According to Informa, the worldwide mobile data service revenues in 2008 were targeted at a record breaking $200-plus billion, predicting growth of data services at 79% globally over the next five years, which is believed to one of the key drivers for rapid pace of acceptance of the smartphone.
It was in 2008 that the smartphone phenomena really took off starting in 2007 with the introduction of the iPhone. Last year, Apple brought out its updated iPhone version which was soon followed by a flurry of similarly capable smartphones from major mobile device manufacturers.
With the introduction of Apple’s software development kit, Google’s Android and BlackBerry’s RIM development platform, the potential for developing and deploying mobile content independent of the carrier came to the forefront.
We can expect mobile content providers to take advantage of these development platforms in 2009.
However, while smartphones offer the real potential to act as an extension of the Internet experience, managing user expectations is important for mobile sites.
In 2008, Keynote conducted an extensive usability study on the iPhone and found that a Web site that was perceived to be superior on the desktop could receive an inferior rating on a mobile device.
Increasingly, users will expect that mobile will act as it does on the desktop.
However, there are many factors which drive the mobile navigation, and content cannot expect that mastery of Web content will necessarily result in domination of mobile.
Adapting content to a phone presents a host of technical obstacles to overcome. With the low barriers for switching from your mobile Web site to one that better meets a user’s needs, you want to understand what they need and be prepared to provide it.
The above-mentioned study highlights three key points for content providers.
First, you cannot assume that perceptions on the Internet will carry over to into mobile. What may appear good on a 22-inch monitor is not ideal for the 2-inch LCD. The sites are inherently more difficult to navigate and a good mobile content strategy is required.
Second, speed, reliability and usability are even more important on mobile as customers have expectations carried over from the desktop even if they do not use them in the same way.
Mobile will have a difficult time keeping up with the high bar set for Internet performance.
Finally, the differences between the mobile and Internet experiences are substantial. As more people access the Web via a mobile device, the importance of this gap must be understood.
Optimizing content for a mobile device is clearly critical, and even with smartphones, content is not directly transferrable from one phone to the next.
The importance of performance testing and measuring cannot be understated to succeed in the mobile market.
According to a November survey of 186 mobile content professionals it is seen that 38% do not test their mobile site and another 11% did not know whether they did or not.

As a marketer, one would like to top the list of companies. For this, one needs to make sure that an ongoing test and monitoring strategy is a part of 2009 mobile content program. It may work as an edge to put one’s company over the top.

(Credits: Nisheeth Mohan)

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Health is the top most priority of every individual and as well as for the govt. The New Year brings the assurance of improved healthcare for all Americans as the rising cost of health care remains a matter of discussion for the Obama administration.

The administration’s budget director, Peter R. Orzag, is already looking at steps to increase the efficiency of the health care system, develop greater use of health information technology and provide new incentives for disease prevention, healthy living and better care rather than more care.”
This certainly is great news for the nation, but it’s not expected that such improvements will happen quickly.

However, a number of forward-thinking healthcare agencies are already using mobile devices to improve emergency medical care, advance local health initiatives and to affect behavioral change across generations something that has previously proven difficult through a single communication channel.

The sheer scale, utility and omnipresence of mobile phones has formed a global network unrivalled by any other human innovation since the Internet, with society fully embracing the power of voice and text to connect with one another.

And while SMS messaging is rapidly emerging as the latest technological advancement to improve society’s health behaviour, mobile marketing is also allowing healthcare professionals to reach thousands, even millions, of people on a massive scale at significantly lower marketing costs than any traditional medium. It is also enabling healthcare practitioners across public and private sectors to capitalize on this powerful communication tool.

Following are a number of steps that can be used when working with healthcare agencies and providers in developing mobile outreach campaigns and initiatives.

Step 1: Build a permission database

Obtaining permission is the cornerstone to a mobile campaign, delivered in an age where consumers have far greater choice than ever before to control the marketing messages they receive dictating how and when businesses can communicate with them.

We call this the permission marketing era, where organizations and providers must get permission to send messages from consumers and patients by asking them to opt-in to their marketing campaigns.

In this way, communications are respectful, engaging and, most of all, wanted by the recipient, making them far more valuable and effective than traditional advertising.

Step 2: What’s the message?

Being relevant and focused is essential for mobile healthcare campaigns.

For example, we could be working on a campaign to raise ovarian cancer awareness, so including male recipients in this campaign is not going to be effective unless it is a message prompting men to raise this issue with female friends or family. Or take a reproductive health initiative we won’t be targeting boomers or senior citizens with that message.

Keep messages simple, but compelling and make sure they are relevant and timely.

At this point, it is also important to view mobile marketing as transactional we are not just sending a message but starting a dialogue with an audience.
Keep this conversation going, by collecting data, monitor responsiveness towards campaigns and build relationships with the community.

Step 3: Choose the channels and integrate

Organizations must provide their subscribers with content and services that fit their lifestyle and improve their lives. So how is this achieved?

By ensuring that communications are integrated across all media channels, and these also include digital and interactive voice response.

As consumers shift their responsiveness from mass media to personalized messages, don’t leave these languishing on a to-do list somewhere.

Get out of the print rut and learn how to fully integrate marketing channels to create awareness about important health initiatives.

Step 4: Think beyond the SMS

Mobile devices are always on, always connected and so should healthcare agencies be with the community and their needs, and preferences.

While SMS is the most recognized format of marketing via mobile, think beyond the traditional HOWRU2DAY” message.

Think content downloads, surveys, health alerts such as vaccination reminders or even reminders for periodical check-ups and examinations all designed to provide important information and build relationships with the community and subscriber base.

Today, SMS messaging is really the only viable, interactive means of reaching people on a massive scale around the nation. The mobile channel also represents an enormous untapped potential for changing health behaviour on a massive scale.

Our industry has the opportunity to help make the healthcare system more efficient, to help agencies make better use of existing data, to help reduce costs and to help consumers improve their health and their lives through a medium they understand and embrace.

(Credit : Eric Holmen)

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