There is no denying that this is the age of mobile. People coming from different demographics, different lifestyles, displaying different behaviours all have one thing in common these days. They carry a mobile device – a good percentage of which, carry a smart mobile device. This is why a lot of growth is happening in this area.
The importance of mobile marketing is not only because mobile has become the only accessory without which people don’t leave the house but also because of ‘when’ the mobile is being used.
One particular trend that has been present for a long time is that people take out the mobile to while away the time when they are so as to say ‘in transit’. This means all those instances when people are stuck somewhere waiting…..waiting for or are on the actual train or aeroplane; waiting their turn at the dentist’s office, at the bank, etc. Because of the smart mobile devices, this time we spent waiting is used in a variety of ways – working, communicating, shopping, watching videos and gaming.
From the marketer’s perspective, the question is how can one capture these windows, these small (sometimes even bigger) slots when the customer is available and engage them. Reaching these customers in these slots means being appropriately geared up on the mobile platform.
What does this mean for the marketer engaged in strategising for the gaming sector?
- Mobile has to be a core part of the whole strategy. It is not an add-on, a nice-to-have or premium facility. It is one of the important points in order to be able to enter the market. Having a mobile-centric strategy is not about replicating the desktop campaign to mobile but being the best of the breed in the mobile sphere in various facets. However, such a stance is not done at the expense of ignoring other channels.
- Your Mobile Presence – Whether your presence is in the form of a website or an App, the mobile presence needs to be top-notch and optimised for a user-friendly engaging experience. This means testing your presence on the devices which are most likely to be used by your customers. 2017 is being touted as they year when the industry will be focusing more on mobile adaptive design and optimising the customised experience. Mobile adaptive design is different from mobile responsive in the sense that it involves distinctly designing different layouts for different devices.
- Mobile App – There is a lot of debate in the world of marketers about the effectiveness of Mobile Apps. While it is true that Mobile Apps can be more tricky, in the sense that their marketing involves getting potential users over the hurdle of downloading the App and keep using it over a span of time, one cannot generalise and needs to understand the pros and cons that are associated before deciding about the necessity of a mobile App. In any case, one needs to keep in mind that Apps like websites too have particular points that need to be contended like factoring enough time for development and testing (there is nothing more frustrating than an App that does not work as one expects it to), easy-to-use facilities and important functions that help your customers engage more. Another important thing is that an App needs to be optimised for Google Play and iTunes and ideally rank highly in the stores.
- Mobile Advertising – If you’re ignoring mobile advertising, you’re doing so at your own peril. There’s a great risk that your competition reaches your audience before you do. Targeting the right kind of audience at the right time with the right kind of message is perhaps the most important consideration in mobile advertising as ultimately the aim is to get the advert to those who want to see the advert and not to the others who are not interested. Apart from selecting where to advertise (which mobile platform) and Ad format, one had to have a good understanding of how charges happen in a mobile ad campaign. Ultimately it also means testing and scrutinising your results and transforming this into a learning experience. The mobile advertising world can be a complex one and this is why partnering with the right kind of digital marketing agency is of great help. You do not want to be swimming the sea on your own.
At Accent Gaming we are focused on keeping abreast with all latest mobile trends in order to ensure that we provide our igaming clients with the best solutions.
