With more than $1bn (£628m) to be spent on mobile advertising in 2011 in the US alone, and more than $8bn to be spent by US consumers on their phones by the end of 2011, companies are contending with a new world of mobile popularity: more devices, more diverse activity, and more marketing and shopping.

So as mobile revolutionizes the way consumers learn about, choose, and buy products, how will organizations create excellent mobile experiences going forward? According to Forrester Analyst Julie Ask, the answer is, by targeting consumer convenience.

“Consumers will adopt and use convenient services and products and in mobile, this means services that offer immediacy and simplicity through a highly contextual experience,” says Ask in a blog post. “That is, a tailored experience that uses consumer context such as location and past behaviour, to anticipate what a customer wants when he turns on his phone.”

As of yet, however, rather than proactively tracking user context, firms are only reacting to the wealth of information that consumers have in their hands – few leverage location beyond guiding consumers to brick and mortar stores.

According to Ask, firms must follow four steps to incorporate user context into mobile strategies: master the basics; layer in intelligence; break from PC expectations; and embrace motion as a control mechanism. When done right, two types of business benefits will emerge. The first is incremental revenue from existing stores (higher conversion rates on existing products or services). The second is revenue growth from new mobile services, enabled by evolving devices and technologies. “Just imagine the buying and selling opportunities that will begin to emerge when phones can make size, colour, and scent recommendations,” Ask writes.
You can read the blog post here.
http://blogs.forrester.com/julie_ask/11-07-11-the_future_of_mobile_is_context