Mobile

Tapping into the mobile technology of GPS, Athens County in Ohio has managed to bring in more tourists and benefit surrounding businesses in the process with geocaching, WOUB reports. 

The news source explains that geocaching is essentially like a tech-assisted treasure hunt, and that there are more than 80 caches in Athens County alone.

"It's had a great economic impact and it's been really successful and a lot of fun to see," Jenna Dill, Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau marketing and sales manager, told the news outlet. She added that while Athens residents constituted some of the geocaching participants, 60 percent of the people who had done the trails were from outside the ares.

Dill added that the activity has had trickle-down effects for local companies, and she estimated that the attraction has generated an economic impact of approximately $500,000 since June 2010.

"We've had a lot of people come from outside the area, and everyone that's traveled in from out of state has stayed overnight, which has been pretty awesome," she said.

Geo-targeting is also becoming a powerful tool for marketers, who are developing tactics that send special offers or relevant ads to consumers' smartphones based on where they are at any given time.

Cincinnati-based marketing optimization software company ThinkVine recently announced that it had secured more funding that will help it develop additional ways to help advertising firms launch cross-channel campaigns and make their efforts more automated.

"It's a pivotal time for both ThinkVine and the industry as continued media fragmentation and an increasingly complex set of marketing choices are forcing business-to-consumer marketers to find new ways to plan and adjust their marketing," stated Mark Battaglia, ThinkVine chief executive officer.

ThinkVine said its products aim to make ad agencies' jobs easier, by creating tools that will give them insight into how their marketing materials are affecting consumers buying decisions. Battaglia also noted that by knowing which efforts are performing better than others, organizations will be able to devise strategies that maximize their marketing ROI. In addition to using the $8 million in Series C investment to "accelerate delivery" of its products, the company will also apply some of the funding toward its own sales and marketing goals.

With the proliferation of channels used for marketing purposes, adopting tools to automate the process can give advertising firms and their clients a competitive edge. In an article for Business 2 Community, Bob James writes that marketing automation can lead to greater collaboration between the promotional and sales teams in an organization, which may have a positive impact on their performance.

Retailers in Cleveland are trying to promote their holiday sales and get more information on customers through smartphone applications, the Plain Dealer reports.

Companies are developing mobile mall guides, digital coupons and other tools that can help people plan out their trips before they even arrive in the shopping center parking lot. The added benefit is the data collected through the apps, which can inform future marketing campaigns, or provide insight on consumer behavior.

"It's not so much the intent of most of the marketing organizations to invade privacy," Gary Hunter, an assistant professor of marketing at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management, told the newspaper. "They're really just trying to match, as they've always tried to match, consumers to the product or service."

Amazon recently realized the advertising and sales potential that mobile devices offer with its Price Check tool, Direct Marketing News reports. The app allows shoppers to compare in-store prices with those on the company's website, and offers a 5 percent discount on purchases if the consumer chooses to buy through Amazon.

Amazon spokesperson Sally Fouts told the news outlet "the Price Check app is a great way for shoppers to ensure they're getting the best possible prices."

A study co-authored by an Indiana University professor shows that mobile applications designed for a specific brand offer an extremely effective marketing tool.

The report shows that branded apps can make consumers more interested in certain product categories, and the users are more engaged if the tool is informational or utilitarian, rather than simply for entertainment purposes.

Robert F. Potter, director of the Institute for Communication Research at IU Bloomington and an associate professor of telecommunications in the IU College of Arts and Sciences, said people tend to have deeper personal connections with mobile devices than they do with websites.

"One benefit of the mobile app is that you go, you get it and you download the app - it's now yours," he said. "It may be a deeper level of interactivity."

The report noted that consumers' attachment to their smartphones presents more opportunities for advertisers, but that they need to change their tactics for conversing with prospective customers.

Amazon has already jumped on the opportunities presented by mobile apps. Direct Marketing News reports that the ecommerce giant has created the Price Check mobile app, which allows shoppers to compare product prices in the store and rewards those who opt to make a purchase on the website instead.
 

According to a Westerville, Ohio, advertising research company, smaller companies can make their online marketing efforts even more successful if they add a mobile component.

The study from Ad-ology Research found that more than 30 percent of small businesses have plans to devote additional money and time to mobile marketing campaigns in 2012. That figure marks a 12 percent increase from last year’s results.

"Marketing opportunities using mobile devices are rapidly emerging just as they did for the internet many years ago," said C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research. "Small business owners are increasingly connected themselves and recognize mobile as a viable way to effectively and efficiently reach potential customers."

Making marketing materials that can be easily viewed on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, can also prove to be a lucrative move. An infographic from Vertic, posted on Mashable, found that mobile commerce could be a $31 billion industry by 2016, with tablet users spending approximately one hour and 35 minutes on their devices and spending between 10 percent and 20 percent more money that the average shopper.

That audience is also growing, with the group predicting there will be 54 million tablet owners in the U.S. by early 2012, and more than 108 million owners by 2015.  

