INTEGRATING MOBILE WITH WHAT’S INSIDE

YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY Key Concepts.......................................1

Types of Mobile Devices..................1

As consumers and businesses become increasingly dependent Mobile Device Attributes.................2

on mobile devices, their expectations about what these devices Planning Your Mobile
Marketing Strategy..............................2
can deliver will also grow. This booklet addresses how small
1. Setting Objectives and Goals......2
businesses can integrate mobile with their marketing strategies
2. Research and Planning..............2
to gain an edge in reaching out to and strengthening relationships 3. Competitive Analysis..................3
with customers. 4. Technical and Marketing
Guidelines for Mobile..................4
5. Understanding Mobile
Key Concepts Marketing Limitations
and Challenges...........................4
As a business owner, you can use mobile devices for collaboration and
communication, for operational purposes and for marketing. This booklet Implementing Your Mobile
Marketing Strategy..............................5
focuses on integrating mobile with your marketing strategy in order to
market to mobile device users. 1. Developing a
Mobile Friendly Website.............5
With mobile options, customers have a greater role in deciding how and 2. Mobile Marketing Guidelines......5
when to interact—and that can ultimately enhance their relationship with a 3. Six Key Mobile
business. Mobile devices can do everything laptops or desktop computers Marketing Tactics........................5
are capable of doing and more, enabling users to communicate, connect, 4. Mobile Commerce as
transact and innovate. The nature of mobile allows you to reach your a Business Activity....................12
customers wherever they are and lets you be there at the precise moment 5. Mobile Privacy Issues................12
of customer impulse, providing the right mix of offerings to promote,
6. Mobile Security.........................13
engage and respond to the needs of customers.
Measuring the Impact of
Your Mobile Marketing Strategy........13
Types of Mobile Devices
Future of the Mobile Device
The following are currently defined as “mobile devices”: Market (including emerging
trends and technology)......................14
• Smartphones and some feature phones (platform types include Apple,
Windows, Androids, Blackberry) Related Topics Covered in
Other Booklets...................................14
• Personal digital assistants (Palm Device/ iPod Touch)
Glossary of Terms..............................15
continued on page 2…

Disclaimer: This booklet is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, technical, business or other
advice and should not be relied on as such. Please consult a lawyer or other professional advisor if you have any questions
related to the topics discussed in the booklet. The Ontario Government does not endorse any commercial product, process
or service referenced in this booklet, or its producer or provider. The Ontario Government also does not make any express or
implied warranties, or assumes any legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or usefulness of any information
contained in this booklet, including web-links to other servers. All URLs mentioned in this document will link to an external website.
 2

…continued from page 1

Planning Your Mobile
• Tablets (Platform types include Apple, Windows, Marketing Strategy
Androids, Blackberry) There are many different ways to market to mobile device
• Netbooks and laptops (P.C., MAC) users but at the core lies the mobile friendly website.
That is where your mobile marketing should begin. With
consumers rapidly upgrading to mobile smartphones,
Mobile Device Attributes businesses risk negative consumer reaction if their
• Ability to connect to the Internet or other data network websites are not mobile friendly. It’s critical to have
an exceptional, easy-to-navigate site.
• Support of user input and interaction (texting, swiping,
stylus pen, camera, video) Follow these steps to help you plan a mobile
• Support of multiple functionalities (phone, browser, marketing strategy that will align with the
short message service/texting, GPS, e-commerce, demands of your customers.
apps, etc.)
• GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation device 1. Setting Objectives and Goals
(car or personal navigation device) There are many methods of marketing you can employ,
• Lightweight and under 25.4 cm in width (10”) each with varying levels of time commitment and costs.
Having a clear objective will help you focus your efforts
• Ability to sense local geographic data like Near and determine the best and most cost-effective way to
Field Communication (NFC) and Radio Frequency achieve your goals. Determine if you want to:
Identification (RFID) through triangulation with
cell towers • Stimulate and increase engagement with your brand

Texting and mobile web browsing are the top two activities • Increase brand awareness
on mobile devices, followed by email. In light of this, you’ll • Drive indirect or direct sales
want to consider where the opportunities lie for your
• Provide customer support
brand and for your marketing. Bear in mind that, although
smartphone usage is increasing, adoption of mobile • Build customer loyalty
commerce by users is still low due to concerns about
• Appear innovative
the security of the chip payment system. It may just be a
matter of time before the convenience factor—combined Regardless of which objectives drive you to invest in
with technically enhanced payment systems—trumps mobile marketing, this medium opens up opportunities
user wariness of mobile payments. to develop and increase direct engagement with your
customers and provides key measurable outcomes.

