SA Companies not Making Most of Mobile Opportunity
Date:
2 Nov 2010 Many South African companies are missing out on important mobile marketing opportunities because they remain focused on simple text messaging applications like SMS competitions.
That’s according to Tony Sousa, managing director of Acceleration Media Johannesburg. He says that many marketers are getting left behind by the spike in the growth of mobile phones using their devices for Internet applications such as email and Internet messaging.
The smartphone has become one of the most important engines of Internet penetration, says Sousa. Although Web-enabled smartphones remain expensive, the cost of these devices is falling rapidly and bringing them within the reach of more South Africans.
Sousa notes that an estimated 28% of South Africa’s urban cellular market is using mobile instant messaging (IM) according to recent research from World Wide Worx, showing that mobile data applications are on the rise across the country. He adds that currently the urban cell phone market in SA comprises 16 million users, where 25% of this market (4 million) are using mobile web. It is also interesting to note that 3.5 million of the 16 million users in the SA cell phone market have access to the net via other platforms.
“This is already a significant market opportunity, and it is growing by the day,” says Sousa. “Companies need to think of more creative ways to engage with customers using this channel, where the best time to act is now, whilst the market numbers are growing.”
One opportunity that Sousa identifies is the possibility of extending self-service and commerce applications to mobile phones. By doing so, companies could encourage customers with web access from a PC to interact with them electronically.
“The mobile platform could also be used to offer existing Internet users extended access to your online offerings,” Sousa adds. “For example, loyalty programmes are a natural fit with the mobile world.”
Sousa says that companies should be looking at mobile as a channel in its own right and considering how to align with their other channels. They cannot simply copy and paste their web strategies into the mobile world, as the way that customers behave across the two channels is vastly different.
They should tailor their mobile websites, search campaigns and display advertising accordingly. For example, a mobile customer is likely to be looking for quick gratification when he or she goes online to search for the telephone number of a restaurant.
And users are more likely to be using the mobile web after hours and over the weekend than they are during the week, since many South Africans still only have Internet access at work. These realities should inform one’s strategy, says Sousa.
“Marketers have been waiting for the payoff from the mobile web’s promise for a long time,” Sousa concludes. “But from the trends we are seeing in the device and data usage space, users are embracing mobile data and apps. It is now up to marketers to engage with them more successfully.”
