Now What?

In 2015, I wrote The Art of Mobile Persuasion, a book about the relationships that people have with their mobile devices.

It’s safe to describe them then and now as intimate, engrossing and integral.

The central questions in The Art of Mobile Persuasion were whether brands have opportunities to get in on that action or is three a crowd?

Since then, some businesses have muffed the chance, taking an approach that has been deemed as invasive, impersonal, and/or offering no value. But others large and small have knocked gently, ingratiated themselves, brought something that was welcomed, and seen resulting increases in awareness, loyalty and sales.

To the former group, what were you thinking?

To the latter, we’re good now, right?

Well, no.

Why? The playing field has changed.

Our nurtured customers and prospects are now being wooed by other means.

Though voice interfaces.

And wearables.

Smart appliances, even toilets.

And OTT (over the top) devices.

Virtual and mixed reality software and hardware.

And the list goes on. There’s every reason to believe that the pulls for attention will grow this year, next year, and every year after that.

Of course, this brings with it all sorts of complications.

·      Where will we find our customers and prospects?

·      Where we do want to lead them and what must they find when they get there?

·      How does all of this innovation affect the customer journey?

·      If personalization is the so-called North Star, how do we deliver this on the screens and interfaces of today – and the ones surely coming behind those?

And how does the relationship that your brand has steadily built with customers via the mobile phone survive, evolve, and thrive when eyes and ears are drawn to even more places?

In my new book The Art of Digital Persuasion, the conversation broadens to today’s interfaces, devices, behaviors and technologies.

I again have had the pleasure and privilege of visiting with some of the sharpest marketers and other business leaders that one can identify. I sought out real-world experience, perspective, and advice to give us the knowledge, skills and confidence that we all need to do our jobs -- and, in many cases, to reimagine our current outdated positions given these upended times.

I share what leaders from Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, ESPN, and others are doing and thinking to address the core question of the new book:

Now what?

The book is now available on Amazon. https://amzn.to/2G4CrCu

 I hope that you’ll give it a look and take the time to learn from these experts just as I have.

Delivering Lessons From The Holiday Shopping Season

Conventional wisdom would say a retailer shouldn’t risk cannibalizing holiday sales as well as not give consumers an opportunity to wait until the last minute because they might be enticed to buy elsewhere.

In 2018’s first understatement of the year, Amazon is anything but conventional.

The company actually elongated holiday selling efforts, beginning in September and stretching literally to the final hour before Christmas.

Sure, big revenue days were Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but Amazon catered to all, including those who turned the page on Labor Day with shopping and those who procrastinated or purposely waiting until Dec. 24 with delivery options that were as historic as unconventional.

It even prospered in year two of Prime Day in December -- 30 hours of deals for members of its Prime program  — and saw the biggest sales day ever in company history.

Most noteworthy was the activity generated by rapid delivery.

According to Amazon, which for the first time offered same-day or next day delivery in 8,000 markets, the last Prime Now order in time for Christmas was delivered in 58 minutes at 11:58 p.m. on Christmas Eve in Baltimore, MD. The order included those must-haves, at least for someone -- the Kid Galaxy Amphibious RC Car Morphibians Shark Remote Control Toy, the Crayola Oil Pastels Art Tools, 28 ct., and the VTech Click and Count Remote.

“Same day and next day delivery is starting to replace store visits,” retail expert Ryan Craver told me in an interview on The Art of Mobile Persuasion podcast that posted this week (episode 23 here - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/art-mobile-persuasion-podcast/id1156481550?mt=2).

“The big reason why we are seeing a bit of inflection point, if you think back, we didn’t have that many markets where it was available. Obviously now word of mouth plus the press has people try it for the first time and they fall in love with it.

“The second thing is the amount of product that is now available for same day delivery. Everyone knows about Amazon but there is a big behemouth called Google who offers something like Google Express that provide access to everything that Walmart, Target, and Costco sell with same day delivery.”