2. Research and Planning

Research and Planning Factors to Consider
Questions to Ask Yourself
How is my site viewed on Does it display well in various devices, e.g. Blackberry, iPhone, Android,
mobile devices? Windows? (See tools below for testing how your site displays on a mobile device).
Do I need mobile friendly Review your analytics to determine:
website pages? • How many visitors are accessing your site via mobile?
• What devices they are using?
continued on next page
 3

Research and Planning Factors to Consider

Questions to Ask Yourself
Should I provide a full • Does your target audience need all your site content or just key
mobile friendly site or sections – e.g. pricing or location information?
just a few landing pages? • How much budget do you have to work with?
How will I define success? • What are your objectives and goals?
• What measurement tools will you implement?
What tactics are best for me • What are you going to offer consumers?
to adopt? • What is the mobile call to action?
• What data should be collected (for both campaign measurement and
future marketing)?
• What will maximize brand interaction, immersion and utilization?
Do I have buy-in from • Do you have multiple employees in various locations?
my employees? • How will you bring all employees up to date with your mobile offerings?

CHECKING YOUR MOBILE READINESS 3. Competitive Analysis

How ready are you for going mobile? Is your
current site design set up in a format that is Reviewing Competitor Mobile Sites
capable of displaying well on mobile devices? Before you embark on setting up a mobile site or making
Below is a link to a survey that will help you to your site mobile friendly, it is important to view what your
determine if your business is mobile ready. competitors are offering in your industry. Here are some
research tools that you may want to use to help identify
• Mobile Readiness Survey allows you to test
what your competitors are doing.
your site’s mobile friendliness. You will need to
provide your email address for access to this • Research tools like http://consulting.ogilvy.com
quick survey (http://inboxmarketer.com).
• Usability testing, through www.userzoom.com
Check out these tools to see how your current site
displays on a mobile device: And if you’ve already embarked on mobile marketing,
try this:
• mobiReady is a testing tool that evaluates
mobile-readiness using industry best practices • Mobile Network Benchmarking—which helps
and standards (http://mobiready.com). analyze your metrics and provides regular reports.
http://keynote.com/products/mobile_quality/
• W3C mobileOK Checker is a free online tool custom_consulting_and_engineering/mobile_
that performs various tests on a web page competitive_monitoring_and_analysis.html
to determine its level of mobile-friendliness
(http://validator.w3.org/mobile/). These tools strengthen your services by helping you
review competitors’ sites, conduct benchmark studies
across your industry or across time and improve your
budget effectiveness.
 4

4. Technical and Marketing 5. Understanding Mobile Marketing

Guidelines for Mobile Limitations and Challenges
A good mobile marketing strategy seamlessly combines Since the mobile world is new and includes a
technical and marketing elements. Here are some basic rapidly-changing set of technologies, there are
guidelines to help you achieve this: a number of issues you need to be aware of that
can affect your marketing strategy:
Technical • Fragmentation. The mobile audience is fragmented
• Understand that a mobile marketing campaign isn’t across many platforms, with multiple sellers, carrier
simply “shrinking” your current digital content to fit on networks, devices and business models, all of which
a mobile screen. Instead, create a mobile specific site hinders consistency of execution of marketing campaigns.
that contains specific content related to the campaign. This fragmentation also affects measurement (e.g. it can
be difficult to measure unique visitors vs. bots/spiders,
• Make sure your mobile site is user-friendly.
to track international traffic vs. local, and to measure
• Design for touch screen and non-touch screen users. the number of times the advertisement is served to the
• Understand mobile devices’ limits and the extent to viewer in content such as games or audio download).
which communications technologies are being used. • Expectations. The demand for mobile connectivity is
• Keep it secure. Controls must be in place to prevent rising dramatically. Mobile market providers have to
unauthorized use, alteration, disclosure, distribution keep up with data-hungry phones, running multitasking
or access to data. operating systems, and meeting mobile user expectations
for super-quick web page loading times, whether
• Carry out testing on actual devices as well
for text, photo, video or graphics content. Network
as emulators.
carriers and handset manufacturers must meet
the never-ending cycle of demand to install faster
Marketing mobile browsers on feature phones and develop
• Clearly define terms and conditions of more smartphones.
marketing campaigns.
• Invasion of privacy. As Internet connectivity increases
• Give users a choice of how to engage—MMS, SMS, in our homes, cars and appliances and as people
web registration, etc. increasingly keep their cell phones on for longer
• Limit marketing messaging and collect only the periods of time, their concerns over how their privacy
data needed. is monitored are rising.

