iGB Affiliate 43 Feb/March 2014 | Page 63

INSIGHT Talking Heads What to Expect from Mobile in 2014 To discuss how the gaming affiliate industry can take advantage of the developing mobile sector in the coming year, we sought the wisdom of Siamac Rezaiezadeh of mobile engagement experts OpenMarket, and James McMaster of business consultancy firm, KM iGaming. Siamac Rezaiezadeh, Strategic Account Executive, OpenMarket In 2014, mobile marketing means adding value to your customer through personalisation. With its combination of convenience, simplicity and the ability to reach consumers instantly, wherever they are, the mobile phone offers affiliates a golden opportunity to market new services and engage with customers on an ongoing basis. Furthermore, the arrival of new data analysis techniques means that affiliates can now collect and scrutinise customer data in more depth to come up with more intelligent, more targeted, and therefore more effective mobile campaigns. It wasn’t always like this. Many companies would (and still do) use SMS as a low-cost way to broadcast special offers and promotions to a wide audience. But this untargeted approach produced only limited results and limited conversion rates. Consumers’ intimate relationship with their mobile phone meant that unsolicited, out-of-the-blue messages could be perceived as intrusive and unwanted, often doing more harm than