Craver, a key voice in my The Art of Mobile Persuasion book www.artofmobilepersuasion.com, says price plus availability makes consumers think that delivery is the way to go.

“It’s actually a decent price,” he told me “It’s a marginal fee now. You’ve got 1099 employees delivery for $5 a pop and a tip if you hit a certain price point. That is a pretty compelling consumer experience that is tough to match and it’s going to continue to grow and grow and grow.”

Customers' use of Amazon's one-day, same-day, and two-hour delivery doubled this holiday, according to the company.

As to mobile’s role in purchasing, Amazon said that mobile purchasing increased 70 percent in 2017.

Mickey Mericle, vice president, Marketing and Customer Insights at Adobe, said that “shopping and buying on smartphones is becoming the new norm and can be attributed to continued optimizations in the retail experience on mobile devices and platforms.”

Adobe reported that 75 percent of millennials expected to shop via their smartphone.

Still, Craver reminded us that there is more to do with mobile, noting that many web sites and apps don’t allow for purchase.

“There are only a few retailers who have figured out that final path to purchase,” he said.

Of course, Amazon is one of those few. And it won’t stand still. Drone delivery awaits.

(Hear Craver’s insights on the podcast this week and in a 2018 look ahead posting later this month.)

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Of Meaningful and Meaningless Looks At A Mobile Screen

During the same week that we learned (learned?) that many mobile users look at a device “for no particular reason” comes additional word that wireless interaction is dramatically improving health for some.

First, the meaningful news:

Out of a pilot study at New York’s Bellevue Hospital called Mobile Insulin Titration Intervention, or MITI, 88% of insulin-dependent diabetics were able to get their blood sugar in check after receiving a daily text reminder or phone call.

According to NPR, the program worked this way. Nurses reviewed individual blood sugar information daily online to check for values that were too high or too low, indicating the insulin dose needed to be adjusted. They then reached out to the patients who needed modifications, many of which were low-income New Yorkers who, while owning a phone, lacked access to computers and other resources to manage their health.

Note that text messaging was used, ensuring that even feature phone owners had the capability to view an SMS. A miss for this demographic would’ve been to rely on a smartphone app.

Only 37% of the comparison group that did not receive texts or calls managed to control their blood sugars.

MITI may soon become a hospital-wide program at Bellevue, NPR said.

Now the separate “revelations” about mobile usage:

A third of millennials take out their cellphones in public “for no particular reason”, Pew reported. 82% of smartphone owners rarely or never turn their phones off. 79% witness annoying and/or loud cellphone behavior in public at least occasionally.

Apple Watch users - any of you lose at least a bit of faith and won't buy Apple products sight unseen or untouched? I'm in that camp.

A tweet offered to help me find my next handbag. I’m waiting for the one hawking manpurses.

87% of Facebook's one billion daily users are on mobile for at least part of their experience.

Few are surprised by Amazon’s decision to exit the mobile phone-making business. Of course, it never caught Fire.

Almost three-quarters of all WhatsApp users access the messaging app on Android, per GlobalWebIndex.

Here are the top 10 magazine publishers with the biggest number of monthly mobile visitors, according to  Association of Magazine Media: 1. ESPN: 42.9 million. 2. People: 28 million. 3. AllRecipes: 24.5 million. 4. Forbes: 21.6 million. 5. Time: 18.1 million. 6. Entertainment Weekly: 14.3 million. 7. Cosmopolitan: 13.7 million. 8. Bloomberg Businessweek: 11.2 million. 9. New York: 9.8 million 10. Bon Appétit and Epicurious: 8.3 million.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - How Marketing Indiscriminately To A List Is A Turn Off

I received another cheeseburger offer via a mobile loyalty club. The problem is that I haven't had a burger in about 15 years and this quick-service restaurant should know that from previous purchases. That's not 1-to-1 marketing. It's 1-to-1 list. And it’s cause to seriously consider an opt-out.