• Clearly identify the target of each link. • Security. Mobile devices employ Wi-Fi. Because it uses
radio waves, it can be interrupted and is difficult to
• Use clear and simple language.
protect. It has a built-in security system that protects
• For added exposure, make your offers shareable transfers between a client machine (laptop or PDA) and
through social media tools. a wireless access point, but many users neglect to turn
• Follow search engine optimization (SEO) practices. encryption on, subjecting themselves to risk.

• Allow users to automatically dial a number when

they tap or click a phone number. This is useful for
‘Contact us’ or ‘Store finder’ pages.
 5

Implementing Your Mobile 2. Mobile Marketing Guidelines

Marketing Strategy Mobile technology allows business owners to target
consumers more precisely than ever before. However,
traditional outbound marketing cannot necessarily be
1. Developing a Mobile Friendly Website applied to mobile. Marketing is trending towards inbound
When developing a mobile friendly site, consider the way tactics using social media. Mobile technology provides
the site experience will be delivered and accessed. Ideally, the optimum platform, helping businesses really connect
your site should accommodate whatever device is viewing with and understand their customers and allowing
it. Unfortunately, it is difficult to provide for the entire consumers to have more meaningful relationships
range of devices that exist. Sites can now be viewed on with businesses.
most smart phones and tablets but the latter give a
better image. Here are some considerations for your mobile
marketing campaigns:
Making your current website “mobile friendly” can be
done three different ways: • Tactics will vary depending on your strategy. Be aware
that broader, more robust strategies require more
1. As a specific mobile-sized template. Have your integration with your current technologies, such as
designer create a template, within your current databases, web, e-commerce and customer
website, that is designed to fit smaller screens, and relationship management (CRM).
load it with content that is tailored to be read on a
mobile device. Try to stay away from large bandwidth • Mobile marketing is most effective when content is
images or video. Also, avoid trying to use existing targeted and relevant to the user.
content and navigation by just making it smaller. It is • Mobile content is micro content—consumed in
not ideal to shrink existing content in this way. Instead, small pieces.
use this mobile template with tailored content (i.e. only
• Messages that are forwarded by automatic means,
the most relevant information a viewer would want)
originating from a commercial source, or offering
and add code that can identify the various phone
inducements to forward messages, are definite “don’ts”.
devices and tablets.

2. As a micro mobile site. Hosted within a sub-domain of 3. Six Key Mobile Marketing Tactics
your existing site, this is a micro mobile friendly site
The main ways to integrate mobile into your marketing
with content that is tied to a specific campaign or
mix include:
mobile offering. Images and text should be optimized
for mobile reading. Traffic must be routed to your • Becoming mobile friendly with a mobile optimized site
mobile section where users will find the proper
display. You can use a special JavaScript code or • Creating SMS/MMS texting campaigns
assign a specific mobile web address such as • Developing a mobile application (referred to as a
http://mobile.yourcompanyname.com. mobile app)
3. As a stand-alone mobile site. Create a brand new site • Advertising on mobile apps/sites
specific for mobile (e.g. using mobile site builders like • Participating offline using QR codes
Mobify, www.mobify.com or Mofuse, www.mofuse.com)
where you can also use a mobile-type domain name • Designing campaigns that reach clients through
suffix such as yourcompanyname.mobi. This type of location based services like check-ins
site is designed, developed and optimized specifically
Details on each of these marketing tactics and best
for mobile. It may contain a basic logo, icon button
practices are provided below.
navigations, short content descriptors and more
interactive elements to help navigate to the
information. Traffic must be routed to your site
depending on the user’s browser agent.
 6

A. Mobile Optimized Web Site

Developing a mobile friendly website is at the core of a mobile marketing strategy. The following table outlines
the usages of a mobile optimized web site, the benefits, what to measure and how to measure the outcomes.

MOBILE OPTIMIZED SITE

Making your web presence more mobile friendly or better able to accommodate content specific to a campaign.

Uses Benefits Metric Evaluation

• Creating mobile landing pages • Improves engagement Use Google Analytics to determine:
for campaigns • Reduces scrolling and • Mobile site referral sources
• Aiding mobile search results, slow downloads • Clicks to call (a phone number on
especially if mobile site is • Creates hyper local marketing your site)
content specific opportunities • Headline clicks
• Adopting location based point • Enables campaign integration • Clicks on links within the site
of sale or “instant purchase” with other tactics or mediums
opportunities
• Is quantifiable—can be tracked
• Engaging in mobile commerce through analytic programs
• Provides ability to reach customers
‘on-the-go’ and create highly
effective two-way communication
• Provides single greatest return
on investment

