[MUSIC] Behind the dazzling new looks and features of new mobile devices, functions, and applications, there are some unique affordances of smart and mobile devices, as a powerful platform for marketing communication. I'll highlight three of them in this lesson, omnipresence, personal communication, and location tracking. One of the most significant advantages of mobile marketing Is its omnipresence. It can take place anywhere at any time. This universal presence of mobile devices has several dimensions. First, most smartphone owners have their phones within arm's reach at all times. And this gives marketers unprecedented access to the demographics they're trying to reach, something that has never been possible with traditional mediums. Users are doing more than just having their phones with them at all times. They're also always using them. The proximity to the users, and their willingness to use those particular devices allow marketers to ensure that the messages they are sending are being received. Connected mobile devices are not only communication devices, but also a data collection tool. By carrying their phones with them at all times, smartphone users are providing marketers with behavioral insights that can help guide future tactics. Second, the number of mobile phones in use in many countries are near or more than the size of their total population. Mobile communication provides marketers the ability to reach people all over the world at all times. As the tendency to rely on mobile technology continues to become a natural facet of human behavior, this broad and deep reach afforded by mobile technology will only grow. Third, mobile communication is personal and social in nature. Marketing messages received from a personal mobile device is also more personal than from a desktop computer or other devices, because of the physical and psychological proximity between the user and the device. Users of mobile devices develop a deep and intimate connection with the technology than they do stationery computers. My students and I recently conducted series of experiments in our lab. We found that mobile devices we're more likely to be perceived by the users as a part of their psychological self. The participants in our study, who used mobile devices to access information and solve problems, felt smarter and more confident than their counterparts who used desktop computers for completing the same tasks. Now, another core affordance of mobile marketing is two-way communication. Interactive mobile communication devices offer marketers the opportunity to have direct conversations with their target consumers through text messaging services and apps. This provides a sense of immediacy, that other marketing channels cannot offer. This affordance creates an opportunity for marketers to have active and dynamic conversations with their targets. Instead of just delivering a marketing message or passively collect consumer feedback. Finally, mobile marketing is location based. Mobile devices provide geo-location data to the service providers and then by extension to the marketers, leaving the consumer privacy and ethical concerns aside. The geo-targeting technologies allow marketers to deliver tailored messages to customers based on their location, and help them find products and services nearby. According to the Pew Institute, 74% of adult smartphone owners aged 18 and older said that they use their phones to get directions or other information based on their current location. By the very same act of using location based features, the consumers feed even more data to the phone companies and marketers. Which then leads to more opportunities for marketing and advertising. Using their mobile devices, users engage in different social and communication activities. They check emails, make phone calls, send and receive text messages, search for information, play games, watch videos, take and share photos and videos, and the list goes on. Thus, mobile marketers must understand and develop a multichannel strategy to effectively reach their target population. As such, much of the display advertising, search marketing and social media marketing strategies we studied in the earlier lectures can be applied to mobile marketing platforms. However, marketers must be aware of, carefully consider, and adjust their strategies to the unique physical, technological, and contextual characteristics of mobile communication.
