The deafening buzz surrounding the debut of the iPhone 4 has put fear in my heart that many businesses will continue to put all their mobile marketing eggs in the iPhone basket. Don’t get me wrong, the iPhone is a great way to reach consumers, but considering a 2010 Gartner report estimated that the iPhone holds just 2.7% of the mobile market share, I wouldn’t make that the only horse I hitch my wagon to.
With today’s fragmented mobile landscape, dedicating a company’ entire budget to the iPhone can backfire. And considering more than half of mobile users worldwide continue to use a feature phone instead of a smart phone (including the Blackberry, iPhone, Android and Palm), this issue isn’t just about the iPhone. Many marketers developing mobile strategies have forgotten some of the industry basics, like target audience. If your target audience is women over 60 in rural areas looking for home delivery milk, maybe an iPhone app isn’t for you. But I bet you those women would get an SMS.
For large, consumer-facing corporations, given the current mobile fragmentation, it is essential to have a multi-platform, multi-channel mobile marketing strategy. Clearly this can be a costly and time-consuming endeavor, but alienating masses of consumers could have just as significant ramifications. For smaller companies with more specific target audiences, it’s important to evaluate where their customers are and how those customers prefer to receive certain kinds of information. Without integrating these key factors into the strategic direction of mobile marketing plans, a mobile marketing campaign will be hit or miss.
The old rules still apply. No matter what medium you’re working with, it’s better to know your audience rather than go with the fad. What are your thoughts? How have you developed your mobile marketing strategy?
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