Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Who Run The World? Phones


What do you make sure to take along before leaving the house?

Bag? Nah.

Wallet? Maybe.

Phone? Definitely.

Source — richtopia.com
Why?

Reason being we can do almost everything using our mobile phone.

Not to mention the basic functions like calling, texting and information search, we can easily book air tickets, shop online and now even contactless payment such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay at most stores.

Source — medium.com

So, What Is Mobile Marketing?

Mobile marketing is a strategy to reach out to target audience on their smartphones and mobile devices, via social media, websites, applications, and emails.

Mobile marketing is important to brand and businesses to help them in getting close to their customers and target audiences. Continuously throwing ads and appearing on their social media feeds will be hard for them to forget your brand and may eventually lead to top-of-mind awareness.

There are plenty of mobile marketing trends such as video ads on social media platforms, artificial intelligence, in-app ads, etc. and as I’m about to talk about all these, something caught my attention.

This.



so while waiting for my internet to get connected again, I ended up playing a few rounds of it.

Image result for laughing gif
Source — tenor.com

Gamification just kept me entertained and engaged.

Thinking back on all the times where I’ve came across gamified content, I clicked almost 80% of them just to see what happens. I would usually scroll or swipe ads away, but it is hard to resist mini games.

Now, let's bring our attention to this example below:

Nike+ Run Club (NRC) App

Source — birchtree.com

Nike+ Run Club (NRC) is a free running app created to encourage users to run. NRC not only offers basic running app features such as tracking each run but also features in-app run coaching that is based on individual’s abilities and is customised to help users get the most out of each run. Playlist is also provided by Apple Music and Spotify to make each run more enjoyable. Users can also share their progress and achievements with whoever they choose to share with and this tap into their competitive spirit.

Source — popsugar.co.uk

Ok, so now here comes the part that makes users continue using.


Source — popsugar.co.uk

The app is constantly updating features to provide what their users need and one of them is allowing them to compete in a leaderboard that tells the user how many runners are ahead of them. Rewards such as badges and other prizes will be awarded to them if their personal record is broken. Sharing of photos and stickers is also feasible where users gets to boast about their results. There is also another feature under the events tab that allows users to participate in races according to location and sharing with friends.


Source — popsugar.co.uk

Even Though 

Nike is already a leading brand in the sports industry, they are constantly making effort in their marketing effort. I feel that without incorporating gamification elements in application, users will eventually become disinterested and tend to quit.

Mobile marketing is definitely one of the most relevant way for businesses to reach out and connect with their digital target audiences.

What do you guys think?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below! :)




4 comments :

  1. Hello Claire! :) It's really an interesting post, as It had never came across to me that Gamification is part of mobile marketing~ but I believe that more brands are making the extra efforts to make their app more fun! Recently, Singtel also introduced 'Singtel StepUp' to encourage their users to walk more, and earn free data! This way of marketing is quite entertaining in my opinion, it's rewarding and able to engage with their users. Furthermore, Singtel go further by offering rewards, and have challenges for users to win more incentives which will fuel the users to participate actively. I think this will benefit Singtel to have more users utilising the app :) Thank you for opening up more information for us to learn about mobile marketing!!

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    1. Hello Jia Yi ^^ I knew about the Singtel StepUp and thought that this is an excellent way to encourage users to get moving! Sadly, I'm not using Singtel :( HAHAH hopefully other telcos will join in the fun soon! ^^

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  2. Hello Claire! Thanks for the insightful posts! I never knew about the Nike app that helps encourage users to get off their couch and start moving. I have to download it and give it a try myself! I agree that YouTube is still by far one of the most effect method of reaching out to audience till date. I find myself constantly being exposed to various advertisements and trying the app as recommended.

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    1. Hi Sean ^^ I guess I am not the only one! HAHA
      As YouTube does not allow users to skip ads completely, we are being "forced" to watch at least 5 seconds of the ads or even 20 seconds! I think that this is actually really good for advertisers to reach out to target audience :)

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