As many businesses continue to grapple with upping their mobile marketing game, another player has stepped into the technological fray: wearable tech. While smart glasses, watches and wristbands haven’t taken off yet, some research suggests more people will start putting them on–and that means harnessing new opportunities to reach users.
A Nielsen study says that so far 70 percent of consumers are aware of wearables and about 15 percent of consumers currently use wearable tech. While that number seems low now, it’s not predicted to stay that way. Nielsen goes on to say that nearly half of Americans surveyed expressed interest in buying a wearable device in the near future.
So what does this mean to you? Well, as with any new frontier challenges and opportunities lie ahead in adapting marketing to wearable tech.
Challenges with Adaption
The most obvious challenge to adapting marketing strategy to this emerging technology is the small screens. They don’t allow for typing with a thumb like smartphones, and instead mean using one finger to interact. This also means users see even fewer search results at the top of the screen, making SEO and responsive design even more important.
Another problem to work around will be the limited battery life of these devices. Business Insider says this is because they often run on components and processors designed for smartphones. While this will improve as technology improves, batteries can be drained with fast with browsing, texting and using internet-connected apps meaning your efforts at engagement will have to be efficient.
Opportunities on the Horizon
But having the internet connected to your wrist or seen with your glasses opens up a whole new way to connect. Because adoption is low, this is a low-stakes time to experiment with marketing strategy for wearable tech. Location-based marketing would add value for users as would offering real time updates on news events, flight plans or driving times. This is the holy grail of marketing: delivering information and content to users when and where they’re most likely to act.
And as technology becomes even more embedded into our daily routines marketers can expect a data deluge from the ocean of information collected by apps. While privacy concerns have also cropped up and could change the landscape, the chance exists to personalize campaigns to a level we’ve never seen before.
So what can you do now? Keep up with research on wearable tech. Brainstorm on how you can get ahead of your competitors. And maybe even become an early adapter yourself, because nothing will help you know what users of these devices want like becoming one yourself.
Liked this post? Check out some other articles on the BizBlog:
Tackling Multi-Location Local Search Optimization