The Mobile-First Marketing Mindset: Are You There Yet?

[00:00:00] Do you really think about mobile marketing when you build your digital strategy? If not, you might be missing out on one of the most powerful tools at your fingertips. In this episode, my guest helps break down how to think mobile first, why it matters for everything from email to social media, and how you can better connect with your audience using mobile marketing right now. So make sure you stay tuned to this next episode of the Your Digital Marketing Coach Podcast.

[00:00:31] Digital, Social Media, Content Influencer, Marketing, Blogging, Podcasting, Vlogging, TikToking, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, SEO, SEM, PPC, Email Marketing. Whew! There's a lot to cover. Whether you're a marketing professional, entrepreneur, or business owner, you need someone you can rely on for expert advice.

[00:00:54] Good thing you've got Neal on your side. Because Neal Schaffer is your digital marketing coach. Helping you grow your business with digital first marketing, one episode at a time. This is your digital marketing coach. And this is Neal Schaffer.

[00:01:18] Hey, everybody. This is Neal Schaffer. And welcome to episode number 421 of my podcast. Today, we have a special interview with a special friend of mine, Dr. Mary Beth McCabe, a university professor and co-author of one of the most widely used mobile marketing textbooks in the world. We dive deep into what it truly means to have a mobile first mindset in your digital marketing.

[00:01:45] Now, this isn't just about having an app, right? It's about how mobile impacts everything from messaging, email, and social to analytics, and yes, even artificial intelligence. So whether you're a small business owner or an experienced marketer, understanding mobile can help you connect faster and more directly with your customers. This is a must listen if you want to future-proof your digital strategy and grow your brand.

[00:02:13] So without further ado, here is my interview with Dr. Mary Beth McCabe. You're listening to Your Digital Marketing Coach. This is Neal Schaffer. Hey, everybody. Welcome to another live stream edition of the Your Digital Marketing Coach podcast. So the story of today's guest begins. She's actually someone that I've known for years. I believe it was Social Media Marketing World in San Diego where she is from that brought us together.

[00:02:43] But she was also part of my Digital Threads Advanced Reading Copy team. And during one of our meetings, she says, Neal, do you have a chapter on mobile marketing and digital threads? And I love being challenged, as we all should. We all want to up our game. And I said, you know, Mary Beth, I don't have a chapter on mobile marketing, a specific dedicated chapter. Now, as you'll find out, today's guest, Dr. Mary Beth McCabe, is a university professor.

[00:03:13] She is also one of the co-authors of the textbook that is used in universities throughout the world on mobile marketing. So today, I want you to get schooled as much as I want to get schooled as to what I'm missing. And let's take a mobile-first perspective on digital marketing to help our business. So, Dr. Mary Beth, welcome to the show. Oh, thanks so much, Neal. It's great to be here. That conversation we had still sort of echoes in my head.

[00:03:40] But before all this talk about mobile marketing, I'd love to ask my guests because you weren't born in a crib saying, you know, mommy, daddy, I want to become a mobile marketing co-author of a textbook. In fact, when we were born, obviously, we didn't have mobile phones to begin with, unless you were in the army, maybe. So how did your fascination, your passion, I think mobile marketing is something with the emergence of the iPhone, etc. Something we talked a lot more about, you know, a long time ago rather than more recently.

[00:04:10] But I know you have this continued passion and continue to evangelize and really educate. So how did this mobile marketing passion begin? Well, thanks for asking. And where I start right now is when I bought my first mobile phone. And it was through a mail order advertising that I saw in Entrepreneur Magazine. So it was delivered to my house. It cost a lot of money. And I had to get a subscription to be able to use it.

[00:04:39] But it alleviated the problem of trying to find pay phones. And so I was a sales rep for a television station. And I didn't want to always have to have a pay phone to make and call back into the office. So this happened in the 80s. And prior to that, I had worked in radio and I had worked in television in Chicago. I'm from New York. And I just discovered that this mobile technology was going places. And so I hooked my travel and my mobile interests together.

