We live in a day and age where (nearly) everyone has a mobile phone… and not just a mobile phone, but a SMARTPHONE. Gone are the days of the tiny, sticky keypad…welcome the glory days of ginormous, glossy screens! Mobile phones have transformed from a luxury into a necessity. Admit it, it’s the first thing you pick up when you wake up and the last thing you look at before you go to bed!
What was once for corporate use is now part and parcel of our everyday lives. Did you know more people own mobile phones than toothbrushes?? Talk about “essentials for living!” Not to mention there are a gazillion uses for a smartphone – web surfing, online banking, stock trading, online shopping, navigator, gaming, “socializing” (yes Facebook, yes Twitter), and of course the infamous “selfie device.”
Everyone’s on mobile! So, why not mobile marketing? Somehow there has always been a negative connotation behind “mobile marketing.” We all have had our fair share of “spam” in terms of SMS and calls – selling stuff that, majority of the time, we don’t need or even buy. We know how annoying mobile ads are and it’s pretty interesting how we’re almost robotically wired to click the “x” button whenever an ad pops up – even before we take a glimpse!
Which type of mobile marketing do YOU reckon is the best?
Mobile marketing is not all that bad, really. There is more to it than just spamming SMSes, as seen in the infographic above. In fact, we are now advancing into a whole different dimension of mobile marketing – apps.
My personal favorite is the Coles app. Yes, I like cooking; but not so much grocery shopping, until I downloaded the Coles app. Since then, my life has changed forever. What was once a tedious, time-consuming chore is now a quick and easy task.
Let’s look into Kaplan’s 4 I’s of mobile social media with regards to Coles:
- Integrate your activities in your users’ life to avoid being a nuisance. Yes, I like my privacy thank you very much. I like the fact that Coles doesn’t come to me, rather, I go to Coles. They offer a service (and a good one at that) and recommendations on what to buy, at the cheapest prices! Coles allows me to make my own choices and decisions rather than bombarding me with their products. With regards to customer surveys, Coles cleverly does this by placing leaflets into the plastic bags at the checkout counters, rather than on the app. Basically, COLES DOES NOT SPAM.
Photo credit: Marketing - Individualize your activities to take account of user preferences and interests. This is the biggest reason why I love Coles – customization. The Coles app is linked to my Flybuys card which contains data on my purchases. The app then utilizes this data to create a “My Specials” tab, featuring all the products I have bought before and when they’re on promotion. This saves cheapskates like me heaps of time strolling up and down the aisles to see what’s on promotion. And if my favorite item is on “My Specials,” there’s no resisting! With this data, Coles also suggests recipes that are well suited to the ingredients I usually buy. How much more personalized can it get?
- Involve the user through engaging conversations. Coles has a social media presence on Facebook through which they actively interact with consumers through posts, pictures and videos. The frequency of posts garners a lot of attention and often sparks consumers’ interests, keeping an ongoing dialogue.
- Initiate the creation of user-generated content. Coles is also affiliated with taste.com.au, a website loaded with recipes! This site, in addition to “Coles Recipes” Facebook page also functions as a forum where members can share their own recipes, and give tips and advice as being part of a community.
…Money-saving features, tailored hand-picked specials, attractive promotions, neat categories, user friendly, quick product searches, countless recipes, and online shopping lists! 1 point for Coles, 0 points for Woolies!
Indeed, “mobile is the future of marketing” and the Coles app is a shining example of that. If businesses do not catch on to this and implement mobile marketing strategies, they will fall behind. As seen in the graph, more users are on their mobiles than desktops and this trend is continuing upwards. Stats don’t lie so get onto mobile marketing already!
_Sarah
digitswithsarah 
Great post Sarah! A very useful example of how Coles utilizing the mobile app on marketing. I have not used coles app before but after reading your post i might give it a try! I believe the mobile marketing strategies is the future and most of the time an app is more optimized and better to use than using a web browser.
Personally i think a lot of large businesses have taken advantage of the mobile app environment but a lot of them fail to achieve the first point “Integrate your activities in your users’ life to avoid being a nuisance”. Once i signed up for the app i start receiving emails and notifications on my phone and that to me is very annoying. Also to a lot of people that could be a reason of them stop using their app. So according to your experience Coles is doing a very good job at not spamming their users with promotions.
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Hi Dixon!
Thank you so much for your encouraging and insightful comment! I’m glad you’re convinced to try out the Coles app for yourself! I fully agree that apps are more effective marketing platforms than web browsers. Apps have really cool interfaces and better functions. Thank you for being honest as well! I understand your frustrations. In fact, I have unsubscribed or uninstalled several apps that spam me so much that I don’t get any benefit from it. Coles usually sends emails just once a week, to notify you of the week’s specials. But, the same information is already available on the app so I normally ignore the emails.
Appreciate you sharing your thoughts! My favorite app is Coles. What is YOUR personal favorite app? Looking forward to hearing from you again 🙂
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My favourite app is an fitness app called Jawbone Up. The app and ecosystem is also the reason i purchased their fitness band. One of the attributes is that it sends you an email every week that summarizes your week of activities, giving you insights and pattern of activeness, so it doesn’t spam at all. The app itself is intuitive and summarizes your sleep and activities throughout the day. Based on your pattern it’ll give you recommendations, goals and tips to get healthier. Also if you have friends that uses the app you can ‘compete’ with them to achieve higher step counts per day etc.
