There are two roads that lead out of the waning days of the pandemic. The trick is that brands must travel down one to even make it to the other. We’re talking short vs. long term here, and when it comes to an organization’s mobile marketing strategy, shoring up the short-term could create a blueprint for long-term success. When planning for both, personalized mobile marketing should be top of mind for every marketer.Mobile personalization is still in its relative infancy, especially when it comes to apps. The pandemic drastically changed the relationship between a person and their phone–spoiler alert: they’re even more indispensable now than they were this time last year. Unfortunately, the data shows that marketing isn’t keeping up with the times. Only about half of brands are utilizing dynamic personalization for their mobile notifications. Those brands that aren’t yet on the bandwagon need to catch up in 2021 and future-proof their mobile strategy.#### **It’s Time to Cut Through the Mobile Noise**You receive 63 notifications a day. Actually, you probably receive more. The most recent study on mobile notifications, published by the [Academy for Computing Machinery](https://pielot.org/pubs/Pielot2014-MobileHCI-Notifications.pdf), was created before the pandemic. The coronavirus permanently changed the way people use their smartphones, and brands built mobile apps at lightning speed last year, meaning you and your customers are receiving more notifications than emails per day, in some instances.The lock screen clutter presents organizations with a unique challenge. How do you join the mobile fray in a way that allows you to stand out, drive value to your consumers, and increase revenue? …All while everyone else is asking themselves the same question. #### **Incorporate Images into Notifications**Text-heavy digital marketing is bound to fail. About 65% of people are visual learners, meaning their short- and long-term memories are impacted more by visual experiences than any other kind. The brain can also process images 60,000 times faster than text. Words are essential to digital marketing; there’s no doubt. It’s just that without visuals, they can often fall short when your consumers are inundated with notifications. #### **Treat Consumers like People, not Data**Images and text combine to create a powerful mobile experience, but only if campaigns are personalized. We, as marketers, are obsessed with data. Numbers help us quantify the success of our digital campaigns, and algorithms help us reach target demos on social media. We are living in a digital revolution where almost everything is codified, collected, and collated.With that much data, it’s easy for our customers to feel like a number and not a human being. Consumers expect to be treated like an individual, and 66% of them will switch brands if they feel they’re treated like a number. Personalizing your mobile marketing, creating image-rich notifications that speak specifically to a customer’s unique wants and needs can endear people to their favorite brands and ultimately increase revenue. The data we love so much backs that up. One Movable Ink retail client increased their direct notification opens by 27% after incorporating abandoned cart rich push. [Airship found that rich push notifications boosted direct open and response rates by 56%](https://www.airship.com/company/press-releases/data-finds-pictures-boost-direct-response-rates-for-push-notifications-56-p/). Mobile personalization works, even if most brands aren’t doing it.#### **Personalize the Short and Long-Term**The economy is finally showing signs that it’s ready to recover. Early vaccine rollout and lower COVID diagnoses have caused consumer confidence to rise, and people are starting to spend money again. But the economy isn’t expected to rebound quickly, and marketers will need to align their mobile strategy with business needs and economic realities. Movable Ink’s [CMO Preparedness Guide](https://movableink.com/blog/the-cmo-preparedness-guide/) argues that retention personalization will be an integral aspect to any brand’s success this year. Organizations with sophisticated personalization campaigns, the ones that adopt their martech stack to create data-driven, 1:1 mobile retention journeys, will build a strong foundation for the ultimate day when the pandemic is behind us.The time to personalize is now. If your team is putting in the leg work to personalize your mobile and email channels in 2021, it will allow your team to transition from retention to acquisition quickly. The same strategies that will help you weather the last days of the pandemic will be the ones that lead to epic growth when the economy is once again at full-scale. #### **It’s Time Your Mobile Marketing Stood Out**Be different, especially in a medium where everything looks the same. Are you using images in your notifications? Are the images and notifications personalized to your customers’ interests, behaviors, and needs? Are you integrating sophisticated data into your mobile app campaigns?To future-proof an organization’s mobile strategy, marketers need to answer yes to all of the above questions. Why is personalized marketing the future? Because digital experiences are. The internet can feel like a lonely place. The brands that understand the unique value of creating 1:1 experiences—the value of helping their consumers feel more connected—will ultimately win 2021 and the future of digital marketing.How can Movable Ink transform your mobile personalization strategy? [Request a free demo to find out.](https://go.movableink.com/Request-Demo.html)
Future-Proofing Your Mobile Strategies for 2021 and Beyond