Best Practices:
• Keep content concise, focused and easy to scan.
• Reduce the number of graphics.
• Select images that the mobile device can handle—nothing large or with high resolution.
• Consider barriers to access (e.g. FLASH technology).
• Design clickable features for sensitive touch screens.
• Provide only minimal navigation at the top of the page.
• Single column layout is best, and try to reduce user zooming.
• Ensure that the overall size of page is appropriate to the memory limitations of the device.
• Test mobile properties to render properly on different devices, operating systems and browsers.
• Keep navigation simple (e.g. “back buttons” on other pages that point Home).
• Limit scrolling to one direction if possible.
 7

B. Texting (SMS/MMS)
Text messaging (SMS) and multimedia messaging (MMS) on feature and smartphones have been well received.
They are widely used, not only for personal use, but also in business, entertainment and education. Texting
is twice as popular as browsing or apps. SMS/MMS marketing represents a more selective and therefore
cost-effective opportunity for either driving traffic or engaging response. The basis of SMS marketing is to
make an appealing offer; it can be a powerful direct response tool with many applications.

Before launching an outbound SMS campaign, bear in mind that phone numbers are perceived as more intimate
than email addresses. This means texting will cause less customer irritation but do not forget that you will need to
obtain opt-in consent first.

TEXTING (SMS/MMS)
Using SMS/MMS technology offered through feature phones and smart phones to reach a wider audience.

Uses Benefits Metric Evaluation

• Customer text reminders • Is quick and easy to implement • Number of messages sent
• Links to mobile coupons, contests • Enables timely and relevant –– Subscriber counts
• Sale notifications exchange of ideas –– Keyword performance breakouts
• Last minute alert offers • Is convenient –– Subscriber segmentation by
• Transactions—placing orders, or • Has a broad reach keywords and by day
donating to charity, by text • 90% of devices support SMS –– Number of times the message
• Product/service support • Creates loyalty or a “following” was shared
• Appointment confirmations • Has CRM capability –– Click through or reply rate
• Mobile surveys, polls –– Quit rate – those who chose
to disengage

Best Practices:
• Make your offers shareable through social tools for added exposure (also known as going viral).
• Maximum 160 characters. Use shortcut characters to maximize a message (e.g. use numeral “2” instead of
“To” or “B” instead of “be”).
• Personalize by using subscriber’s first name.
• Be relevant and timely.
 8

C. Mobile Applications (Apps)

Even though consumers and businesses are buying up smart phones and tablets, and downloading mobile
applications for entertainment, productivity, utilities or as communication tools, many marketers have been
reticent to jump on board. While smart phone and tablet sales are exceeding the purchases of desktops, they
remain relatively low in comparison to the total marketplace. Nevertheless, some businesses are developing
unique applications in order to stand apart from competitors.

The following table examines how apps can be used to market your business. When developing your own app, bear in
mind that with the recent introduction of HTML 5, mobile optimized websites are able to accommodate the
needs of most consumers.

MOBILE APPLICATIONS (APPS)

Mobile applications or apps are compact software programs that perform specific tasks for the mobile user.
Some apps are pre-installed on the mobile device, and others can be downloaded from a server (e.g. Apple Apps,
Blackberry App World, Android Market) or from individual business/organization websites.

Uses Benefits Metric Evaluation

• Productivity • Can be highly targeted • Click through rate
• Entertainment • Enable easy interaction and • Churn rate
• Utilities (e.g. weather app) communications to engage • Number of app downloads
customers and build deeper
• Social share communications • Conversion—click to call rate
relationships
• Location Search GPS • GPS—can measure not only where
• Encourage brand recognition
• Mobile commerce viewers are located, but also where
• Offer unique leading edge tools they go—behaviour analysis

Best Practices:
• Make offers shareable through social tools for added exposure.
• Submit your app to review sites for greater exposure.
• Consider participating in incentive-based download programs.
• Ensure that you give full details about who is behind the app to gain confidence, credibility and trust with
potential users.
• Before asking for permission to access personal information, provide the rationale for requesting that
information and reinforce your privacy policy.
• Keep your app users up to date with latest versions.

About Mobile Apps Testing • Consider different screen sizes and how your app or
• It is typically difficult to accommodate all operating mobile friendly website will render on the screens.
systems when developing a mobile app. Test any user Remember, the orientation of viewing (portrait or
complaints to determine whether the app developed landscape) depends on user preference. Make sure
has a common challenge with a particular your offerings look good in both orientations.
operating system. • Test your app on several browsers and operating
systems to ensure load time is optimized.
 9

D. Mobile Display Advertising

Mobile display advertising is another way to reach a distinct audience incrementally, whether you advertise on
popular mobile sites related to your industry or through mobile ad networks (similar to an ad agency). Mobile
display ads can provide a direct link to your online sales channels, enabling greater integration and post-click
engagement, especially when used in conjunction with an optimized mobile site.

