The Theory of Mobile Everything

Mobile devices will account for 75% of global internet usage in 2017 according to Zenith’s latest forecasts.

Internet use from mobile devices has grown steadily, from 40% in 2012 to nearly 70% in 2016 and the Zenith report forecasts it to reach 79% by 2018.

This should not be a surprise — mobile use has had a steep upward trajectory ever since the introduction of the iPhone (10th anniversary this June) and the removal of ‘off-net’ charges by mobile operators — setting consumers free to explore the web on the most personal and proliferate device of all.

Many established publishers report traffic from mobile services exceeding 80% of traffic coming from mobile sources on a regular basis and most native publishers are mobile only.

Maybe the Irish are a little ahead of the curve — any bus stop, train or even half time at any sporting event, you can see what modern consumer behaviour has evolved into.

The Zenith report itself states that Ireland has the highest proportion of smartphone penetration globally at 92% and is set to grow to 94% (or near saturation) by 2018.

And that means…

Personalisation Vs Configuration.

There are increased opportunities to deliver more personalised messaging and experiences.

Before it’s labelled ‘mobile personalisation’, let’s not.

• A more mature approach is required in terms of security and respect for privacy: You would only let your most trusted friend take your phone (even then under tight observation), equally you will not accept being stalked by ‘targeted’ messages because you were browsing for new pumps a year ago. We all know the story of adblocking. GDPR puts consumers front and centre and they need to agree to data enabling and collection (as well as the right for disposal of same), hence configuration (consumer initiated) as opposed to personalisation (data driven) will come to the forefront. Consumers will eventually only allow the most trusted partners use their data as they become more and more aware of what is being done with it.

Creativity Vs Spray&Pray

A time for creative to lead again ?

• Creativity is needed across the board in terms of design (responsive ads anyone?), messaging and context, as many would argue that native articles are a natural fit for the fourth screen — and that does not mean plugging content recommendation engines into the feed or running a piece of PR. Linking creative as part of marketing mix across all screens, big and smaller, lead to a greater brand association and recognition — it actually doesn’t matter what the click rate is — how can you measure the click rate of word of mouth? Equally, randomly chasing people around the net (even more difficult in an app environment) just ticks them off. What is easy in browser is not necessarily so in app, so being creative is now far more critical to marketeers remain relevant in the era of Web 3.0.

Commerce, not eCommerce, not even mobile eCommerce

• With 49% of smartphone users not downloading any apps in the average month, and just 13% downloading five or more apps, it is becoming increasingly apparent that relevance is key. Mobile payment apps will soon be one of the most frequently used apps as operating systems roll out payments at scale.
• With the launch of both Apple Pay and Android Pay, apps enabling smart payments will become more widespread (already uploading credit to a Leap card is done via NFC) ironically driving commerce in bricks and mortar retail and as a consequence even more consumer data will be available.

With this, there will be great opportunities once again for targeted messaging, again, done in a responsible manner. as financial security and standards will not only be necessary, but a requirement. The Wild West days are numbered.

The development of faster, larger screened devices have led to consumers taking control of what they want to read, view, listen, buy and enjoy online. More importantly, we are communicating with them at a time of their choice on a device that is almost never out of their sight from first thing in the morning to last thing at night.

That needs to be respected.