5 Trends You Need to Know about Mobile Marketing in 2017

The power of Mobile marketing will be reinforced in 2017. Last year, mobile digital ad-spend fueled mobile-side growth, which has outpaced desktop ad spending. Meanwhile, smartphones and tablet devices account for 51.3% of Internet use. By the end of the year, 75% of online content consumption will be from mobile.

Numbers like these indicate: for mobile marketing, now it’s time to have a transformation. This transformation will bring about the following trends, and will change how brands and marketers work with each other, and with technology and consumers.

1. Mobile Apps

In 2016, new app launches grew 24 percent year-over-year, but app installs only grew six percent, according to the 2016 Adobe Digital Insights Mobile Benchmark Report. Meanwhile, 5 out of 10 apps were used only 10 times, based on the research of Adobe.

Consequently, mobile marketers must realize that building a large base of app audience should not be the ultimate goal. A small but highly engaged group of loyal users can contribute more. To attract these people, marketers should turn to mobile web first. This will be an entry point for the overall audience, and the most engaged users can be guided to your app.

2. Mobile Search

One of the most important factors is that your business is visible for the audience who are doing mobile search. You must confirm that your website is responsive, meaning it automatically adapts to the device that the user is viewing your page on. This will help you rank higher on Google search results and ensure that you don’t lose customers over poor functions.

3. Mobile Payment

Consumers are more comfortable than ever to use mobile payment options. So you need to make sure your products or services are available to be bought via mobile pay options. “Buy” buttons already exist on various platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

4. Location-based Marketing

In 2017, there will be more brands looking into location-based marketing to engage consumers. Mobile devices travel with the consumers and can generate a lot of contextual data, much of which hasn’t been analyzed. All of this can be leveraged to improve everyday experiences; in this way, it will change not only how consumers interact with the environment around them but also how brands engage with them.

5. Adapting to AR

Though virtual reality (VR) is a hot topic among marketers, we have to say it is a niche technology for “niche customers”. A better bet, at least in the near future, is augmented reality (AR).

Maybe soon, we won’t need our smartphones to experience AR. We’ll also watch flexible OLED and get next-gen screens plastered on everything. You won't need contact lenses for augmented reality to find surfaces bursting with light and color. You can already find AR popping up all over Asia, and it’s only a matter of time before we see it in the world's most lucrative advertising markets.