There are now over 11 million Smartphone users in the UK and according to Google, 74% of these make a purchase as a result of using their phone to review marketing information.   And research by Deloitte reveals that 88% of those who look for local information on their Smartphone take action within a day.

The key thing about Smartphones as a marketing tool is the ability for marketers to get intimate with the consumer.  We can engage with the individual, and by using softer messages we can seduce, simply because the Smartphone user is already in the palm of our hand – literally!

The Smartphone is usually the primary source of information and entertainment for the user.  They are absorbed by it for hours every day reviewing trends and topics of interest.  Therefore search, context advertising and product association are the best ways to reach them.  Straight display type ads are too brusque.  Be more subtle and generous for greater success.   The research shows that the most popular ways to encourage Smartphone users to respond is through ads offering bargains, free apps or games.

The Smartphone is very different to other media because rather than being a casual observer, flicking through a magazine, opening a mail piece, half hearing a radio advert or glancing at a sales brochure, the Smartphone user actually craves the content their Smartphone delivers.  So when the advertiser’s message is blended with this content, it goes straight into the consciousness, deeper and more persuasively than ever before.

For many their Smartphone has become their drug of choice.  They cannot go more than a few minutes without a fix.  And the shards of information delivered are tiny moments of satisfaction embedded in the brain, creating interest, desire, perceived need.

And we all know what this is: The Sales Process.