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2019 Forecast Stresses Mobile Marketing Innovation

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As mobile use has expanded to include the majority of the population, mobile marketing has become integral to AccuList USA clients’ multiple marketing channels, including direct mail’s mobile-scanned QR & AR codes, mobile-optimized e-mail, nonprofits’ mobile giving and retailers’ geo-located ads and apps. When the average U.S. adult is expected to spend more than three and a half hours a day on a mobile device and 70% of digital advertising is already mobile, it’s no surprise that 2019 is forecast to be another banner year for mobile marketing. A recent ClickZ post outlines some of the big trends to expect.

Increased Efforts to Combat Mobile Ad Fraud

Mobile ad fraud is on the rise, doubling year-on-year during the first quarter of 2018, which also saw an increase in fraud sophistication, such as SDK spoofing and click injection. As a result, ClickZ author Luca Mastrorocco predicts that advertisers will push to avoid fraud and boost brand safety by demanding supply chain transparency from vendors, increasing use of anti-fraud metrics for mobile apps, and seeking to engage users directly via mobile network operator rather in-app.

More Apps and More Diverse Apps

Even with over 2 million apps in both Google Play and the Apple App store, Mastrorocco asserts that the mobile app landscape is far from saturation, citing innovations such as J.P. Morgan’s online banking app offering free or discounted trades in its digital investing service, the success of TikTok’s viral 15-second video app, and Facebook’s investment in a new Lasso app to compete with TikTok. He foresees even more app development and innovation ahead, especially in AI-based apps and use of virtual reality and augmented reality (AR).

An Embrace of Mobile Interactivity

Mastrorocco also predicts that interactive mobile experiences, such as IKEA’s new AR app allowing users to virtually place furniture in their homes, will blossom in 2019, blurring the line between mobile advertising and content. Gamification will play a central role in interactive mobile marketing, even among non-gaming brands, he adds, as brands use playable ads to communicate with users in a entertaining way and to join digital and brick-and-mortar sales, such as by rewarding players with prizes or discount vouchers that can be redeemed in-store.

A Focus on Real-Time Data Tracking & Analytics

Expect data-driven tactics to expand significantly in 2019. Brand marketers are forecast to increase their demand for user-centric advertising that tracks performance and analyzes results in real time to optimize media and creative in-flight. Their goals will be to both produce the best possible user experiences and more cost-effective ad spending. Brands using real-time data to produce iterative in-house creative can gain a competitive edge over those relying on agency creative, per Mastrorocco, who sees a resulting rise in experimentation with geo-location targeting and dynamic creative optimization. For the complete article, go to https://www.clickz.com/mobile-marketing-2019/221210/

2017 Multi-Channel Marketers Challenged by 3 Key Digital Trends

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As this year’s marketing gets underway, we want to alert marketers seeking our multi-channel support services to three important 2017 digital trends recently cited by digital marketing hub ClickZ author Rebecca Sentance.

‘Mobilized’ Search Is Digital Marketing Must

Marketers need to go beyond “mobile friendly” to a “mobile first” strategy given current search trends. Though ClickZ’s own Intelligence Report on 2016 mobile marketing found that 56% of client-side marketers and 44% of agency respondents still described their mobile ad efforts as “beginner,” big search market changes will spur more mobile strategy investment this year, Sentance notes. Think mobile is over-hyped? Sentance asks you to consider the following: Search-engine giant Google has removed the “right-hand rail” from the search results page and moved to only displaying paid ads at the top and bottom, making the main search results layout more adaptive to mobile; Google continues to strengthen a mobile-friendly ranking system that penalizes websites that aren’t mobile-optimized; and Google announced in October that it would further favor mobile search by splitting off desktop and mobile into separate search indexes, with mobile as its primary index.

‘Visualized’ Social Marketing Wins Followers

Marketers need to embrace visual elements and visually focused platforms for more effective social media performance. Sentance points out as an example that YouTube was the fourth-most cited channel of the 2016 Marketing Trends Survey when respondents were asked to name the top three performing networks for their social media marketing efforts (behind Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn). And though Instagram came in fifth place, the rise of visually focused platforms like Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat is undeniable. For example, Sentance reports that Instagram is far outstripping social competition in follower growth, with a median average of 6-8% follower growth month on month. So it’s no wonder that formerly text-based social media leaders Facebook and Twitter have made it a priority to meet the competitive challenge this year by integrating more multimedia into their platforms, with the addition of GIFs, short videos and live video streaming.

‘Commercialized’ Social Offers Sales As Well As Branding

Finally, marketers should stop assuming social media is mainly a tool for brand and traffic building rather than direct sales. Social media and e-commerce have been overlapping more and more, Sentance argues. She cites the launch of Facebook Marketplace, the acquisition of Famebit by Google/YouTube, and the change in Pinterest’s business profiles to showcase Buyable pins more prominently as just three recent examples of the trend to integrate e-commerce with social.

To read the complete ClickZ article go to https://www.clickz.com/three-major-developments-that-will-shape-multi-channel-marketing-in-2017/108468/