You can also offer advertising opportunities on your own mobile site or app. Publishing ads is about making
money; on the other hand placing ads is about creating awareness for your product or service.

MOBILE DISPLAY ADVERTISING

Mobile display advertising is a form of advertising via mobile (wireless) phones or other mobile devices. Key elements
of mobile advertising include the advertiser, a publisher or mobile ad network, mobile system operators and
mobile devices.

Uses Benefits Metric Evaluation

• Reaching mobile audience through • Provides visual display to highlight • Banner click through rate
banner ads that sit above mobile specific campaigns • Point of purchase sales figures as
site content • Delivers personal and location a result of being found via Location
• Working in conjunction with a lead relevant messages Based Service technology
generation landing page • Drives response and
• Offering local coupons or specials brand relationships
in some form, either in your ads, • Banner placement “above the fold”
on your site or elsewhere, to draw offers the best exposure for the
in customers advertiser and can quickly engage
the mobile user if the message is
targeted to them

Best Practices:
• Incorporate location information in ad creative.
• Optimize mobile website and landing pages for mobile experiences.
• Speak to the consumer on the “go” in creative content.
• Make offers shareable through social tools for added exposure.
• Submit profiles to local pages on web browser search engines (e.g. Google www.google.com/placesforbusiness)
to increase local exposure.
• Participate in Mobile Ad Networks for greater exposure, e.g. Mobclix, www.mobclix.com, AdMob, www.admob.com,
iAd, https://developer.apple.com/iad/.
• Participate in real-time bidding platforms (e.g. Nexage, www.nexage.com, moPub, www.mopub.com).
• Consider download size and placement—these are important factors.
• Ensure the landing page is highly relevant since consumers resist having their private cell phone number
inundated with spam from advertisers.
 10

E. Quick Response (QR) Codes and Snap Tags

Marketers are looking to engage consumers with more relevant content and interactive elements in order to
provide a “WOW” factor. QR Codes and Snap Tags are just two examples of areas where interactivity is taken
to a new level.

Quick Response Codes (QR Codes) are two-dimensional bar codes that can be scanned and read by smartphones.
Once mobile users scan or snap a picture of your code, they will be directed to your web page, shown a video, or
receive SMS text, etc. QR Codes are placed in the offline world (e.g. print materials, premium items, storefronts)
where space is limited to supply more information and to enhance the online experience (e.g. a real estate agent
could include a QR Code on a “For Sale” sign that links to a video of a walkthrough of the property).

QR CODES AND SNAP TAGS

QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) are barcode images that, when scanned by a mobile device, take the viewer to a
website or landing page. Snap tags are customized QR codes in ring configurations that, when scanned, open an
interactive communication.

Uses Benefits Metric Evaluation

QR Code Usages: • Afford more opportunity for Meaningful measurements are
• Addition to business cards for sharing and building community different than other mobile
more contact detail and direct • Bridge the gap between online and marketing tactics:
links to social media offline media – e.g. provide more • Don’t just measure number of
• Inclusion in print ad materials to details than can fit on print scans, focus instead on the length
expand on product or services materials of engagement time that your code
• Enable quick call to action – e.g. is generating. (e.g. If people are
• Addition to direct mail, event
while store is closed, passersby spending 2–3 minutes on a link,
materials for more detailed info
can still get information or receive they are quite engaged).
• Placement in storefront windows
discount offers • If the number of scans drops to
• Placement on premium items zero after the first week of a
• All data collected is reported
Snap Tag Usages: via an analytics dashboard and campaign, this signals experience
recorded as attributes in a the wasn’t engaging enough.
• Each code ring position can
open up to different campaigns, consumer database which • QR Codes can measure results
response requests or unique helps in your CRM efforts based on clicks and leads to
reporting data. your other social engagement
opportunities. Link-shortening
• SnapTags can be used across
services bit.ly and goo.gl now
different media platforms to deliver
automatically generate a QR code
marketing campaigns customized
for sharing your shortened links.
for different consumer segments.

Best Practices:
• Define your purpose (i.e. what it is you are trying to achieve by implementing QR codes or Snap Tags).
• Tell viewers they can expect before they scan and let them know if there are any enticements.
• Design QR Code that is larger than 6.5 square centimetres (1 square inch) where possible.
• Make sure the destination landing page is mobile friendly.
• Think about the user experience and how it integrates with the rest of your campaign.
• Test ease-of-use and functionality of the campaign before launching.
 11

• Short URLs (web addresses) create cleaner codes—use URL shorteners like bit.ly or goo.gl.
• The larger the quiet zone (border around the QR Code), the better and more accurate the scan.
• Avoid using codes on highly reflective areas.
• Consider where your QR Codes are going to be placed (e.g. if placed in a subway system, you may not
have cellular coverage).