[00:05:09] And now I am able to showcase cases that I've used and also foresee the future of what it's going to look like with AI. So we'll get into that as well, hopefully. I'm really excited to get into that. And so your focus in, you know, later on you move from sales, funny because I have a sales background as well, but you moved from sales into marketing, came a professor and always with this focus on mobile marketing or are there other avenues that you've taught or worked in as well in the marketing realm?

[00:05:36] Well, there's been many paths, just like there's many ways to get to a place when you travel. I found that my journey came through international cultural exchanges, things like Hispanic marketing. So I was a big leader in Hispanic marketing. And then I also took a dive into energy and sustainability marketing. So I have been a business owner since 93.

[00:06:00] So I put out the entrepreneurial flag then, and I have been helping clients, small businesses, many of those who might be listening here can kind of follow my journey through media and also through the voice of the consumer. So how do we speak to somebody and how do we touch them? And with mobile, because it's a remote device, it's really important that we are constantly present. So I think we are going to go places with this talk today.

[00:06:30] So I'm looking forward to it. Yeah. And I'm just reflecting back on one of my fractional CMO clients, a Grammy award meeting musician who is more famous in Mexico than in the United States. And his primary audience was in Mexico and mobile social media. I mean, it was all about the mobile phone. So I think we often forget in the United States when we think globally that depending on the culture, especially just coming back from Vietnam, most countries around the world, and correct me if I'm wrong, Mary Beth, but are mobile first when it comes to not only consuming, but marketing as well.

[00:07:00] Correct? Absolutely. And to confirm that, I traveled in 2023 around the world solo for 90 days only with my phone, not with my laptop. No other devices. And I'm going to do that again in another 10 days. Amazing. Okay. Well, yeah, hopefully we'll have time at the end to hear about that experience. I cannot imagine going anywhere without my computer, but maybe that's just me. Like I said, we all need to be reschooled. So let's begin.

[00:07:27] I thank you for reading digital threads and writing a review and giving me your feedback. But since you read that and since you know my perspective and how I talk about digital marketing, when we are looking at it in that way, what are we missing out on when we don't have a mobile first marketing approach to digital marketing? Well, I think what we're talking about is being adaptable and achieving that immediacy that you get through your mobile channels. Now, what is a mobile channel?

[00:07:57] Like there are so many of them, but it's not just messaging and it's not just apps. It's also about the email that you get. And it's also about all of the social that you have. So I look at mobile as kind of the top of the pyramid where you are looking to be connected to people. And in fact, in our book, we talk about how you need connectivity more so than some of the physiological and other types of safety needs that we have.

[00:08:26] The feeling of being connected and being part of the community is allowed through a mobile device. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Love it. And for those of you that are watching, the textbook is called Mobile Marketing Essentials. Perhaps you recognize this because you used this when you were in university as well. But that's really, really interesting. So it's less about mobile from what you're saying. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's less about mobile being a dedicated channel, but it really affects everything else we do when we're thinking about email marketing, thinking mobile first.

[00:08:55] When we're thinking about social media marketing, thinking social first. And understanding the nuances of that channel and taking advantage of that connectivity that we can have with people. Is that the right way to look at it? So let's humanize this for just a second. You won't leave the house right now without your phone. And it used to be that you needed keys. Well, I drive an electric car. I don't need those keys anymore.

[00:09:19] So we have really transformed down to one necessary device that we need, and that's the phone. There is a thing called nomophobia, and that is the fear of not having your phone. So that's a diagnosis that some of us might be having at some point where you- My kids, for sure. Yeah. So that really humanizes it. And if you look around right now, your phone is within reach. Am I right?

[00:09:45] 24-7, your phone, you're sleeping, you're wherever you are. You're on a boat. It's carried with you, maybe in a plastic bag for safety. But you, as a marketer, this is a real basic thing. How fast is your customer going to respond? And they're going to respond very quickly if you reach them through a mobile channel. You know, I love looking at things in a holistic way. And I love how we're beginning this conversation rather than going in the deep end first.

