

Existing technology
This year we’re going to see companies take the technology that exists and make more use of it, per Vanessa Horwell, chief visibility officer of ThinkInk PR. 

“I don’t think we’re going to see an explosion of NFC, but we’re going to see more utilization,” Ms. Horwell said. “Also the key things we’re going to see will revolve around data and analytics.  

“We know that consumers are engaged, but how are businesses and marketers going to use that data?” she said. “They have to do something actionable with the data. 

“That’s going to be the challenge for any types of marketers. Taking action with all that information. That’s a key thing this year.”

 

 

via mobilemarketer.com

 

What I am reading this week.

Mobile Applications & Technology

Using their SimpleGeo aquisition technology, Urban Airship is now allowing push notifications to trigger based on what, when, and where. 

Good article from Mobile Marketer on how agencies should fold mobile strategy into their offering for brand clients.  You can always make a good argument for new media and new technology but what it comes down to is trust and confidence from your client.

 

Design & Typography

The REDCAT poster series from the peeps over at CalArts.  Great template and it offers the ability for infinite collaboration and change. 6 years and over 175 posters, so have a look.

What I love about TypeFight is that its just what it is, a type fight.  Two designers, one letter.

 

Adjust your media plans accordingly

In the USA, two thirds of 24 – 35 year olds now own smart phones, while in the UK and Spain more than 50% of the total mobile using population also does.

 

I Mean, Like, Duh! U.S. Teen Mobile Data Usage Triples

via mashable.com

This Nielson study, lovingly regurgitated by Mashable and its legion of re-tweeters, totally points the way for marketers as to where teens skulk digitally. The more the 13-17 bracket adopt smartphones, the more data they are going to consume. When you create your next trans-media campaign, remember the mix: text is queen, followed by surfing, social networking, emailing, downloading and using apps. As if!

Narian unveils suite of NFC apps for retailers • NFC World

The applications go far beyond simple couponing and loyalty, driving consumer interaction at the most critical contact point — in the store,” the company explains. “Overall, the suite offers more than 100 unique features and capabilities, all meant to bring about the store of the future — today.

via nfcworld.com

Very nice. An NFC tool box for retailers to energize in-store marketing and customer service.