New guidance issued by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) aims to raise the strategic importance of mobile marketing among B2B marketers. The white paper, created by the IAB’s B2B council, addresses the popular misconception that mobile is mainly a B2C channel and aims to educate marketers about what makes a successful B2B mobile campaign.
The white paper outlines the importance of setting concrete objectives, knowing your audience, and having a robust strategy in place in order to reach out to consumers successfully. The paper also recommends eight best practice rules marketers should follow:
1. Having a mobile website
2. Focusing on short, ‘snackable’ content
3. Creating two minute video case studies to be consumed on mobile
4. Recording audio podcasts
5. Offering 160-character SMS alerts
6. Developing a mobile social strategy
7. Integrating mobile in to the marketing mix
8. Simplifying messaging and calls to action
Insights from research company, Gartner, predict that mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common web access device by 2013. Results from a recent Forbes study in association with Google showed that many senior level executives have 3.46 mobile devices each.
Chris Probert, IAB project manager, said: “Through the collation of research, best practice and strategic guidance, the B2B council has produced a timely guide for the B2B industry to help boost confidence within this channel and prove that it is not too late to be early with mobile advertising.”
The B2B council is made up of industry leaders including Google, Ernst and Young and Simply Business. The group recently elected Hanne Tuomisto-Inch as its new chair, who takes over the role from Richard Robinson of Google. A Finnish national, and online communications director at London marketing agency, Banner, she has 13 years experience in digital marketing, working in numerous roles across Europe.
Hanne said: “With B2B professionals always on the move and heavily reliant on their mobile devices, now is the time to tap into this growing market, which is why the council has invested significant time into research activity. In my new role, I want to address the gap in B2B digital marketing advice, to help the community drive growth and make sense of the myriad of digital opportunities available.”
The council is also working on additional white papers – covering social media and video marketing – to be published over the coming months.
http://www.iabuk.net/en/1/whitepapers.html