[00:10:13] So based on that, how can I, looking at my target customers have mobile phones, and obviously within email marketing, we have SMS marketing has become, and it's something that we've talked about for 10, 15 years. But I really think when the Mailchimp and what have you support that technology, we begin to see it in another way. Also, we know that whether it's Facebook Messenger or in Japan, Line or WeChat or any of these

[00:10:41] tools that have a messaging function, that by far gets like an 80% open rate versus your regular email, right? So I'm just curious, for the small business owners that you work with and for those that might be listening, what are three, I'm just going to throw the number three, it's a magical number, what are three specific things they can be doing to increase the connectivity with not just their current customers, but also with prospects using mobile marketing?

[00:11:08] So as a good marketer, what I would say is ask the questions first, uncover their insights, find out how they're using the phones. What channels are they using? What platforms are they using? What types of devices are they using? That's a real important thing. And from there, you will gather a lot of insights. When you start to really drill into that 80-20, that 20% of your audience that really is important to you, look at those insights most closely.

[00:11:36] And for the second thing, I would look at how you connect with them. Maybe draw a map on what are some of the ways that you are reaching them through mobile devices first and then through other channels. So thinking mobile first is going to give you the guidance. And lastly, a very simple thing to do, very easy that anybody can do for free, is build a QR code.

[00:11:59] So that QR code can be a lift to you, to a landing page, to your website, host to your homepage, or to any other initiative that you're working on right now. So building trust through a QR code that directly brings them to what you are looking at is a great way to do that. And what I did was I took my business card and I put a QR code on the back. And that drives people to a website on Amazon that people can buy books from me.

[00:12:27] And I have a book series there. So it's a very easy tool. Yeah. And I think, I don't know about you, Mary Beth, but when I go to conferences these days, it's not even paper business cards. It's all these digital business cards on the phone. So case in point, and I just want to share with everybody, Digital Threads was the first book that I used QR codes in, wherever had a link. I knew that people would be reading it on an ebook, on a mobile device. So I wanted to take advantage of that. And by the way, Mary Beth, you'll be happy about this. I'm speaking at Digimark on San Diego next week.

[00:12:56] But more importantly, for the first time, I included a slide I learned about text. I think it's Textiful, really easy to use platform. And it allows you to text a number and be able to get an email sequence that includes my presentation of the day. And now it got me thinking, what else can I do? So I think, Mary Beth, correct me if I'm wrong, but once you get into the hang of thinking mobile first and the things that you can do, it uncovers new opportunities, right? Yeah, absolutely. Congratulations on being the first to do that.

[00:13:23] I remember being the first to create a banner ad back in 1993. And that was for a university that wanted to recruit students. Now, the banner ad looked very different back then, but being the first is really quite something. So congratulations. Yeah, well, no, first for me. Others have done it in the past, but yeah, we're always playing catch up. But yeah, it was sort of an eye opener. So Mary Beth, we covered mobile marketing's impact on social media, digital media.

[00:13:51] There's commerce, there's gaming, there's privacy, there's all these other areas that we haven't talked about that I wanted to give you the opportunity. You know, what else are we missing when we look at this really holistically as far as how mobile marketing is impacting us in many ways? What are the other areas that we're missing that we should be aware of? Okay, thanks. So one of the fallacies that people make is they think that they need to have an app right away. But really, that's kind of their last step in the journey.

[00:14:18] So if you are thinking, I really need a cool app to do that, why don't you hold off on that for a moment and you'll get there. But I would start with messaging. And you mentioned earlier that we have SMS messaging. That's the very simple text messaging. Then we have MMS messaging, which includes things like images. But now we have RCS messaging. And so everybody's got that on their Apple device right now, but very few people have used it.

