The mGage team offers their thoughts on what’s ahead for mobile marketing in 2021.
Despite some challenges in 2020, there have certainly been some positive results. We found new ways to stay connected and discovered ways that technology can make our lives easier. What we saw is that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation. Many companies have turned to mobile messaging to accommodate these changes and we believe that messaging will continue to support market trends in 2021.
Consumer preferences for convenience will continue
2020 gave many consumers a taste of the convenience of getting things done without taking off their pajamas, and we don’t see that change anytime soon. From roadside collection to same-day delivery, many companies took advantage of SMS messaging to enable socially distant services without consumers having to download an app.
A growing consumer preference for shopping, eating and enjoying entertainment from home will continue to affect many industries. According to our own research, 43.7 percent of the 245 retailers surveyed offered roadside pickups in August 2020, a significant increase compared to 6.9 percent of the same group surveyed at the end of 2019. Restaurants like Chipotle and Red Lobster believe in increased usage. Home delivery will persist, investing in establishments like “ghost kitchens” that only offer pickup and delivery. In the entertainment sector, Warner Bros announced that all 2021 releases would be streamed on HBO Max in addition to theatrical releases.
While the pandemic initially slowed growth in mobile advertising spending, eMarketer’s latest projections in its report on the eMarkter Mobile Advertising Outlook 2021 assume they will outperform pre-pandemic 2021 numbers due to the increasing popularity of mobile browsing become. According to Statistas ‘Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on In-Home Data Usage in the US in 2020 According to the Device Report,’ in-home mobile data usage increased 30 percent from March 2019 to March 2020. For Adobe, the increased Mobile spend on Black Friday this year up more than 25 percent compared to 2019.
These statistics show that consumers have turned to mobile devices for the ultimate convenience. It only makes sense for brands to simplify the buyer’s journey by using the channel that we use to communicate the most on our phones – mobile messaging. Mobile messaging strategies like sending shoppable links, enabling roadside pickup, and automated delivery updates make the buying process more convenient and hassle-free than ever.
If you put more emphasis on privacy and personalization, companies need to try new channels
Google and Apple recently announced plans to improve privacy practices on their platforms. Apple’s change brings previously hidden data tracking settings to the fore by asking users via a popup if they want to allow the app to track their data for promotional purposes. Google announced that Chrome will stop supporting third-party cookies by early 2022. These changes will dramatically affect the ability to advertise on platforms like LinkedIn or Facebook, and ultimately require companies to rely on their own data and marketing channels.
Many brands will turn to mobile messaging to fill this void with targeted, perfectly timed messages sent directly to the consumer’s mobile phone. Careful list management and an understanding of the customer journey across all channels, including web and mobile, are vital for businesses to maintain the level of personalized, relevant content that was previously facilitated by third-party advertising.
Some argue that the move away from the impersonality of advertising was on the horizon and was only accelerated by the events of 2020. Forrester’s report on B2C marketing projections for 2021 predicts that the volume of marketing messages sent via email will increase by 40 percent over the next year. Text messages and push notifications as an alternative to advertising. In the fallout of Covid-19, brands will seek to build more direct and closer relationships with consumers through more personal channels.
The race for automation
COVID-19 forced the workforce to push the limits of what we believed could be achieved remotely. For many of us, this experiment has been surprisingly successful. PWC’s Remote Work Survey found that 44 percent of executives said employees were more productive working from home, but many companies are still interested in adding automation. A Deloitte mid-pandemic poll found that 73 percent of respondents said their companies have embarked on a path to intelligent automation, up 58 percent from last year. We’ll likely see automation perform tasks like employee self-service, customer service support, and document extraction to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
For B2B marketers, AI-powered Martech is at the top of the wish list for 2021. According to Forresters’ 2021 Predictions Report, more than a third of B2B technology buyers rate chatbots as the top 10 engagement channel, but less than 20 percent Currently, many companies are using AI to create conversational experiences and optimize personal engagement on a large scale.
This venture is not least an attempt to achieve cost savings after an economically challenging year. Experts estimate that chatbots will help companies save more than $ 8 billion (£ 5.7 billion) a year by 2022. By enabling chatbots on mobile devices, customers can serve themselves and quickly reach a representative if necessary, but at a much lower cost.
The challenges of 2020 accelerated changes in consumer behavior that we have been warned about for several years. Brands that have already invested in mobile messaging for marketing, customer service and operations are ahead of the game and will start with a distinct competitive advantage in 2021. If you haven’t already thought about the many ways mobile messaging can improve your overall business strategy, it’s not too late. Mobile messaging is an easy way to accommodate these changes. Get started with mGage today.