F. L
 ocation Based Service/Geotargeting Mobile Advertising
At the time of writing, over 50% of local searches were mobile and will continue to grow as more and more
applications and mobile devices evolve their technologies.

“Where Are You Going?, Where Have You Been?” are the key concepts of location-based technology/geotargeting.
Through a mobile network that uses geographical positioning on mobile devices, you can target your marketing
by behaviour, knowing where your prospective target is located, and make offers and calls to action accordingly.

LOCATION BASED SERVICES/GEOTARGETING

Geotargeting is a way for your mobile or website to display content-specific information depending on the
location of the user.

Uses Benefits Metric Evaluation

• Promoting events • Very effective for attracting • Number of campaign purchases
• Responding to user requests for impulse buyers • Number of campaign shares
the nearest service or business, • Provides convenience and thus • Number of check-ins
e.g. restaurant, ATM machine builds loyalty
• Number of data searches
• Participating in apps that • Ties in nicely with the global
provide users navigation to positioning software on most
any street address smart and feature phones
• Making location-based offers to • Location target ads offer more
users of apps that allow them to opportunities to reach clients
locate “friends” on a map via mobile • Focused ‘local’ strategies can be
• Placing mobile ads that appear built into your marketing mix
only when mobile users are in a
particular area
• Advertising on game apps
• Targeting your Google ads based
on geographical location or
geographical interest

Best Practices:
• Create effective Call to Action – e.g. Mobile ad that reads – “Shop Early, Save Big, Ends Today, 1 mile away.”
Take consumers to a mobile landing page that features the product being offered.
• Present incentives related to the products that are featured to increase relevancy and encourage consumers
to click on the advertisement.
• Integrate advertising with geo-targeted micro sites, where the content is unique to the location; include in
the URL a domain name specific to location; create a Google www.google.com/placesforbusiness profile page;
and have local social-media-specific profiles and relationships.
 12

4. Mobile Commerce as impose different constraints than do desktop computers.

But they also open the door to many new applications
a Business Activity and services because they accompany users wherever
Mobile commerce, also known as m-commerce or they go. Users can look for a nearby restaurant, stay in
mCommerce, is the conducting of transactional commerce touch with colleagues, or pay for items at a store.
using a mobile device. Mobile commerce involves new
technologies, services and business models and is quite The following table provides further details on the uses,
different from traditional e-commerce. Mobile phones benefits and evaluation of mobile commerce.

Uses Benefits Metric Evaluation

• Promoting products or services • Real-time apps improve • There are proprietary apps that
on mobile messaging channels, customer satisfaction can reveal the following trends:
including email, text messaging, • Knowing where your users are –– Unique identifier on device or
mobile app push notifications, can help you optimize local deals tie in with loyalty cards
QR Code scanning, and social and shipping logistics –– Session starts and stops
networks
• Catches impulse buyers –– Device details—type of operating
• Texting SMS to deliver product or
• Allows for instant customer system being used
promotional information alerts,
service interaction –– Which network carrier is
track inquiries and receive order
status updates • Builds consumer loyalty through being used
added convenience –– Length of time spent on product
page before adding to cart

Best Practices:
• Offer last minute deals as push notifications.
• Offer “up-sell” sales at point of check-out.
• Use QR Code implementation to see how much pre-purchase research a buyer exhibits.
• Shuffle your specials around at different times of the day to see which specials seem to work best at what times.

5. Mobile Privacy Issues tracked. This ability to collect location data has led to a
wide range of concerns, including: potential misuse of or
Highly targeted mobile marketing typically customizes other unfair/unlawful processing of data; the possibility
ad content to reach interested and relevant customers. of overly intrusive marketing tactics; the collecting of
Customizing requires that personal behavioural data, information for uses not outlined; and risk to personal
user profiling, and data mining be employed, as well as security. The more location data is collected, stored
other behavioural monitoring tools. Privacy advocates and shared, the greater is the risk of data breaches.
warn that this may cause privacy infringement. Businesses need to have privacy policies in place and
Two key privacy areas include location-based services spell out privacy implications to consumers who use
and rules related to children’s privacy. Given the personal location-based services. For more about privacy,
nature of mobile and the ability to collect data from please refer to The Legal and Privacy Issues of Doing
users, business owners must tread carefully and follow E-Business booklet.
regulations outlined in some of the resources below. Children’s Privacy: If your business targets children,
Location-Based Services: Location data gathered from a you should know how to use the tools below to ascertain
mobile device can pinpoint a person’s whereabouts, often what information can be collected at what age
without their realizing that this information is being or whether parental permission to submit such
information is required.
 13

Here are some privacy resources:

Measuring the Impact of Your
• Building a privacy plan for your business through the
Privacy Commission of Canada www.priv.gc.ca/
Mobile Marketing Strategy
resource/tool-outil/english/index.asp?a=logout Here are some guidelines for testing and measuring the
impact of your mobile marketing campaigns:
• Legal Information about the Privacy Act
http://priv.gc.ca/legislation/02_07_01_01_e.cfm 1. Measure and test results right from the beginning.