[00:14:46] So as a marketer, if you want to be ahead of your competitors, I would go to your device and figure out what RCS can do. Rich communication services. Okay, Mary Beth, school us. Never heard of the term before. Okay, well, it's been in the Android app for years. Okay. But what it allows you to do is perhaps build a carousel, send a video, or send other important

[00:15:12] information that's not just restricted to a few characters. And so what I'm saying is that through messaging apps, and you mentioned already Line, which I use a lot to speak to my daughter live in Taiwan. In South Korea, where I was last month, it's Kakao. And you mentioned some other apps. In Vietnam, it's Zalo, I found out. So yeah, every country has their own variation. Those are the big dogs, right?

[00:15:40] The ways that we message right now are changing. And so that's where a good place to start is. If you're just getting started, that's where I'd go. And then you can start with a mobile website and then perhaps get further along the journey into having a mobile app. So would you recommend, and I guess this all comes back from you said, hey, ask your customers first. So if you have customers in Europe, and a lot of people don't know this, and I've had people reach out to me that wanted to blog for my website. And they said, yes, I'll also feature the content on my Telegram blog.

[00:16:10] And I'm like, wait, Telegram has a blog? So I know in Japan with Line, you can follow stores. You can sign up for discounts. It is very, very advanced. I'm just curious. Do you ever recommend customers in the United States to start doing something like this? Or is it still maybe Europe, Asia focused? In other words, in addition to having a website, having a profile on one of these apps, just like you would have a profile on a Facebook or a LinkedIn. I'm not really sure about that.

[00:16:38] So I could get back to you on that at this point, right? Yeah, no worries. No worries. Just really, really curious. But obviously, if you're in one of those markets, and you ask your customers what mobile apps they use, and they all use Facebook Messenger for messaging, then that gives you a good idea that you may want to do more of it just as a start. So another thing I wanted to ask you about was when we were prepping for this call, you said mobile first mentality makes sense for a behavior driven analytics campaign.

[00:17:06] And I wanted to dive a little bit deeper into what you meant by that. Thank you for asking. So we have been trained to look at demographics, and we've been trained to look at psychographics, geographics. We're also looking very closely at behavior. Last click, first click, or what drove you to that website. So you're looking at behavior data a lot when you're looking at your analytics.

[00:17:32] So what I wanted to say is you can do better analytical tracking with your mobile device, because it has that capability more so than just looking at somebody from a woman 25 to 54 year old who is a mom of three kids. That's your persona.

[00:17:57] But your specific behavior is really what you want to target, because that mom could have characteristics like an 80-year-old man as well. They may have similar behaviors, and that would be something to track. Does that help? Are you saying this is, I'm assuming these behaviors also relate to how they use their phone or mobile technologies? Are you saying this is data that we get from Google Analytics?

[00:18:23] Are there other analytical platforms or other areas in which we can get this data, or what's your suggestion on that? There's actually more competition for Google Analytics that are coming out right now. So G4 has actually made it so complicated to track that I think there's room for a specific mobile analytics company to emerge.

[00:18:46] So I do believe that there will be opportunities for you to use your behavior, such as what time do people's phones turn on in the morning? I remember back when there was an earthquake, for example, in the Northern California area, and it happened at 5 a.m. because I happened to be there. And Fitbit had their biggest spike ever because everybody woke up at that time.

[00:19:15] Now that's behavior. That's an analytic. And so they were wondering, why did everybody turn their Fitbit on right now? Right? So that was an example of behavior. And people, they stayed up. They didn't go back to sleep. So you can kind of see not only a phone, but also a Fitbit or other device would also be considered a mobile device. And because there's marketing that's going on through those channels. Right.

[00:19:42] I'm still trying to get my head around, you know, outside of the messaging apps and SMS. Are there any other, and we talked about QR codes. Are there any other sort of like tools of the trade for the small businesses that might be listening with regards to mobile marketing? We've just touched the surface here. Social media. So anybody who's on TikTok, that is a mobile only platform. So everybody that's on TikTok is on their phone.