Two men were arrested in a supposed bloody beer-bottle battle over whether Android is better than iPhone. No, they weren’t named Eric and Tim.

Smartphones can now detect earthquakes and give you time to run, per Fast Company. Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, Caltech, the University of Houston, and others, are establishing a crowdsourced GPS-based earthquake warning system that would send out a message when it detects an initial rumbling.

Amazon has shut down TestDrive, an Appstore feature that lets you try some apps before downloading. Only 16,000 apps participated and limited availability likely caused some to shy away.

For 2016, the question isn't whether presidential candidates will use mobile. Rather, it’s will they effectively personalize communications.

Nearly half of smartphone-toting travelers use map apps during vacation, per eMarketer. When's the last time you saw someone unfurl a paper map?

I told my wife of all the features of my coming Apple Watch. A Mickey Mouse face was the most compelling to her.

This week, I saw a headline that said mobile payments are retail's new frontier. Yup, same headline that I saw in 2013, 2014, and probably early than that.

Global mobile-ad spending on Android grew 539% in Q1, according to PapayaMobile.

U.S. adults spend 5.5 hours with video content each day, over an hour of which is digital – eMarketer.

15 million Americans say they'll buy an Apple Watch, a Reuters poll found.

CookBrite is  an app that recommends meals based on ingredients in your kitchen. That’s personalization.

44% of consumers worry that apps are collecting personal info without consent – Forrester. 33% have cancelled a transaction due to privacy concerns.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Beware of Self-Destructing Picture Apps

Have you heard about Xim from Microsoft, a so-called self-destructing photo app? It’s because the picture goes away over time, not because the images are of an act leading to one's downfall. I suppose that it could be both.

Download an app called Rest Room Gallery designed to show your artistic side while on the toilet. Then explain that to your wife. Ready. Go.

Is there bigger proof of the iPhone's allure than millions waiting for supply rather than buying something else? Last week, I went to an Apple Store that had received two units to sell for an entire day. And that was typical, according to an employee.

Tweet of the week? This one from @levie aka Aaron Levie, CEO of Box – “Jeff Bezos is opening a retail store and owns a newspaper. Turns out everything we thought about the Internet is wrong.”

As for my reaction to Amazon opening a physical store in NYC – the company is about selling stuff. The what remains the same here. This is just another how that will work out or won’t.

Over 65% of users use Facebook in a language other than English, the company says.

Half of the traffic on AT&T Wireless comes from YouTube & Netflix, the carrier reports.

With 7 billion mobile phones and a war chest to get things done, there is plenty of room for Google to create a messaging app that it hopes will rival WhatsApp.

Forrester says that mobile will be 40% of the online ad spend in 2015.

37% of SMBs claim that print newspaper ads are the best source for attracting customers, Borrell Associates tells us.

It has come to this for BlackBerry - Wall Street cheered an $11 million quarterly loss.

Digital video and mobile now make up 20% of Mondelēz's global spend, according to Adweek.

Sizing Up Amazon's Fire

My first takes on the Amazon Fire phone:

Online pre-orders for version one of a product from a company that hasn't made a mobile phone before? That tests the brand trust notion that Jeff Bezos played hard during his presentation today.

Through Firefly, Amazon’s Fire aims to be the quickest way to buy stuff – of course, from Amazon. That’s like the mall sending a car for you and speeding you to stores. Only much more efficient.

My TiVo always underdelivered so I’m wondering about the promise that Amazon can predict videos that I’m likely to stream, leading to the video beginning instantly.

Google’s Jason Spero, long one of the savviest in the industry, tweeted: “Amazon just built a phone designed for showrooming. Not clear to me that they will sell many. This is a feature.” Except showrooming often leads to Amazon and customers know that.

Consumers have lots of choices at $199 with a contract. Smartphone prices are dramatically lower than just six months ago. Value for the price is the big question here.

