Mobile Marketing Changes to Expect in 2015

The widespread growth of mobile convenience technology has forever changed users’ interactions with the advertising world. Where advertisers used to target their marketing campaigns towards televised commercials in multi-million dollar campaigns, mobile screens are now the first and most frequent screens that users encounter in their day. The rapid expansion of mobile technology has serious implications for the marketing game, and with mobile devices being the most streamlined avenue for brands to expose themselves to potential customers, small businesses will need to adapt to this new and rapidly-evolving marketing medium. The ClickTecs team would like to share three mobile marketing changes that small business owners can expect in 2015.

• Beacons will boom.

In case you are unfamiliar with these new devices, beacons are a form of Bluetooth technology that retailers place within their stores to transmit ads, coupon, or product information directly to any consumer smartphones that they detect within their range. Though these devices are mostly found in sports arenas and retail locations, we anticipate their expansion into realty showings, restaurants, car dealerships, and hotels as business owners begin to appreciate the value of direct and automated consumer engagement on their most frequently used devices. There will inevitably be some business owners who misuse this technology, spamming nearby consumers with less relevant or useless information in hopes of securing some Hail-Mary sales, but many more brands will recognize the importance of personalized and highly-contextual information as a means of improving the customer experience. Savvy small business owners will look to perform as the latter rather than the former, tailoring advertisements to users and exhibiting restraint when choosing what or how much to transmit.

• Location marketing will become blasé.

Banner advertisements and pop-ups seemed like the wave of the future as the internet became the world’s preferred recreational, social, and research-oriented pastime, but now users’ banner-evasion and pop-up closing skills have become almost instinctual. Indeed, many users have become disenchanted by this invasive form of advertising and learned to build a negative association with brands who employ them too aggressively.

Similarly, location-based marketing using beacons may begin to be tuned out as mobile users find themselves targeted and interrupted at every turn, so that walking by a strip of retail shops becomes a bit of a mobile advertising gauntlet. As the public opinion begins to shift, companies will begin to dial back the location-based marketing in favour of more intent-oriented transmissions, aiming to win back positive associations by providing useful and branded weather, news, event, and traffic updates instead.

• Data security breaches will put brands and users on high alert.

2014 bore witness to a number of high-profile data breaches, and there is much concern that this trend will continue as we enter into the new year. With so many companies harvesting user data to customize advertising campaigns, the negative changes in public perceptions of the security of their personal information could impact how big brands do business. Big brands who are looking to take advantage of the benefits of personal data collection and online payments will need to invest seriously in a system of checks and balances to keep this sensitive information out of the hands of the hacker groups who victimized Home Depot and Target very recently.

These three salient industry insights will prove invaluable to small businesses looking to distinguish themselves from their competitors’ attempts to engage audiences on their mobile devices. ClickTecs experts are standing by to help guide small businesses towards an informed and innovative marketing approach in 2015, possessing the industry knowledge needed to steer companies towards relevant, welcome, and secure mobile marketing solutions.