The most exciting opportunities in mobile?
Lars Erik Holmquist, of the Mobile Life Centre in Kista, Sweden, wrote an insightful piece titled “The Age of the Mobile Mash-Up” in Crunchgear last week:
“This is where I believe the most exciting opportunities lie right now in mobile applications: picking and mixing from hundreds of mobile web services and social networks, moving the grunt work from the handsets to the cloud, and adding a dash of location and context-awareness. …the step from thought to users is shorter than ever. We are finally entering the age of the mobile mash-up, and it will all be happening at even greater speed than the Web 2.0 revolution.”
In a world in which many are only starting to pay attention to mobile marketing, it’s important to note that the biggest opportunities lie not in locking down, but in opening up. Since emerging from beta three months ago, we have started to see this phenomenon mature.
Big clients understand that they they can assemble open API utilities to present unique, valued mobile services to consumers, while leveraging the massive investment they have made in databases (for example, store locators). Combined with co-op marketing with their suppliers, for example, the mobile cloud can provide profitable, location-aware opportunities easily and fluidly to all web-enabled mobiles.
Similarly, small businesses are learning that mobile promotions that are not open and do not give them access to opt-in databases will keep them from building their business. I was pleased this week when a marketer working with us mentioned rejecting a mobile marketing firm that would not give his client opt-in mobile numbers. The business owner shrewdly understood that just buying the messaging wasn’t the point of the mobile marketing exercise; the point is long-term engagement.
How about you? Do you have a compelling opportunity to assemble existing services easily and quickly to meet your specific requirements? Are you thinking fixed and downloaded, or open and flexible? Making the most of “the most exciting opportunities” in mobile today is a new and emerging process. Ensure your business gets the most out of it.