• Legal information about PIPEDA (Personal Information 2. Be flexible with your campaign plan, adjusting
Protection and Electronic Documents Act) it as necessary after listening to feedback
http://priv.gc.ca/leg_c/leg_c_p_e.cfm#contenttop from participants.

• Removing geotagging from smartphones 3. Pay attention to the trends in technology since
www.icanstalku.com/how.php things are changing very quickly.

While there are a number of variables in today’s mobile

6. Mobile Security devices world that make it difficult to predict the outcome
From a business viewpoint, possible security of a campaign, it is important to test and measure as
threats include: much as you can.

1. Mobile operating system – Threats can originate One of the key metrics to examine is the “Quit Rate”.
from the mobile apps, mobile browser and insecure Mobile marketing represents a close relationship between
Bluetooth or WiFi hotspots. the subscriber and the business—possibly the most
personal channel to date. Losing an opt-in participant
2. Employees – Those who have access to business due to aggravation, boredom or bad experience with
data and customer information could misuse it. your brand is a critical measurement to be examined.

3. Personal mobile devices – Employee use of these Here are some other measurements to consider:
devices contributes to the need for another layer of
security that your IT resource may have to handle. • For SMS subscribers, track those who choose to stop
responding to a marketing campaign.
Businesses should develop and enforce best practices
and business policies regarding usage of mobile • For push notifications, track the number of deletes
devices, including: after a push notification has been sent and if it is
deleted before going back to the app (in other words,
• A list of approved mobile devices that can access the subscriber isn’t engaging with the notification).
business data
• For mobile sites, track the number of people who
• The type of data that can be stored on the device choose to leave and go to the full site, although you
should always provide the option to go to the full site
• The data that is allowed to leave the business premises for those who don’t find what they’re looking for on
your mobile site.
• The types of mobile apps that may be downloaded
Here are some useful mobile campaign testing and
• Theft or loss procedures, including the ability to
measuring tools to choose from, depending on what
completely wipe out the content data on a lost phone
you would like to review:

• Google Analytics to monitor mobile usage

(www.google.com/analytics)

• Adobe SiteCatalyst to measure the relevance

and user experience of mobile content on
mobile-optimized websites, native mobile
applications, and video (www.adobe.com/ca/
products/sitecatalyst.html)
 14

• Mobile Moxie to measure mobile SEO • Mobile cloud computing will change how work is done
(www.mobilemoxie.com/site-analysis/mobile-seo) and the speed at which tasks are completed, especially
for those in sales and marketing.
• Mob4Hire for a unique usability testing approach
that focuses on the user’s experience in real world • In time, consumers will become less worried about the
situations (www.mob4hire.com) security of mobile commerce as payment systems
become more enhanced. We will see more consumers
• www.nttdata.ca and www.akendi.ca to test strategy, embrace this method of payment in the same way they
implementation and user experience have with regular website commerce.
The information you obtain will help you truly understand • Near field communications (NFC) (e-wallet) mobile
your audience and its preferences, and provide guidance phones are becoming the new “credit card”. NFC is a
on designing a marketing approach that best connects short-range wireless connectivity standard that uses
you to them. If you create a mobile campaign that engages magnetic fields to enable communication between
and delivers value, you’ll grow revenue and improve the devices when they’re touched together, or brought
customer experience, both at the same time. within a few centimetres of each other. Uses of NFC
include contactless card transactions such as ‘Google
Wallet’, ‘Mastercard PayPass’ or ‘American Express
Future of the Mobile Device serve’. It can also be used for reading RFID tags (radio
frequency identification) for interactive marketing
Market (including emerging campaigns and P2P (person to person) data exchange.
Jupiter Research suggests that this market will grow
trends and technology) two- to-three times over the next five years.
• The future will probably play out to a maximum of
four major mobile operating system players. • Augmented Reality (AR) blurs the line between what’s
real and what’s computer-generated by enhancing
• Although there has been massive growth in mobile what we see, hear and feel. AR provides a 3D effect
applications, the next growth trend will be towards app by layering images or videos on top of real world
services. Users will get access to proprietary content or be objects seen either on the computer screen or mobile.
provided a service for a monthly subscription fee beyond Both video games and cell phones are driving the
the application itself. Such examples include multiplayer development and progression of augmented reality
online mobile gaming, stock services, information alerts, and within the next few years, it will become a lot more
magazine publications and music streaming. prominent in our everyday lives. AR will remain a
mobile technology, but will develop to the point
• With mobile applications being developed so rapidly, where you no longer have to actually hold a device.
more and more search companies are coming up
with “app search” software capabilities.