One person's loss is another's gain, and it seems that adage is coming true in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Star reports.

Cardinal Fitness recently shuttered six of its facilities in the area, and competing gyms are now sending out messages through texts, social media websites, news releases and other channels in an effort to convert consumers, the source says.

Some groups were offering free access and special waivers on their usual enrollment fees to sweeten the deal for former members of the defunct gym locations, according to the newspaper.

Fitness companies in other parts of the country are also trying to show people the value that a gym membership can add to their lives.

My Gym Enterprises plans to launch a campaign that coincides with National Family Week (set for November 20-26), and is calling on parents and other family members to show children the importance of exercise by organizing activities in their homes and neighborhoods.

The company will also discount memberships by 20 percent and give new member families the option to take a month of classes free of charge.

"Fitness is a lifestyle, not a program," stated chief marketing and entertainment officer for My Gym Enterprises, Matthew Hendison, "and a family commitment to fitness can create very strong family ties. 

Mobile marketing is garnering more attention from advertising professionals and businesses that are trying to increase their market reach, including in Lexington, Kentucky.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that mobile marketing company CMSText plans to hire 135 more people to handle its recent growth, further underscoring the rapid rise of the advertising channel.

CMSText founder Conrad Carney said it was expanding from its original text message marketing services to develop a platform - Xooker - that is similar to Living Social, Groupon and other daily deals.

"It will also have mobile gaming involved," Carney told the newspaper, likening Xooker to "Groupon on steroids."

He added that "it's a complete mobile, social new media platform."

More businesses would be wise to adopt mobile marketing, based on a survey from CA Technologies, which found that because of the popularity of smartphones and tablet computers, people are being more productive with the time that they previously wasted. The finding suggests that companies now have even more opportunities to reach out to customers.

The so-called "mobile economic time" facilitated by mobile devices adds up to 38 days a year, the company said.
 

Marketing professionals and ad agencies in Indiana and elsewhere across the country are turning their focus to the emerging mobile technologies and the promotional opportunities the channel offers.

Ball State University recently announced it would be starting an education initiative, through the Institute for Mobile Media Research, to create a new organization for networking and learning about mobile communications.

The program, called Mobile Indiana, aims to bring together mobile developers, marketers, academics, industry executives and "influencers" in order to drive the mobile industry in the state.

"The need has existed for a few years for a group like Mobile Indiana, but now the marketplace is mandating that businesses understand how mobile devices will impact and change how they do business and what the opportunities are with mobile," stated institute director and Ball State advertising professor Michael Hanley. He said the program would also serve companies by helping them learn about the mobile technologies' capability of being a commercial and marketing tool.

Other groups in the U.S. are also working to expand the knowledge of mobile marketing. At the end of September, marketers, internet executives and others involved in the online digital environment will meet for the Digital East 2011 conference to learn about the best practices in digital marketing.  

As a growing number of consumers carry phones and mobile devices that have internet access, marketing firms and agencies are turning to online video as an effective communication channel. 

According to a mobile marketing analytics report from Mogreet, smartphone penetration in the U.S. has hit 35 percent, and other technological advances have allowed easier streaming of online video.

James Citron, Mogreet's CEO, said the increase in iPhone mobile video messaging views in the last quarter served as proof that "feature phone and smartphone users are increasingly looking to consume video, pictures and audio on their devices."

Citron added that digital marketers would be able to communicate with more of their audience "regardless of handset type, and supply them with personalized video content that increases consumer loyalty, engagement and responsiveness," by using mobile video marketing techniques.

One Cleveland, Ohio-based online advertising agency that is already seizing on the marketing opportunities offered by online video is Fathom, which recently announced it had released two educational whitepapers for the healthcare industry and other companies looking to boost their online presence.

While one paper is tailored for medical professionals who are embarking on an internet marketing campaign, the other offers advice on how to design and launch social media and video advertising efforts.

In order to leverage the growing number of Americans accessing the web through their mobile devices, the Warren County Convention & Visitors Bureau recently released a mobile version of its popular travel marketing site, www.ohioslargestplayground.com.

The mobile site will offer a streamlined version of the actual site, according to the travel bureau. Once logged on, mobile users can access customized Google Maps, click-to-call functionality for Ohio travel phone numbers, as well as listings for accommodations, attractions, shopping and more.

"The mobile site’s weather feed, mobile coupons and Google directions to accommodations and attractions will help to enhance a visitor’s experience during their vacation in Warren County," the travel bureau said in a release.

WCCVB marketing director Sally Derrick cited statistics that have shown 85 percent of travelers use their mobile device for trip information and 58 percent use it as a planning tool.

Organizations of all kinds are encouraged to focus on offering mobile solutions to consumers. Recent analysis conducted by a Mobile Strategy Partners contributor revealed that users are split nearly down the middle when it comes to preferring either mobile apps or the mobile web.