Facebook: Making Mobile More Social

Listen to the new head of Mobile at Facebook talk about ... Facebook turning into a mobile company.A livestream of the GigaOM Mobilize 2011 Conference, exploring the mobile web:

http://livestre.am/13qSw

My Top 5 Mobile Sites

I have been talking and learning about mobile for a while now, but I have n`t considered visuals yet, the mobile optimized sites, until I found http://www.mobileawesomeness.com, where you can browse through 100s of submissions.

Not only did I choose my favs, but actually created my own mobile optimised site using a pre-existing template! I am not ready to present it yet, but take a look at 5 sites that I liked ... and start your own too.

• This is the mobile optimised site of an advertising, branding and interactive services agency headquartered in Hammonton, NJ. The red can be a challenge for the eyes but again, too much advertising is never enough:

• It is hard to go wrong with cinema and theatre sites: plenty of posters and images to win attention but don`t forget ease of use. Presenting the site of a South African theatre chain:

• Any city who envisages hosting a major event should take notice of this: create a MOS(mobile optimised site) but do it like Auckland. The 2011 Auckland Rugby World Cup site:

• ...followed closely by Colorado:

• Fashion brands are slowly waking up to MOSs and Victoria`s Secret proves again that sexy underwear and good marketing totally go together: 

NEW MOBILE INSIGHTS BY GOOGLE AND MMA ARE OUT!

Together with the Mobile Marketing Association, Google has looked at the new trends swiping through the world of all things mobile, concentrating on how people use their phones and how prepared are businesses to embrace this new channel.

What I found interesting and insightful, but not surprising, is that the 80+% of people who look up local info on their devices (in U.K.,Germany, France and Japan, countries on which the study focused), take action afterwards, either by calling, visiting or purchasing- now that`s a note local business should take.

You can find the first set of results here:

http://services.google.com/fh/files/blogs/Google-MMA%20Global%20Perspectives%20Study.pdf

Pearls in the sea

Today I have discovered yet another super interesting blog,  written by a start-up entrepreneur who shares his experience in go-to-market strategies. Update your textbook, check this out http://startup-marketing.com/the-startup-pyramid/ and start using your brains.
(Note:today`s pace of change and innovation makes any new text book ... seem already old as soon as it gets on the shelf. The Marketing Principles/Armstrong franchise has been releasing new editions almost every year but I expect more from their sections on marketing in the digital era).

Adios

The Future in Mobile Business Model is ...Now

Now that  vacation time is over there isn`t a better way to start the routine  than with a brilliant idea, namely  Blyk`s Business Model Innovation in the Mobile Industry. Blyk is a company that basically offers calling minutes to users who choose to receive ads from them. Simple, ethical and profitable. Take a look:

Harnessing the power of technology to increase sales

The advance of the web and the ubiquity of smart and feature phones are at the forefront of the new trends and shopping patterns swiping over the retail sector.  For Japan and many other Asian/Southeast Asian nations these changes are an indispensable part of the new normal for a long time now, while we in Europe and North America, are still scratching our heads on how to harness these effects. (Just to open a parenthesis, we are so delayed in our response that to bring us on track would require an urgent update of all textbooks now in use in the educational institutions as a minimum. That of course implies new research in the area, new teaching approaches,etc.)

In this blog I want to concentrate on the retail sector and how technology can help spur sales since to me, as a shopper, the need for having my favourite outlet online, updated and mobile optimized or being guided through a mall parking lot to catch an empty spot is so obvious that I am asking myself what is the management thinking about nowadays.

So, here it is, a couple of simple steps to put your shop up there and engage with your most loyal customers in this day and age:

·         Embrace the change and do it FAST! Technology has stolen shoppers from brinks to on-line so use technology to get them back. Google tells us that 79% of smartphone internet user use their devise to help shop so:

o   Create a website(if you don’t have it already …which would be pretty lame)

o   OPTIMIZE your website for mobile. A mobile screen is about 20 times smaller than an average computer screen. On mobile we do 10 other different things while browsing/scrolling, attempting to cross the street and talking to our companions, not forgetting that some of us wear glasses so please OPTIMIZE.

o   Update your website daily. UPDATE-that is what we want, not posts that are one week long: one week-not cool, one day/a couple of hours-cool to very cool!

·         Strategize! For the retail sector I would think information +engagement=footfall=increased sales.

o   Use the on-line platform described above to feed content to your followers/subscribers/army: promotions, events, guides, schedules, interactive,…We`d love to know who will be featuring in your next ad campaign or what is it that the next car model will bring.

o   Engage-this is key!  Internet and mobile phones have been around for some time, but very little has been done to engage with consumers and I am not talking about email notifications...only. Only lately are we realizing this potential.  Think, plan and implement unique ways of making your army of followers ACTIVE. Go where they hang around (facebook, twitter, foursquare,..) and tell them: Hey guys, hey little monsters and loyal fans, hey community-let’s play! Find Willy`s new Gucci sunglasses or his recent something something. Make it fun and interactive and you will have them all. Create mobile clubs with perceived increased value and benefits (coupons, etc). Aren`t we living in an era of democratization of luxury goods and services? There are millions of ways, so analyse the data, learn and do it.

·         Start with local. Local is important: tap into the neighbourhood layout (Are there any coffee shops on your customer`s way? How is the traffic today? etc.) Think of partnerships, deals and synergies, combine resources, think context and join hands with other business to help each other.

·         Collect data intelligently and responsibly to make your offer to the customer personal, fun and useful.

As the mobile/on-line industry is relatively young, there are no wide established success formulas, but there are plenty of singular cases where companies have successful approached technology. So it is a trial and error phase for businesses to figure out how to ride this wave right but on the other hand it also gives them plenty of room to be the first at establishing standards, benchmarks and successful models. 

With billboard ads dwarfing under new restrictive rules, on-device communication is becoming ever more appealing!!!!Read this!

You’ll be walking down the streets of Paris ad-less soon | The Mobile Message