A July 25 ship date gets the Fire out long before the new iPhones. You don’t think there was pressure on Amazon employees to hit this timeline, do you?

Recognition - voice, face, product, person - is the next huge innovation in mobile. Will Amazon further deliver on a relevant, personalized advertising product that brands will spend against?

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - "The Ramifications of High Expectations" Edition

There was an interesting Gigaom take on the delivery problems encountered by UPS during the holidays: "The internet has turned us into slaves of instant gratification." I see it a different way – businesses, even owners of small shops, can respond on demand. That’s key to selling, surviving and even thriving. And it’s not a bad thing.

More evidence that consumers want stuff fast. During the holidays, Amazon gained one million more subscribers to speedy Prime. Amazon sold a record 426 items per second before Christmas.

Google-acquired Bump is shutting down this month, ending the efforts by users to transfer data just by touching devices. That’s more than a bump in the road.

73 percent of U.S. adults ended 2013 being part of social networks. Pinterest passed Twitter in popularity.

Internet enabled TV didn’t even exist in 2011, but it’s already in 11 percent of U.S. homes, according to Nielsen.

One would think Gogo would improve its bandwidth before working with airlines on providing free content – the latest being weather information.

Sales from mobile devices reached 14.4 percent on Christmas Day vs. 5.3 percent on Christmas Day 2010—an increase of 172.9 percent, IBM reported.

40 percent of U.S. ad dollars are still being spent on TV ads.

I'm not in the camp looking for a larger iPhone screen. You?

When mobile isn't "mobile" - Over 60% of mobile shopping happens from the sofa.

Going into the gift season, nearly 1 in 5 kids under age 8 used a mobile device every day. The numbers have to be higher today.

Mobile makes up 51 percent of the email opens.

Lauded by pundits, Apple's holiday ad was surely a hit as families came together. It played well in my kitchen.

87 percent of moms use mobile, up 34% And they were the buying decision-makers before. It’s even easier now.

The Moto X print ad in the January issue of Wired changes colors on command to show customization.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - "The Don't Underestimate The Brick and Mortars" Edition

I’m as bullish on mobile as the next guy or gal. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Despite mobile’s influence, 90 percent of U.S. retail sales this holiday season are projected to occur in brick and mortar stores, according to ShopperTrak.

iOS users far outspent Android users over the holiday weekend, IBM says. Marketers, plan accordingly for rest of season.

From the same source: smartphones are for browsing - tablets are for buying. Black Friday mobile stats confirm our beliefs.

How did the retailers fare? The percentage of mobile sales for department stores was up 46.4 percent over last year.

PayPal saw a 123.9 percent increase in global mobile payment volume on Black Friday over 2012. This isn’t 1980.

Amazon took $50 off Kindle Fire prices for Cyber Monday. The company breaks even on the hardware, makes money instead on future purchases customers will make with the tablet.

A delay of NBA League Pass radio broadcasts in the Game Time app shows the score minute or so ahead. That makes no sense.

About 75 percent of smartphone and tablet users use a second screen more than once a month as they watch TV: Nielsen.

My 84-year-old mother in law is teaching us about Netflix on the iPad. Is this kind of stuff happening in your world, too?

Are we that out of control? A restaurant offers a 50 percent discount for turning off the phone.

I predict voice use via mobile phones on planes will never fly. Even those of us addicted to connectivity say no.

Over 120 million in the U.S. will research products on a mobile device this year, eMarketer says.

I have no quibble with the assertion that indoor location-based services will mature in 2014. There is value for mobile users

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Behind Amazon's Mayday Button

Some unwisely say that the new Mayday feature in Amazon’s Kindle Fire HDX signals a weakness in the product. On the contrary, I say that providing such help is a customer service feature that will please and facilitate more and faster purchases. And that’s why Amazon included it.

The Samsung Galaxy Round could be announced this week, first smartphone with flexible display. I have no issue with this – choice is good.

