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Keep mobile weird: 4 mobile marketing lessons from SXSW

SXSW is where innovation meets art meets crazy. It’s more of a festival than a convention and more of a state of mind than anything else. And while the film and music festivals sure are entertaining, interactive is where it all happens.

One pleasant surprise in this year’s interactive extravaganza was the massive interest in mobile. This year’s focus on mobile seemed bigger than ever, in terms of both the number of participants and the content itself. Within the mobile arena, mobile marketing and advertising took center stage, and marketing-related sessions were a big hit. Here are the key mobile marketing conclusions we’ve reached during this chaotic experience: 1. Reaching customers is no longer the challenge. Influencing them is. Mobile enables us to reach customers like never before; we all know that. Smart media buying will get you anywhere, but then what? The SXSW crowd learned to shift focus and start looking at users as human beings instead of bits of data. Mobile marketing done right should concentrate on forming relationships with users by getting a solid grasp of what they need in the physical world. One example was that of a hotel chain that wanted to offer customers a better experience through mobile. After conducting a short survey among guests, the hotel marketing team learned that customers were annoyed by the long check-in and checkout process. The hotel then allowed them to complete this process using their mobile device and even turned their wearables into room keys. Providing a smart solution to a real problem, and adding a magical component, created a strong influence and increased users’ loyalty. With Apple Pay, wearables and beacons taking over the industry, mobile is the biggest playground for marketers to start working on their very own mobile success story.