Keeping Agencies at the Top of Their Game with Mobile Wallet

This post started off just focused on our mobile wallet solution, Urban Airship Reach, but it quickly became evident that there was something equally important I wanted to talk about — the importance of choosing the right mobile partner for the digital agency community, my area of focus at Urban Airship.

It’s All About Mobile

These days, it’s no longer about being “a mobile-first company.” It’s about being a mobile company — period. In order to keep pace with technology and how consumers are using their smartphones for everything, digital agencies must find the right partners that share not only their vision, but their client's’ vision, of the future. They require partners who propel the brands they support as forward thinkers, using mobile for every means possible.

Mobile Engagement DNA

No other company in the mobile space has had more success driving mobile marketing forward than Urban Airship. Much like breathing, innovation at Urban Airship is part of our DNA. That comes in the form of understanding the market landscape, where it’s headed and anticipating the needs of the future today. Case in point: we executed the very first push mobile engagement campaign, exactly when Apple released push in 2009.

Since then, we continue to actively listen to the market, helping our clients and agency partners focus on delivering experiences that enable them to be innovators in the mobile space. We want our agency partners to look brilliant to their clients and make their lives easier through streamlined digital strategies that maximize ROI with proven results.

In a 2015 study, Forrester Consulting found Urban Airship’s clients experienced an average 878% ROI by using our platform. Not only does working with us pay huge dividends, but our partners trust that we will help them stay on the cutting edge of innovation as we anticipate needs in the marketplace before anyone else, and develop solutions that can scale.

The Next Big Marketing Channel: Mobile Wallet

So, what am I sharing with our agency partners these days? If you’ve read, heard and seen anything around the mobile payment space, you’ll know that there’s exponential growth projected over the next few years. What you might not know is how to take advantage of this disruption now.

Mobile wallets aren’t just the latest shiny mobile object. While still nascent, wallet has longevity. With the rise of mobile payments, mobile wallet passes that act as a complementary marketing solution within the same ecosystem make a lot of sense.

At the Top of the Mobile Game

Mobile wallets are perfect for those clients not in current need of a native app, or still evaluating the ROI of building one. Wallet bridges the gap for these brands as it offers many of the conveniences of a mobile app, and more:

1. It puts the brand in customer’s hands easily, without taking up valuable homescreen space.

2. It’s ubiquitous. Brands can immediately leverage mobile wallets via the Apple Wallet and Android Pay apps, which come with every device.

3. Mobile wallets help brands stay connected with its consumers in a relevant, timely, personalized manner directly via their smartphone.

Some quick examples of how to use mobile wallets include:

• Loyalty cards, which can reflect points added or redeemed

• Membership cards, which can be used to check-in and/or be used as punch cards

• Boarding passes, which can be updated with gate and departure time changes

• Coupons, which can be downloaded and updated often as an engagement channel

• Event tickets, which can be redeemed at the venue

• So many more!

All of this is possible without needing the consumer to sift through emails, log into accounts, etc.  Additionally, mobile wallet passes can be made location-aware. Meaning, brands have the ability to use a mobile wallet loyalty card to craft personalized welcome messages (or other types) upon entering a store. They can also be used as an acquisition tool — the back of a wallet pass can include a link to download the branded app.

What Matters Most for Agency Partners

With so many features and functionalities, it’s no surprise that digital agencies are eager to get their brands up and running with mobile wallet. Urban Airship Wallet brings the right innovation at just the right time for agencies.

It’s this partnership that agencies value most in us: the solutions we bring, including Urban Airship Reach, keeping them at the top of their mobile game. The ways to use mobile wallet items are endless.

If you’re an agency and would like to talk more to me about how we can partner, please reach out. I’d love to chat.