There are now more than 1 million mobile malware and high risk apps, TrendWare says. As I’ve said before, consumers won’t notice until and unless there is a huge outbreak. Then maybe, maybe they will act.  We went through this with online viruses and worm attacks.

I saw a TV spot for a Black Friday sale nearly nine weeks before Black Friday. And I can’t remember the advertiser. That’s ineffective.

Just when we thought we knew everything about the iPhone launch came a superb, behind the scenes story in last Sunday’s New York Times. Yes, we long ago realized that Steve Jobs was controlling and a bully. This piece takes the reader to those who were on the receiving end of the fury – and came out of it as pioneers.

One in 5 cell owners do most of their online browsing on their phone, according to Pew.

Headline in CIO Magazines says CIO’s Must Move From 'Mobile First' to “Mobile Only”. Stupid, and that’s coming from a mobile guy.

Mobile hotel bookings will increase 225 percent in 2014, according to Expedia.

89 percent of people delete an email that's not formatted for mobile, says Kissmetrics.

19 percent of marketers expect their companies' mobile spend to rise more than 50 percent in the next two years, IAB says.

65 percent of Twitter's ad revenue comes from mobile.

With changes to the app, finally, you can unfriend Facebook friends on Windows Phone.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The Free Amazon Phone Edition

On reports that Amazon is looking into giving away its own branded smartphone with no contract required, I say it’s like mall operators chauffeuring customers to the store. And offering them beverages, food, and their individual shopping preferences at prices that are competitive if not the best. How the economics would play out for Amazon remains to be told or perhaps even worked out. But Amazon would do this to sell more stuff.

An Advertising Age headline asked Is Apple's New iPhone Last Rites For Mobile Payments? My answer is no. Apple would be accelerator for near field communications. The model will take many more years to play out.

My reaction to Microsoft buying Nokia - why not given its cash on hand and woeful share of market? But it would've meant more years ago when Nokia was consumer preferred. Many of us started with Nokia phones.

Despite the Nokia purchase, Microsoft is reportedly “keeping an eye on BlackBerry” for a possible acquisition. It would be for the technology, not to take out a “threat”.

Fourteen percent of women ages 25-49 access the Internet only through mobile, according to comScore. That number will grow in all demographics.

Smartphone penetration in the U.S. has topped 60 percent for the first time. And you still don’t have a mobile optimized web site? Remember that 44 percent of smartphone owners have used their mobile to find details about a retailer.

Adobe says that 80 percent of tablet use happens at home. I knew it was high, but that number is surprising.

An example of a brainstorm gone wrong? The introduction of the word apptimization.

The hysterical headlines about “make or break time” for Apple forget the fact that 77 percent of mobile traffic comes from Apple devices.

I still fail to see the value in a larger smartphone unless it serves as both a phone and tablet. I want nothing bigger than a current iPhone for carrying in a pocket.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "How Big Was Mobile During The Holidays?" Edition

While we await the overall mobile sales numbers for the holidays, consider Amazon customers purchased more than one toy per second on mobile devices, according to the company.

Also, Amazon patrons bought enough Angry Birds plush toys to stretch 285 times the height of the tallest tree in the world, which is found in the Redwood Forest in California.

A $19 monthly, unlimited Republic Wireless smartphone plan is no bargain, acording to reporter for All Things Digital. Limited device choice and poor signal switchover from Wi-FI to 3G are mostly to blame. I’m reminded of a sign: Good food is not cheap, cheap food is not good.

A continuing problem in mobile is forecasting too far out. I’ve seen report of 4% overall marketing spend in 2017 and one at 50%.

Read this - "Contrary to current conventional wisdom, the future is not going to be 'mobile only” and thought this - conventional wisdom? The idea is preposterous.

It didn't make the top of my list of surprises for 2012, but easily could have - the continued ineptness of Siri 14 months after intro.

We're ending 2012 the same as how we started - businesses thinking they need a mobile app but not knowing why.

