How mobile devices are changing engagement for brands

Before the 2013 holiday season, many experts said tablets and smartphones would have a huge impact on sales; however, the final results showed desktop purchasing remained in the driver's seat. But, while consumers may not be buying a lot from mobile devices they are consuming content. Here are the trends brands need to watch:

by Kristina Knight

Kristina: What trends are you seeing in the tablet space?

Josh Koppel, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, ScrollMotion: It's a mixed bag out there, but generally speaking, enterprises are struggling with how to best take advantage of tablet capabilities. Some are failing: tablets are wasted as email devices or displays for static content like PDFs. Others are discovering the true power of tablets, and our building interactive apps that fundamentally change how they do business. I'm impressed with how our own customers understand the impact of interactivity and are re-imaging how they sell, how they communicate with their own employees, how they train people. I've seen PowerPoint libraries that would put the best of us to sleep be transformed into highly engaging content that crisply communicates complex concepts, informs and inspires. It's truly amazing.

Kristina: How are mobile devices, specifically tablets, changing the way brands and customers communicate?

Josh: [One] impact I've seen is how the users themselves respond to our apps. One of our customers is a leading professional services firm employing experts with 30+ years of experience. I expected to see a lot of resistance, as these people have been working with clients using the same techniques for longer than many of us have been alive. To the contrary, they embraced their apps with great enthusiasm--calling on more clients per week than ever before, eager to show off their new content. And as importantly, they were able to engage clients like never before, closing business with shorter sales cycles. And, they feel really cool.

Kristina: Do you believe mobile devices will begin to take some share from PCs this year?

Josh: While sales for tablet and smartphone devices decreased slightly during the holiday season, the market for mobile devices remains bullish. According to the latest figures from Gartner, PC shipments declined 8.4 percent in 2013 while tablet shipments increased 53.4 percent over the past year. We expect this trend to continue in 2014. I believe this growth is understated; the confluence of enterprises gaining a better understanding on how to use tablets with the rapidly evolving improvements in technology will drive faster adoption as a competitive weapon.

More from Josh and ScrollMotion tomorrow, including his top 3 tips to improve mobile conversions.

Image via Shutterstock

Tags: mobile marketing, mobile marketing tips, mobile tools, mobile trends, ScrollMotion