[00:20:11] And Instagram used to be, or is still pretty much of a mobile only. I mean, you can still use it a little bit on your laptop, but mostly only mobile. So that would be a great channel to be thinking of. And then we've got email. So all of the different emails that are being served, I would say 85% of them are being seen for the first time on a mobile device. If you do track your analytics, do see how many people are opening and clicking on through mobile.

[00:20:41] That is a very high percentage. Yeah, indeed. And I realized recently, and I think that, Mary Beth, I'm sure you've seen this over the ages where developers design things on a desktop and they might try to test the mobile functionality, but they never test it on what it looks like on an actual phone that they have in their possession. When I realized recently that the way that the email design and ConvertKit was being done was leaving a container where it wasn't making use of that mobile real estate. And thus it made it harder to read the emails.

[00:21:11] And I corrected that really quickly. But so I guess there's a lot of little things like that. I want to, and I know you've done speaking around AI and mobile, and I definitely want to get in that conversation. But looking back at our notes for prepping, you know, RCS rich messaging, how can we take advantage of that today? So understanding the functionality, is this something like a simple like airdrop type functionality or the ability to attach multimedia to these messages?

[00:21:39] What exactly should we be looking for if we wanted to get deeper into RCS? So here's what I would do actually to find out more about RCS. I would go to my LLM. So you go to your chat GPT and you say, where can I find my RCS messaging channels? And there you will find your path. So it'll tell you to go to your notifications, then it'll go to your apps, and then it'll show you where on your phone is your RCS. And then it'll explain to you how to use it. So fair enough. All right.

[00:22:09] MailChimp and those companies are already aware of this. And they're already figuring out how to charge extra for the RCS messaging, because it does take up more bandwidth. It does, because if you're sending videos, if you're sending carousels, if you're sending your brochures through those channels, there's more spaces, you know, more bytes that are being used. So is this something you said, like the MailChimp are working? Is it something that's already been commercially deployed or you expect it's going to be commercially deployed in the next several months?

[00:22:39] Or what's the time? It has been deployed, yes. But it's been talked about for the last five years. So this is, it's not new to the industry. It's new to consumers. And so they're still finding out about this. So I'm thinking during the presidential election, I did get some video, some text messages that had video attached to it. Is this an example of RCS? Yes. Okay. Got it. Got it. Got it. Yeah. I can see how for businesses that is. So instead of doing, well, we always have cold emails and we have more and more cold texts.

[00:23:09] And I guess the law does not necessarily prevent you from sending a cold text is what the people that do that would tell you. But now they have the ability to, and it's going to cost them more, but to actually attach photos, videos, brochures to those messages then. Yeah. So 10 years ago when I was creating this courseware, it's more than a textbook. I started doing expert interviews with people that were in the industry and those are part of the courseware.

[00:23:35] I have co-authors with a hundred years of mobile experience that I write this with, and it is an ebook only. So you won't find it when you search, but it is behind a paywall. And my publisher is Stukent. We're in our 12th edition, even though it's only been a few years. So the most recent edition came out in February. So it is the most up to date and you have access to it, Neil. So I know you can share it with anybody else on this channel that wants to evaluate it. Yes.

[00:24:04] I started reading through it last night. Obviously excellent textbook. I know Ted Schachter, another marketing professor in my digital first group also mentioned that he had used your textbook. So definitely if you want to go a little bit deeper, but let's then, and thank you for that explanation of RCS, because if we see that our SMS messaging or SMS campaigns are getting equal, if not better conversion than what we're sending on desktop, then I think RCS is the natural next step.

[00:24:32] But what else can we be doing to further expand upon that? So I suppose as consumers, we're going to be seeing more of that and hopefully it'll be good, good RCS. Yes. But regardless, I'm curious. So the last time we talked during that digital threads calls, you were speaking on stages about AI for some enterprises. It made sense to have their employees use ChatGPT on their phone rather than on a computer. And there's just a whole other area that I know that you've been deep into that I have no clue about. And I'm sure our listeners don't have a clue as well.