The Super Bowl will be shown live on mobile via a Verizon app.  Now we need mobile calls to action in ads and we're cooking.

There was a trampoline discount in my inbox. I'm short of jumping for joy regarding the irrelevance.

Please tell me how the backlash over the Instagram rule change could not be predicted. As was the backpedalling.

The Federal Communications Commission is offering a free smartphone security checker. I worked in this category when Symantec was a client. Users won't care until there is a big outbreak. And maybe not even then.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The Irrelevant Offers Edition

No eyelash enhancement deals delivered this week through mobile or online, but my sewing class offer arrived. I saw it when I put down my knitting.

Of course, the course to take instead of matching prices is to deliver value-add customer service. That’s delivering at the Moments of Trust.

How long before Samsung does another iPhone 5 spot saying that you can't even buy one if you are dumb enough to want one? Deja deja deja déjà vu.

But how many changed plans to buy an iPhone 5 because of maps inferiority? None, according to a study. It’s annoying, but not deal breaker

Minutes of talks, plus texts sent and received each increased 3 percent year over year, CTIA says. So much for talk, SMS withering.

More CTIA figures? Americans used more than 1.1 trillion megabytes of wireless data in 2011. The number means nothing to us. What does? It doubled year over year.

Amazon says that it sells Kindles at cost. Of course, money is made on what is sold through the hardware.

On a possible ownership change for Sprint - consumers don't give a hoot. It won't influence purchases. Name one who can tell you who owns Sprint now.

A Coca Cola executive gave Digiday a reason why brands are behind in mobile: 'It's hard as shit,” she said. Harder than brain surgery or rocket science?

A survey says that the iPad mini is the least-desired Apple product launching in 2012. Time will tell – I completely disagree.

I saw a story on "what you need to know about mobile malware". Here’s what I know having worked extensively in the online security category - consumers don't care and won't for awhile, even after a major outbreak.

27 percent of registered-voter cell owners have used their phone in this campaign to keep up with election news or politics, according to Pew. Seems high considering most know whom they are voting for in November.

If you could turn back the clock and go to an unconnected world, would you? Is the answer as simple as "no way"? I don't think so.

For a while, industry folks said that mobile users look at texts within four minutes. A new report says the average response time is 90 seconds. I’m not sure either is accurate.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "Free" Smartphone Edition

Forty-four percent have gotten a "free" smartphone in exchange for signing a contract, according to J.D. Power. What’s the play for the carriers and handset manufacturers? Subsidies drive adoption and increased spends on services.

Nearly 30% of emails are opened on a mobile device, according to a new report. That’s massive volume. Now the question is how many of those are mobile optimized?

I’m surprised that live blogging didn’t begin days before the iPhone 5 announcement. Then Ryan Seacrest and Joan Rivers can interview influencers entering the event on a red carpet.

If rumors are right, iPhone buyers will be saying "I want my LTE".

The only surprise in Amazon’s decision to give consumers an opt out on new Kindle Fire ads is that it took a reversal rather than was something that was stated in the new product introductory comments.

It turns out that the Nokia Lumia 920 image stabilization video was a “simulation” – what a way to start out on the right foot. It’s kinda like when what is positioned as real-time isn't real time. Bogus.

There was a major story about a company that is developing apps for as little as $20. Some have looked at this and called the work really mobile websites. Either way, this is supposed to be a winner for brands?

Samsung sold 20 million Galaxy S III devices in three months. By comparison, one forecast says 10 million iPhone 5s will be sold in the first week.

The Federal Communications Commission said that it is testing mobile carriers data speed claims. The best scenario is that we plainly are told what we have with comparisons.

Apple has reportedly failed in contract negotiations with cable companies around Apple TV. No one believes that this is the end of the story.

According to Pew, more than half of app users uninstalled or decided to not install an app due to concerns about personal info.

Nearly one third of cell owners have experienced a lost or stolen phone, especially young cell phone users (18 to 24), according to the same group.