NEW YORK – Combining digital and physical marketing components can provide more personalized experiences for consumers by channeling an “always on” approach, which can likely lead to more in-store visits for brands and bricks-and-mortar stores, according to DigitasLBi at the Mobile Marketing Summit: Holiday Focus 2014.

Challenges arise for marketers when they do not connect with technologists, as gaps are often formed in between mobile and physical efforts. By examining the sometimes obvious behaviors of consumers, marketers can learn to translate those into successful marketing executions.

“We must use the information that we already know,” said Brett Leary, vice president and group director of mobile at DigitasLBi, Boston. “Smartphone users are commuting, waiting in line and ultimately outside of their homes for the majority of the time.”

Mobile Marketer organized the Mobile Marketing Summit: Holiday Focus 2014.

Always on
When brands and retailers’ digital and physical efforts do not match, consumers may disengage. With the majority of commerce still occurring most prevalently in-store, it is important to target smartphone users with in-store offers that obviously must be relevant and targeted, along with accurate delivery.

Challenges such as untrained, in-store staff, and the lack of knowledge among some general consumers, can lead to broken mobile strategies. However, by closing the loop and making these efforts more overall connected, marketers can ensure increased linkage with their audiences.

By mapping consumers on their entire journey from pre-store to in-store to post-store, marketers can establish a location-based strategy, and with clear, contextual messages, using push notifications and beacons, marketers can achieve ultimate phygital success.

Ongoing strategy
In January, another DigitasLBi executive spoke on mobile at Mobile Marketer’s Mobile FirstLook: Strategy 2014 conference, claiming that mobile was making the need for an agency more crucial than ever for brands to align the fragmented medium under one holistic strategy.

During the “Ad Agencies: Defining Their Role in a Rapidly Evolving Mobile-Influenced Advertising and Marketing Environment” session, executives from DigitasLBi, R/GA and Razorfish discussed the role ad agencies play in helping brands develop a mobile strategy. The panel was moderated by Scott Townsend, director of marketing at Urban Airship, Portland, OR.

All of the executives on the panel agreed that agencies can help brands view mobile in a more holistic way as opposed to merely rolling out a project such as making a mobile-optimized site (see story).

Mobile must not be the only channel utilized.

“We must offer contextually driven experiences, and they must be regardless of the use case and user,” Mr. Leary said. “These efforts help employees do their job better.

“A few brands have been using iPads in stores to reference products, because they believe it makes customers more likely to make a purchase.  Efforts like these help to drive phygital habits.”

Final Take
Brett Leary is vice president and group director of mobile at DigitasLBi, Boston