Mobile marketing in 5G: New strategies in e-commerce
A comprehensive and high-speed 5G network will soon be a reality, and will give rise to new strengths and potential opportunities in e-marketing as well.
5G: Available throughout Germany by 2025
The global 5G network is continuing to expand. Although the USA is the clear front-runner, Germany – along with the Netherlands and Switzerland – is far ahead in Europe in terms of 5G coverage. The three major providers, Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica, are confident that every part of Germany will have access to a 5G network by 2025 – or so the forecast indicates.
In line with this target, the number of 5G users is also rising, especially as prices for 5G cell phones are now hovering around the same level as those for conventional smartphones. And this steadily growing target group is the focus of the new 5G e-marketing push, which will ultimately reshape e-commerce and the world of online shopping as we know it.
We want to show you how the powerful 5G cellular network will create new opportunities and digital advertising formats for your existing marketing strategy, particularly when it comes to e-commerce. But there is one success factor that is essential on this high-speed journey: the customer experience. Millions of 5G cell phone users are about to discover that their smartphone is the portal to a completely new world of experiences. Virtual reality is becoming part of online shopping, so get ready for a new era of video marketing, live streaming, and AR/VR advertising – the new supreme disciplines in e-marketing.
The 5G network: Powerful, fast, and reliable
The advantages of the 5G network for the e-marketing and e-commerce sectors as a whole are clear: 5G means that any moving images on a display or headset will appear in significantly better quality – say goodbye to jerky, pixelated videos.
What’s actually going to change?
- Lower latency, so you can share your message with your customers in real time.
- Higher connection density, so more users can connect to the network at the same time. In the future, it should be possible for 100 billion devices to communicate simultaneously.
- Faster downloads, so users can download a video ten times faster with 5G than with 4G.
The 5th generation of cellular networks will take data transmission quality to an unprecedented level, thus demanding a complete rethink of conventional display advertising. This will open the door for fresh, innovative formats with a high level of design quality.
We will also see new options in social commerce, including interactive features and direct approaches to customers. Users will also be able to communicate with each other faster and more intensively – even in real time.
The new all-stars in e-marketing
We can assume that e-commerce will particularly benefit from this new technology. We all want to see, touch, and try out products before we buy them. That is one of the main reasons why we still like to visit brick-and-mortar stores, despite all the advantages of online shopping. Other reasons include service, as well as advice from flesh-and-blood staff – especially for products with a hefty price tag.
This is where 5G technology makes a crucial leap forward, with faster speeds, better transmission quality, and lower latency breaking new ground in terms of customer experience for shoppers – anytime, anywhere.
Video marketing
Video spots are now one of the most popular advertising formats, attracting maximum attention on social media marketing channels. With the rapid expansion of the 5G network, the focus is increasingly shifting to this area.
Videos are an effective communication method for brands, as they can be a fun, appealing, or surprising way of conveying complex messages. Brands can use Facebook in-stream videos, YouTube bumper ads, or video on demand broadcasters to reach their target audience.
Although the current 4G network can play advertising messages with relatively good coverage, advertisers can never quite be sure whether users are watching them from start to finish. 5G video quality means that any recurring mild to moderate nuisances and irritations caused by buffering, low resolution, and annoying stuttering will become a thing of the past, with videos playing smoothly and seamlessly.
Live streaming
The world of 5G is a world where videos run in real time, because reliable connections make the 5G network ideal technology for live streaming advertising formats. Companies can share their advertising messages at festivals, sporting competitions, and events, and then leverage the social commerce effect. Alternatively, they can produce creative live content themselves and share teasers with their target group in advance.
Our smartphones let us virtually “hold the world in our hands”, wherever we go. Users can be connected anywhere, giving them the feeling that they are attending events live. As a result, expanding the world of experiences for your target group also gives you more scope for creative brand messages.
Virtual reality – immerse yourself in the product range
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are gaining ground, and the link between our physical world and virtual reality is particularly fascinating.
Along with the experience itself, AR and VR can also be used to guide and advise users when they are deciding whether and what to buy. Customers don’t just see the products, they can also experience them – from rubber rafts to SUVs, as well as planning trips with hotel rooms and picking leisure activities. Yesterday’s standard chatbot has become today’s smart salesperson avatar with in-depth knowledge of customers’ personal wishes and requirements.
Customers at IKEA have long since been able to take a virtual walk around their new kitchen in AR and add fixtures and fittings, without even having to set foot in a "real" IKEA store.
But the new possibilities offered by e-commerce are also a great opportunity for retailers to literally give their customers a closer look at their products, and to convince them to make a purchase.
5G, e-marketing & e-commerce: Customers can shop anytime and anywhere
Your customers are always on the move, so your POS needs to be too. As well as sending your messages in real time, the 5G network can also tell you where to find your target group. Thanks to shorter response times, you can send them advertising messages that are appropriate for the location and time of day. Your message is also more likely to reach its target, since picking the right moment to play the video is a crucial success factor.
Comprehensive 5G coverage will also mean that smart home and mobile gadgets are used more and more extensively. Combining e-marketing and the IoT will unleash greater creativity and focus it on consumers: for example, beverage manufacturing companies can already track their bottles and target purchasers with new product offers.
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