Smart Phones: The Marketing Median of the Future

A look at how smart phones are turning us into marketing subjects

Hugh Williams

IntroductionWithin this presentation I will be

discussing◦What are smart phones

Their pros and cons

◦How Marketer use smart phone

◦Applications that aid Marketers And, the pros and cons of those

applications

What is a smart phone?“…a smart phone is a device that

lets you make telephone calls, but also adds in features that, in the past, you would have found only on a personal digital [PDA] assistant or a computer…” (Cassavoy, 2012)

Smart PhonesPros Cons

Entertainment Can distract us when completing dangerous tasks

Useful tool in case of emergency

Can create social isolations

Reduces the need of other technology (i.e. PDA)

Can create financial burden

Facilitates many social networking services – within one device

Health risk (Carpal tunnel– thumbs, Hearing loss)

How do Marketer use Smart Phones?Because of how much use smart

phones have we find ourselves always on them◦Smartphones are used everywhere

(Lieb, 2008): 95% - ‘downtime’ 82% - at work 81% - shopping 80% - at home 65% - commuting to work

Through all that use marketers are able to find out:◦What we like

◦What we do (as a hobby or activity)

◦Where we go (or would like to go)

Application the assist Marketers

There are two main applications that aid marketers in finding out about different aspects of out lives:◦Facebook

◦Twitter

FacebookPros Cons

Connecting with friends and family

Over dependence on updates

Sharing special occasions with people

At time too much details included

Finding long lost friends Unnecessary comments of postings

A source of entertainment (as like a TV or radio)

Once its on the internet, its there for good (Feldman,

2012)

How Facebook helps MarketersWith the discover of Facebook

came the use of the ‘Like’ button◦If someone post some thing you

liked, you would hit the like button,◦If there was a product or event you

liked, you would hit the like button.That’s the information that

marketers look for when doing research on a specific product or service

How Facebook helps Marketers (cont.)

Another area that marketer look at when doing research through Facebook is the profile page of the demographic audience that they are targeting

• Example: Hiking gear After consulting various Facebook accounts and find out that a lot of the population that enjoy hiking also watch Dexter, a marketer could conclude that the best time to place an add for hiking gear could be during an episode of Dexter.

How Facebook helps Marketers (cont.)Similarly to the Facebook button,

more people are ‘Checking In’ to locations

With that marketers would be able to map the high frequented areas of the selected demographic

TwitterPros Cons

Provides a quick update to friends and family

Provides easy access of personal information

Allows you the ability to display your interest in a given area

Possibility of cyber bulling

For companies: the power to drive customers to you door

For companies: a mistake can easily spread, creating negative publicity

Marketing ourselves through TwitterAs we follow people and companies

through twitter, we produce useable information for marketers to exploit (i.e. what we like, or think they should improve on)◦Here is a list of companies on Twitter

(Smarty, 2008): Air Canada West Jet Starbucks JetBlue ComCast The Home Depot

Marketers follow the trendsOne of the most commonly used

features use in the Twitter world are hash tags (#)◦“People use the hashtag symbol # before a relevant keyword or phrase (no spaces) in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets and help them show more easily in Twitter Search” (Twitter Help Center, 2012)

ConclusionWith smart phone we as a

population are constantly being examined by marketers

May it be through the: ◦Applications we use◦The things we like◦The things we do◦Or, the places we go

Marketers will follow us and provide us with things they deem we need

ReferencesCassavoy, L. (2012, March 10). What makes a smartphone smart?. Retrieved from http://cellphones.about.com/od/smartphonebasics/a/what_is_smart.htm

Feldman, B. (2012, February 1). Pros and cons of Facebook. Retrieved from http://www.surfnetkids.com/go/safety/752/pros-and-cons-of-facebook

Help center. (2012, January 1). Retrieved from https://support.twitter.com/articles/49309-what-are-hashtags-symbols

Lieb, R. (2010, January 10). Smartphones as a marketing medium: are we there yet?. Retrieved from http://econsultancy.com/ca/blog/5213-smartphones-as-a-marketing-medium-are-we-there-yet

Smarty, A. (2008, October 7). 16 examples of huge brands using twitter for business. Retrieved from http://www.searchenginejournal.com/16-examples-of-huge-brands-using-twitter-for-business/7792/