Well, I am about to take the plunge into the world of smartphones. These hands were made to T9, but my thumbs are getting sore. After weeks of debating I have come to the conclusion that, to me, it is worth it. Worth the extra money I will have to fork over to partake in this new subculture.

Smartphone mobile marketing. I am pretty surprised at how many my age have a smartphone, considering most are not OTP (off-the-payroll)… Anyways, welcome to my generation. A generation of late 80’s children who have gone from email to AIM to text messaging to video messaging to sending videos and pictures via phone, and managed to become the forerunners of each. We have grown up embracing change in the form of communication. I remember as a kid in elementary school emailing friends in real time. We would sit at our computers and wait for each other’s response.

ME: “Hey wasuppp?”
BFF: “Nothing much u?”

These were emails we sent. If there was no response, we came back later and tried again. It was instant messaging, before instant messaging! The movie Back to the Future was right. Only it predicted advancement in a different field. We have mastered communication.

Back to mobile. Why I chose a smartphone? It is all-in-one. No more carrying around a phone, a GPS device, an mp3/ipod player, a watch, a planner, etc. All is there. In hand, organized, and instantaneous.

For marketers I see the main smart phone mobile marketing problem as one of “personal prowess.” How does the product/service become personal to the consumer, and how do we make sure they experience this relationship? This is THE question.

A 360-degree Campaign
The message needs to be frequent and relative to the target audience. Right? However, I believe that we should go beyond that and involve more channels of communication, as many as we can to ensure a broader reach. A 360-degree campaign. This means carrying your message across all platforms that hit the target audience. Hyper-focusing on one area does not ensure success, in fact it limits the whole campaign. Smartphones are just one part of the bigger media picture, but they have increased ten-fold the opportunities for cross promotional advertising. Interaction is the name of the game. A restaurant billboard that sends a map of its nearest location to your phone, an in-store display that offers discounts to users who text-in, etc.

It’s good to note that going too broad, in regards to channels of communication, could hurt you. Therefore, breadth and depth need to be considered. We involve as many channels as we need to ensure maximum reach potential, but not so many that we are unable to create deep relationships with the consumers. Therefore, a successful 360-degree campaign will further an effective and quality-filled message via the right networks to open two-way communication between the client and target consumer.

It’s a Two-Way Street
EMarketer points out in its latest report Mobile Users and Usage: It’s Personal that,

“As mobile subscribers and the devices they use grow in sophistication, mobile will develop into a ubiquitous platform for messaging, social networking, entertainment and Web access. In turn, growing sophistication in users, devices and usage patterns will mean increased opportunities for marketers to connect with consumers, particularly among the growing population of smartphone users.

Yet marketers must take seriously the highly personal relationship users have with their mobile devices, and respect the need for a value exchange. Expecting something for nothing is not an option.”

I love that line, “…expecting something for nothing is not an option.” This is no longer a push-it-in-your-face-and-hope-you-buy-it world. Smart phones mandated a new law; Listen and respond, or be talked about. Not an easy feat.

Can we talk about this for a minute?
With all of that said, I believe that the innate and initial appeal of a product or service, in regards to the smart phone user, is the brand’s personality and openness to communication. It puts the product or service on the radar of these consumers. Without this elusive foundation, the potential dialogue could be lost. (This cannot be measured by metrics and is one of the great psychological and mysterious parts of advertising that I love.)

So, at the heart of the smart phone is; conversation. The smart phone mobile consumer is the communication forerunner. The phone they carry is ultimately their main line of contact and an extension of themselves, and they want a reason to keep a personal vested interest in your brand.

Tap into this notion and the world of smart phone users is your digital oyster. “It’s a small world after all…”