[00:24:59] So I'm curious, the convergence of AI and mobile marketing, what's going on? What do we need to know as small business owners, as marketers? Can you put up that third slide there as an image so that I can... Ah, the slide. There we go. Yes, that's the one. So this is an image created by a friend of mine named Shelly Palmer. And he gave me permission to use it. It's on my screensaver. And every time I think of it, I realize that when I'm calling up AI on my phone, I'm basically

[00:25:29] making that connection to history. And I'm actually building history forward from it. Through technology like Qualcomm, who have built chips that are smaller and smaller and carry more and more information, this has drilled down to your phone. And this is now so accessible.

[00:25:53] I use the phone and call up my LLMs with my audio. So I don't rely on Siri anymore. I rely on all of my other LLMs, perplexity, chat GPT, et cetera. And so it is my friend. It is my answer. And it is a way that I believe we are moving towards in our behavior. And so when I mentioned the different types of ways you can see analytics, we're seeing

[00:26:22] so many more people use the analytics here. And I also want to say there's ads now on your perplexity, for example. If you haven't noticed that, you will start noticing that too. So we're going to see a barrage of marketers. I would get in there early if I was trying to figure out how to kind of cut through the clutter. So I guess not only become early adopters of large language models, but specifically

[00:26:49] on your phone and really become a user before your customers become users so that you can better navigate the space. Well, if you remember the early days of Facebook, if you remember the early days of even AOL, like you were the first front runners. This is that time right now where you can use your mobile device, which everybody's got, and then turn that into your assistant. So creating your own GPTs, creating your own assistants.

[00:27:17] This is what I'm doing right now. And I think it's something that your audience might want to take advantage of. Yeah. You know, it's something that I do primarily on the desktop, but I know a lot of other authors and consultants and speakers are also using the mobile version. And they go out on walks and they're literally having a conversation with Jatchy BT using the audio interface. And for some people that might actually be more efficient because sometimes we think better when we're on our feet, when we're outside rather than in front of a computer.

[00:27:47] So I think with mobile technology, I'm sure you'd agree. There's a whole other psychological aspect to it that some things we might actually be able to do better on that phone versus on a desktop. Exactly. Because of the convenience, because of the accessibility, and because you've got it. It's not that you have to wait to get back. Yeah. So I'm just curious. It's something that I've been thinking a lot about recently. We've talked about the emergence of TikTok and, you know, through COVID. And one thing I've always noticed, now I just recently spoke at Nova Southeastern University in Florida.

[00:28:16] And a lot of times you go to conventions, you get little gifts. Well, they actually gifted me these earbuds. Now, I have never used these in all honesty, but I see obviously a lot of people using them. And I just think that if I did use them, it would make the mobile device that much more accessible. When I'm outside, I don't need to hold it. I can be speaking through that. So do you think, I honestly think that has accelerated the emergence of TikTok and its popularity because you need to be listening at all times. And that is a way to do it without interrupting others.

[00:28:43] So would you say that these earbuds have also in some way, when we talk about that history, have accelerated this movement? And if so, I suppose we should all get a pair and put them on and experience our mobile devices that way. Well, not only the earbuds, which I use all the time, but what about AR and all of the different gaming devices? You mentioned gaming earlier. Gaming is huge on mobile. There's so many different ways to play games on your phone and immerse yourself within that device.

