With mobile spend predicted to be worth triple the spend on desktop by 2020, Todd Miller, Global Marketing Solutions, Cheetah Mobile, looks at how consumer’s connected device is a rich source of actionable information for marketers.
Humankind is more connected than ever before, but the last thing we think about when we’re burning to tell the world something is which device to use. Whether it’s mobile or desktop, whatever is nearest will do – after all, a device is just a means to an end. It’s the message that matters.
Consumers communicate their needs in device signals, which marketers must then unearth and bring together in order to satisfy those needs. Luckily, we now live in an era where highly insightful data allows for meticulous targeting, regardless of device. Every consumer’s connected device is a rich source of actionable information – which spells success for digital campaigns.
But with the constant transformations that consumer behaviour and interaction with media undergo, how can marketers know which messages matter most?
A wealth of information
Quality data from desktop and mobile both set the parameters for programmatic buys at scale, ensuring the right messages from your ad inventory are delivered to the right users at the right moment. But returning to the idea that when we want to communicate whatever has just popped into our heads to the world, we grab the nearest device to us – is that more likely to be mobile or desktop?
Mobile incites more continuous engagement from its users than desktop. A study by dscout found that the average person touches their smartphone screen 2,617 times a day, resulting in an annual grand total of one million times. When you leave your desk at work, or finish sending that email at home, you step away from the computer – but with your smartphone still in your hand or pocket. Every time we interact with our smartphones, we create streams of data that, when harnessed by marketers, allows for more hyper-relevant targeting than desktop data.
Your pocket personality
Smartphones are not only our loyal companions, always with us wherever we go, but they are also highly personal. Unlike desktop, where multiple consumers often use the same device leading to mistakenly wasted impressions, smartphones ads are guaranteed to reach the right pair of eyes.
Users also customise their devices to a far greater extent than a desktop user. This applies to the number and type of apps they populate it with, and how or when they use them. All this tiny data accurately reflects the user’s behaviour, providing micro-insights into how best to spark an interaction between them and the brand. First-party data, plus third-party validation provides more detail – and more precise targeting. APIs can shed light on information like WiFi data, geolocation and language settings to, for example, target frequent travellers, affluent individuals, or specific communities for certain campaigns. This level of granularity is why research from eMarketer predicts that mobile spend will reach £8.99bn by 2020 compared to £3.17 on desktop.
Three’s a charm
Data paints an intimate portrait of the consumer you are targeting, but a good rule of thumb is delivering the same message to the same user just three times in a 24-hour period. With significant developments in cross-device tracking, an ad could be served once on mobile, on desktop and to a smart TV in a one single day. This avoids potentially frustrating consumers with a heavy ad load while ensuring to engage them.
We’re all connected, and so in a certain way the marketer’s job is easier today. Especially on mobile, smaller data can build a bigger picture of the consumer, offering insights that take your understanding of them from a micro to macro level.
Intrusive, irrelevant and disruptive advertising stems in particular from trying to speak to channels, rather than consumers. But platform-agnostic campaigns target consumers holistically without provoking ad fatigue. The spray and pray method is a thing of the past, because whether data is coming from mobile, desktop, smart TVs or game consoles, they are the most valuable ingredient in the marketing mix. Use them creatively and sparingly to ensure you personalise efficiently, target effectively and never overload. As our parents always told us, remember to listen before you speak.
by Todd Miller
Global Marketing Solutions
Cheetah Mobile