• According to a recent report by Forrester Research,

mobile access to business applications will drive the
Related Topics Covered in Other
next big wave of user adoption. Booklets
• E-Commerce: Purchasing & Selling Online
• New development technologies such as HTML 5
will be introduced into mobile phone browsers. • Cloud Computing

• Tablets represent the next evolution in the • Social Media for Small Business
advancement of mobile computing and will play • Successful Online Display Advertising
a major role in publishing, video and art creativity.
• The Legal and Privacy Issues of Doing E-Business
• Mobile-cloud hybrid computing will emerge. It will be
neither all cloud-based nor all mobile-based, but a To view or download these booklets visit
combination of the two. Google’s Gmail and Google Ontario.ca/ebusiness.
Voice for iPhone are just two of the well-known mobile
cloud apps.
 15

Glossary of Terms MMS message: A message sent via a Multimedia Messaging

Service that contains multimedia objects. It has become
Android OS: Google’s official mobile operating system. more prevalent with the increase in bandwidth and evolution
of mobile technology. Multimedia messages can be a picture,
Bluetooth: A communication protocol that enables
a video clip, or an audio clip. Ads can be embedded into the
mobile devices equipped with a special chip to send
MMS, or the ad could be the MMS itself, depending on what
and receive information wirelessly over short-ranges,
is being viewed by the subscriber.
using the 2.4 GHz spectrum band.
Mobile advertising: A form of advertising that is
Bandwidth: A measurement of how much data can be
communicated to the mobile user via a mobile device.
pushed through a connection that is based on the number
It is most commonly seen as a Mobile Web Banner
of bits per second (bps), kilobits per second (kbps), or
(top of page), Mobile Web Poster (bottom of page
megabits per second (mbps).
banner) and full screen interstitial (an ad that takes
Churn rate: The percentage of subscribers to a mobile over your full mobile screen which appears while a
service that discontinue their subscription to that service requested mobile web page is “loading).
in a given time period.
Mobile cloud computing: Refers to infrastructure where
Click to call: A service that enables a mobile subscriber both the data storage and the data processing happen
to initiate a voice call to a specified phone number by outside the mobile device.
clicking on a link on a mobile web site.
Mobile search: Executing an Internet search via mobile.
Feature phone: A mobile phone that has functions over
NFC (near field communications): A technology that
and above standard mobile services, but fewer features
allows communication over short distance, typically
than a smartphone.
just a few centimetres away. NFC devices can be used
Geotargeting: Being able to detect a website visitor’s in contactless payment systems.
location and then serve location-based content
Push notifications: A way for an app to send information
or advertisements.
to your phone (via a badge, alert, or pop up message)
Global Positioning System (GPS): A system of satellites, even when the app is not in use.
computers and receivers that can determine the latitude
Short code: 5 to 6 digit short code number similar but
and longitude of a given receiver (within its system)
shorter than a phone number that can only be used
located on earth. Many mobile devices are GPS enabled,
for texting.
allowing them to know their location, find directions to a
specific location and see what else is around them. Short Message Service (SMS): Used to send “text”
messages via your mobile device, typically 160 characters
HTML 5: A new standard for displaying content on the
in length. Subscription SMS services transmit weather,
web through browsers. HTML5 is the new rendition in the
news, and sports, but can also be used for business
work of HTML (hyper text mark-up language) that will be
updates, last minute alerts or product recalls etc.
competing directly with Flash and includes features like
video playback and drag-and-drop functionality. WiFi hotspots: Wi-Fi short for “wireless fidelity”, which
refers to wireless networking technology that allows
Location Based Services (LBS): A range of services that are
computers and other devices to communicate over a
provided to mobile subscribers based on the geographical
wireless signal. A hotspot is a site that offers Internet
location of their handsets within their cellular network.
access over a wireless local area network through
Handsets have to be equipped with GPS (Global Positioning
the use of a router connected to a link to an Internet
System) to enable the geographical-trigger of the service(s)
service provider.
being provided.
For more information contact:

Telephone: (416) 314-2526

Facsimile: (416) 325-6538
E-mail: [email protected]

This publication is part of an E-Business Toolkit which includes a

series of booklets on advanced e-business topics and an introductory
handbook How You Can Profit from E-Business. The entire Toolkit is
available at ontario.ca/ebusiness.

© Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2013