Mobile marketing and m-commerce

When you plan to create a mobile marketing or m-commerce project, it's important to think about your target audience first.

Understand mobile customers' needs

There are a number of different types of mobile device that people use, and these may vary depending on your customers. Typical mobiles devices used are:

• basic mobile phones 
• smartphones  
• netbooks and laptops  
• tablet computers 

The mobile version of your site should be well designed, and the code clean and compliant with World Wide Web Consortium standards. This will ensure cross-browser compatibility, meaning that it can be easily accessed on all popular browsers, mobile devices, and other web-browsing devices. 

You also need to think about how your customers connect to the mobile internet. Due to the vastly differing speeds of internet connections, you may, for example, have to simplify your mobile product to ensure that the loading times do not put customers off. Common mobile technology connections currently used include: 

• 5G and 4G, which allows videos, location-based services, downloads and improved internet use 
• WiFi, which allows internet usage up to home network speeds - however, there must be a WiFi spot within a certain distance to gain access. You should be aware that there are potential security issues with using unencrypted public hotspots.

You should conduct sufficient customer research before beginning to develop your mobile product. Read more about user-centred design and how to understand your customers' needs.

Considerations when creating mobile content

The basic considerations when creating any type of mobile content are that:

• content should be easy to read and digest on mobile devices - read more about optimising content for mobile devices
• customers and end users must always be considered - consider user-centred design
• whether you should develop in-house or externally 

Mobile app versus mobile website

Depending on the type of mobile marketing or m-commerce service you intend to develop, you may need to choose between a mobile app or a mobile website. Both systems have pros and cons which you should be aware of. 

You should only consider developing an app if there is something specific that you need a customer to do that cannot be easily done through a normal mobile friendly website. Apps can be costly to develop, and potential customers often do not want to download an app to make a simple product purchase.

If you opt for a mobile app, you should consider:

• cost of developing an app vs developing a mobile friendly website
• how to bring your app to market - eg through Apple's App Store, via Google Play or via another source
• how to upgrade or maintain your app once created
• whether to charge for the app or make it free
• what type of app is best for your campaign - eg game, social networking app, e-commerce app, etc
• how to promote your app

Read more about optimising content for mobile devices.