So yeah, having a well and functional app not only improves your company image but also sales!
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Thanks for sharing! I think it’s safe to say that personalized/customized apps appeal very much to consumers! Indeed, the functionality and success of mobile apps can determine the sales and profitability of companies.
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I agree with you and think apps are the best form of mobile marketing as they allow for a lot more creativity and interaction from the user as a multitude of functions can be placed into a single app.
In reference to the example that you have used, I’m in the same boat as Dixon and don’t actually have the app, however from your analysis of their mobile marketing I believe that their strongest use of the four I’s comes from their ability to individualise. Like you said, you can’t get more personalised than suggesting recipes based on the ingredients that you have purchased and by sending promotions on commonly bought products, who wouldn’t love that! I know I’d find it hard to resist. I also always find it so annoying when I get asked for a flybys card, but maybe this has changed my mind about them.
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Hi Nicole!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. You are absolutely right! I also believe that the strongest component of the Coles app is in the area of individualizing their promotions according to the user’s preferences and interests. What a smart way of utilizing consumer data! Coles sure gets me every time my favorites flash on the app. On the flip side, I like the groceries in Woolies as well, but sadly, their app is not as functional and user-friendly as Coles. Hence, I strongly recommend you to try out the Coles app! Simply scan your flybuys card onto the app and you’re good to go! 🙂
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Interesting article about the benefits of mobile marketing! I think as we progress as society into streamlining convenience, apps are definitely an interesting market to consider if we were to establish a strong marketing strategy. However, with the same point as Dixon, most companies lack a greater awareness into how to utilise the benefits of creating an app – especially when some would cost substantially to create. A strange app that I would say has been quite successful is the Hungry Jacks app inviting consumers to “check-in” to their nearby Hungry Jacks to spin a wheel to win prizes. With a great mixture of integration, involvement and initiation of user generated content on their Facebook, it has created a great standing in the app world for Hungry Jacks.
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Hi Guo Tran!
Thank you for commenting! I’m glad you found the post enlightening. I agree, apps are no doubt, known for their convenience in terms of meeting the consumers’ needs efficiently and effectively. However, there is also the reality that not all apps make it. You’re right in saying that companies lack the understanding of adopting the app as a marketing strategy. This is where, I believe, the company should strongly consider hiring consultants or app developers who can provide the necessary expertise to optimize the app for the benefit of the company.
Brilliant example on Hungry Jacks! I sure see my friends’ check-ins pretty often on my Facebook feed!
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It’s nice to see we write similarly here! Great minds think alike, isn’t it? My favorite mobile apps is WOOLWORTHS app, so fun to use especially the barcode thing. Additionaly, using mobile for groceries can help us to access catalogue, promotions, and check list as well. No more pens and notes for grocery shopping 😛
Please check and share your comment on my post: https://indonesiangirltalksdigital.wordpress.com/2015/08/26/grocery-shopping-at-your-fingertips/
Thanks 🙂
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Great minds think alike, indeed! Haha I secretly enjoy using the barcode scanner too, I think it’s cool! Such innovative and modern technology in the simplest of tasks such as grocery shopping. Thanks for the comment 🙂
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Hey Sarah, that sure was an interesting post with the integration of Coles! As much as I love shopping at Coles, I did not bothering download it (well, I did had it some time ago, but I’m probably downloading it back into my phone after this). It sure got me when you mentioned suggested recipes, I can already imagine myself not having to always search for recipe, cracking my head on what I should prepare for tonight’s dinner.
Also, if you love Coles, and you are a Commonwealth Bank user, their recent update on their app lets you store almost all your loyalty card onto it! Having said so, if you’re just like me who loves scanning my flybuys card, being a $2 purchase or a $30 purchase, it lets you scan your flybuys on our phone if you ever forget to bring the physical card. Also, I secretly enjoyed scanning my loyalty cards onto the app, it made me want to collect all the loyalty cards without having to carry a bulky purse out!
However, back to your post. Do you think that some times it may get too personalised that we may miss out on some things that we may be interested but have yet to buy, hence marketers would not have the data and not send us anything related to it. How would marketers then target us?
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Hey Xuann, thanks for the comment! I did not know about the recent update in conjunction with Commonwealth, thanks for relaying that. It will surely add more convenience and satisfaction to the customer experience. Mobile marketing and apps are definitely a phenomenon, gone are the days of carrying a separate card holder just for loyalty cards!
That’s a very good question. In an attempt to answer that, I would say that marketers could try providing suggestions of related or even non-related products to the consumer. For instance, the Coles mobile app has a “Featured” tab under the “Specials” column, which displays a more generic list of products. There have been times where I’ve fallen for such product specials, even though they are not in my usual list of purchases or seen in “My Specials” tab. This is one example of how marketers have persuaded me to buy something out of my routine purchases, but of potential interest to me.
Nevertheless, customization is beneficial for marketers to a certain extent in that it streamlines and narrows down the needs and preferences of the customer segment, which provides a more specific market for marketers to target more easily.
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