Time to be honest
Ok, I know we’re supposedly in a time in which people are using smartphones more and more, to email, check social media sites and shop. But who can honestly say they get the speed and connectivity they need from their current 3G smartphone or tablet?
I for one can’t stream videos on my smartphone. It’s modern. It’s a recognised brand of phone. I’m with a good network. But I just can’t get those pesky videos to run without buffering every few seconds.
And getting onto my favourite websites? Well, unless they’re ultra mobile friendly, I can be waiting a good few minutes for them to fully load. Even emailing photos or uploading files to my Dropbox mobile app all take an average five minutes or more. The 3G network is just too over-stretched.
So 4G could be the enabler that smartphones and tablets need to provide a truly mobile experience. The days of getting fed up of watching the progress bar creep along before giving up and reaching for your laptop and broadband will soon be a distant memory.
And speed isn’t the only benefit – it will create a bigger network for people in rural areas, too. I work in a barn – you wouldn’t believe how happy I am about this news.
So, what does this mean for marketing?
It’ll open up a world of possibilities – particularly for email marketing.
Take webinars, for example. Getting registrations would be far less challenging if, say, your target audience could tune in from their smartphone or tablet while they’re out and about – on a train to a meeting or at a conference, perhaps. Even physical events – why not consider live streaming the key note sessions and other important talks online? That way, people who can’t attend still hear your key messages and news.
It’s also an opportunity for more data-intensive mobile apps to be created for marketing purposes. So instead of sending people to a microsite to find out more about your proposition, you can entice them with a snazzy app that enables them to watch videos, read customer testimonials, register for free trials or sign up to attend an event… the options are endless!
The key is that marketing campaigns will be freed from the confines that we adhere to today. The days of having to send email on a certain day, at a certain time will be a thing of the past, as people with 4G pick up your emails wherever, whenever.
Get ready
4G is set to be widely available in the UK before the year is up – so get planning and thinking of great ways to make the most of it once it’s here. Thanks to the internet and social media, we’re a generation with a need for speed – make sure you’re not caught on the back foot when 4G lands.
What are you doing to get ready for 4G?
