Jared Reitzin, CEO of digital marketing provider mobileStorm, has published his predictions for the year ahead, detailing trends in smartphone usage, mobile applications, MMS, real-time communication and more.
As the number of mobile apps available on all major platforms is expected to reach 1M+ in 2011, Reitzin predicts brands will need to find a way to communicate with their customers to drive app usage to avoid getting lost in the mix. “This can be done with push notifications, a technology mobileStorm is currently developing and integrating into our new platform that’s set to launch to the public in April,” Reitzin explained. “The idea is that you can easily create a message — be it text, video or images — and send the content to an iPhone, Android or Blackberry.”
Instead of an app that goes stale once installed on a user’s device, push notifications allow for on-going engagement to drive continued usage. “What’s great about reaching customers this way is that you can get stats back like “opens,” a familiar stat for email marketers but not so much for mobile marketers,” explained Reitzin. “Also, because geo-location is so easy to build into an app, you can send someone a notification when they come into a geofence, making your communication even more relevant.”
In terms of mobile messaging, Reitzin admits MMS hasn’t taken off like many had predicted. “I think there are two ways MMS could go: up or out,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if MMS has to take all of 2011 to mature, and there’s also the possibility that MMS stays too expensive. This would impede innovation from companies to create content and thus no consumer adoption.”
Finally, Reitzin predicts a rise in the concept of real-time communication over the next year, saying it will be a game changer as we enter 2011. “Why? Because being able to communicate with people based upon what their behavior is at that very moment translates into relevancy, and relevancy is what everyone wants,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, we have a long way to go before this technology is perfected, but I have been saying for a few years now that businesses need to rethink their approach to communication.”
