Engagement in mobile data communications
Interacting anytime, anywhere, with anyone
Mobile devices promise an unparalleled means for businesses to engage with consumers—offering web and voice access at the user’s convenience; immediate and personalized content; and rich, engrossing experiences that
build meaningful, ongoing relationships with consumers. But while consumers’ expectations for engagement have increased, mobile data interactions haven’t met their potential for delivering fully functional experiences. As the technology continues to improve, the imperative of engagement will play a key role in guiding how handset manufacturers, developers, and service providers offer digital content to this burgeoning consumer market.
The exploding mobile market
Mobile services today go beyond mobile phones to include MP3 players, gaming consoles, PDAs, and other portable devices that connect consumers to the Internet and each other around the clock, regardless of location. This mobile services market is huge and growing rapidly; more than one billion devices, compared with roughly 831 million personal computers, are connected to the Internet.
While mobile devices are becoming increasingly popular, many mobile devices and applications have not successfully engaged consumers thus far. Currently, there are built-in limitations for expanding the types of services adopted by users. Small screen sizes, slow networks, and tedious click-through and reload times are just some of the issues that lead to poor user experiences, especially compared with user experiences on personal computers.
For operators, this is a major problem. In many markets—where it is common to find saturation of voice services in the range of 70% to 100%—operators have relied on mobile applications to increase revenues and differentiate their products. Unfortunately, imperfect consumer experiences have limited the adoption of mobile applications, with text messaging still generating the bulk of data revenues. To engage consumers and drive new revenues, operators are looking for better ways to deliver powerful mobile services while improving user experiences and opportunities for cross-selling.
Creating engagement with compelling mobile applications
Increasingly, engagement is the differentiator between success and failure in the market for more lucrative mobile services. Most people are comfortable using their mobile phones to talk or send text messages, but are reluctant to adopt services that provide access to information online or a wider array of digital services. In an October 2007 survey of U.S. consumers conducted by Avenue A | Razorfish, only 37% of respondents reported using mobile web services to check weather, news, or sports headlines—only 24% reported watching videos. However, as technologies improve, operators will be pressured to provide consumers with more engaging interactive applications that can increase adoption, boost revenues, and strengthen customer loyalty.
To accomplish this, applications must evolve from sending simple, static text messages to creating more personal, memorable interactions that meet and exceed consumers’ rising expectations. These interactions can encompass a wide variety of activities, such as sharing videos and personal images, participating in dynamic communication with friends and family, and completing secure transactions. As consumers grow more comfortable and satisfied with these interactions, they are likely to feel a strong connection to the provider that offers them—building a strong and mutual profitable relationship. Given the size of the market—literally hundreds of millions of people worldwide driving new transactions from mobile devices—the growth opportunities are tremendous.
Experiences drive engagement
In mobile services, engagement is driven by the overall quality of user experiences. Rich graphics and compelling visuals are only part of the story. Equally important—and challenging—is ensuring hat applications are easy to use, reliably support multiple platforms and hundreds of device types, download quickly, and enable consumers to complete transactions or find information in as few clicks as possible. Services that can meet these requirements improve customer loyalty.
Today’s engaging mobile offerings—including many driven by Adobe products—are versatile enough to meet the varied needs of operators, handset manufacturers, and content providers. Operators can engage subscribers with dynamic mobile experiences that are easy to promote, discover, and use. Handset manufacturers can differentiate their devices with compelling content and user interfaces, while meeting operator requirements for more interactive services and faster time to market. Mobile designers and developers can create content in an integrated authoring environment that enables creative professionals to participate fully in developing mobile services. Business leaders have also recognized the importance of engaging customers via mobile technology. In a recent global survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of Adobe, an overwhelming 67% of executives reported plans to implement mobile technologies in the next 5 years as a way to increase customer engagement.
Customer engagement is good for business
In the mobile space, a new class of applications is transforming user experiences and creating revenue opportunities for operators, manufacturers, and content providers. Creating engaging mobile experiences enables providers to strengthen brand recognition and desirability, drive new sales through enhanced services, decrease abandonment rates for services, and overcome obstacles in delivering services across devices and operating environments.
With billions of mobile and web-enabled devices in use today, the opportunities for operators to increase revenues and engage consumers with more desirable, memorable experiences are virtually limitless.
Thanks to its ubiquity, the mobile phone represents the most convenient and accessible way for people to communicate. But right now functional limitations deter most consumers from accessing advanced web-based services on their phones. The exciting news is that improved technologies are right around the corner, meaning tomorrow’s devices will offer far richer and more engaging applications that will transform how we interact with one another.
