4 Major Mobile Marketing Trends Shaping the Industry

Now is a great time to start looking at marketing trends likely to make impact in the industry. Here are some factors that may shape how you utilize mobile marketing in the coming year.

1. More mobile-optimized emails

It has long been a best practice to optimize emails for mobile devices. For example, limiting image sizes, designing so that people don’t have to pinch and scroll too much to see the content, and using short paragraphs and bullet points to make the content more scannable are some of the more straightforward ways to make an email as mobile-friendly as possible.

Experts believe mobile-optimized emails will be even more common in than before. More specifically, they expect mobile-first design to become the standard.

Relatedly, people will likely unconsciously form opinions about a business based on the mobile-friendliness of emails. If they find emailed content is too hard to navigate on their phones, they’ll probably spend their money elsewhere.

As companies figure out their email marketing strategies, representatives should spend time ensuring the planned content is maximally mobile-friendly. Doing that is a great way to increase the chances of engagement.

2. Mobile games gaining momentum as marketing tools

Many people are no longer as receptive to traditional forms of advertising. That said, some are more likely to get on board with messaging that helps them have fun: For example, a study found a 12% increase in people playing mobile games since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To get an idea of what’s possible with mobile marketing, consider how fast-food brand KFC launched a free game inside its existing mobile app that used augmented reality (AR). The app let people search for virtual buckets of chicken located all over the United States. Players could also win prizes redeemable in physical KFC locations.

A mobile product could drive in-store traffic if utilized in the right ways. Mobile games are not appropriate for all industries to use as marketing strategies, but for some, they resonate with the target market.

Brand representatives thinking about going ahead with a mobile marketing strategy should consider the most relevant ways to make it happen. Determining possible ways to drive consumer spending for the brand, as KFC did with its game, is also a smart move.

3. A growing interest in using the metaverse for mobile marketing

When Facebook announced its parent company, Meta, it also previewed what people could expect during future interactions with their friends or with brands while exploring the so-called metaverse, which is a hypothesized environment blurring the boundaries between the virtual and the real. For example, a person might strap on a VR headset to shop at a store rather than going into a physical one or navigating to a brand’s website.

One report anticipates metaverse apps will capture more than $3 billion in consumer spending during 2022 alone. Focusing on these apps could also be beneficial for brands eyeing additional exposure or business expansions. In today’s highly globalized society, making that choice is increasingly normalized rather than an exception to the rule.

Although the metaverse should not be the sole factor that makes a company decide whether or not to expand, it can be a useful indicator. For example, in China, hundreds of tech companies have trademarked metaverse-related terms, and investors are showing interest in helping build the virtual world. If customers from a certain country interact with a company’s virtual establishment, they might respond well to its physical presence there, too.

4. Mobile replacing direct mail for local advertising

A 2022 forecast from BIA Advisory Services about local expenditures indicates mobile advertising spending will surpass the money put towards direct mail ads for the first time. More specifically, mobile advertising will be the most widely used way to engage in local advertising, with companies intending to allocate $34 billion for it.

Conversely, direct mail local advertising is in the second spot. Marketers will put aside a total of $33.4 billion for it as they iron out their collective plans for the year. There’s no big difference between the two local advertising methods. Still, it’s worth looking at how companies could capitalize on both in the coming years.

For example, perhaps a person would receive a postcard in the mail with a code on it that they can scan with their phones to see additional content. People typically like multiple ways to engage with a brand, so there’s no need to do away with a non-mobile way of reaching the audience.

These four marketing trends should provide valuable inspiration as you decide how to engage current and potential customers. Since most people keep mobile devices within arm’s reach at all times, there are numerous ways to take advantage of that reality.