[00:29:13] Now, I also want to caution because there's a danger. There is a danger of overuse and too much screen time, especially with children, is not a good thing. So I want to caution that there could be some long-term harm to those who are not, you know, could take a toll on you for your health. So I want to make sure that, yes, these are great tools to have, the earbuds, the AR, the

[00:29:41] AV, all of the immersive technologies that are developed. They're great, but in quantities that you can measure and just step back from it at time too. Yeah. Amen. I still got my son on screen time. I know he's not a big fan of it, but yeah. To serve as an educational moment to let him know, hey, did you know you've spent X hours playing this single game? Which happens, and it can happen to adults too, by the way. So I think it's, you know, I have my Instagram set where, you know, maximum X minutes a day

[00:30:09] just so that I can receive a notification if I'm going over, you know, how much, if I'm going over what I thought I would not need to spend so much time on. So I do want to say for those that are interested as we near the end here, this book, I just want to read to you for those that are curious, because I was able to, you know, Dr. Marybeth so kindly gifted me a copy. Chapter one, introducing mobile marketing. Chapter two, creating strategy for growth. Chapter three, establishing a mobile path. Chapter four, mobile messaging. Chapter five, marketing mobile apps.

[00:30:38] Chapter six, mobile advertising and social media. Chapter seven, understanding the mobile landscape. Chapter eight, designing for mobile. Chapter nine, intersecting mobile and privacy. Chapter 10, profiting in the mobile marketing future. So if you want to go a little bit deeper, obviously highly recommend that. I'm curious, Marybeth, did we have a moment to talk about the future of mobile marketing? Thank you for asking. I drew this roadmap for you, Neil, to try to help you navigate the next few years. Let's do it.

[00:31:07] And it's my crystal ball. So here we are today looking at how AI is focusing on mobile. And then we're going to be looking at some struggles throughout the journey. So I think automated cars. So this is where we're headed. Our cars are going to be our mobile device. They're going to know more about us than we want them to know. Interplanetary signals from satellites that deliver connections. We already are starting to see that with the T-Mobile.

[00:31:35] I just got invited to join their new satellite program. So you're going to be able to connect your phone directly to a satellite. And this is actually in test mode right now. So I think this interplanetary, you know, we have G5 now. We're going to be going to G6 and G7 and onwards. The scientists have already built a lot of these. The question is, how do we stay connected, though?

[00:32:00] We have to make sure that we are using the same type of plugs, so to speak. Right? I mean, we have an AM band. We have an FM band on radio. But how do we all kind of talk to each other on the mobile device? So this is an important thing for the future. I hope this is helpful for anybody who's also dreaming of this. And you too, Neil. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's just the whole conversation. So mobile marketing is not its own. As I like to say, like, I feel that content marketing is not its own channel.

[00:32:29] It just serves all these other digital marketing channels require content. And the same thing with mobile. It really touches all these other channels that we're on. But I think up until now, once again, we focus primarily on the desktop experience when the consumer, overwhelming majority of their primary experience with the internet is not on a desktop where the internet began, but on the mobile device, which is soon to become even more mobile. Pun intended with automobiles and with satellite, definitely the satellite interconnectivity.

[00:32:57] It's funny because I worked at a company in, it was my last corporate job back in 2008. And we were focused on satellite real-time network management software. And at that time, it's crazy to think, but there was actually a decline in satellite technology that there were fewer satellites companies were pulling out of that market. And then iPhone added the GPS and then boom, it really started this huge boom that we're still seeing with the Starlinks and with Amazon putting satellites up into space.

[00:33:25] So having that connectivity wherever we are, maximum amounts of data, those devices, whether it's our car or phone, knowing more about us, it does make it more compelling for a business or marketer to try to tap into that because that is really unprecedented. So I thank you for sharing the roadmap. I feel that we better get going on this now rather than wait until it's too late. So thank you for the eye-opener, Mary Beth. If people, obviously, if they want to get a hold of your book, it is through Stukent, S-T-U-K-E-N-T.

[00:33:55] I'm sure they can do a search on the internet and find that. Won't find it in Amazon, but they'll find it on Stukent. Highly recommend if you want to go further. But Mary Beth, if people want to connect with you and learn more about you and what you do, where should we send them? The best place would be LinkedIn. And I know you've got a great book on that too, which I read as well. So I would definitely go to LinkedIn, follow me there, send me a note on why you want to connect and I'll connect if it's legit.

[00:34:21] But also, I just want to say thank you, Neil, to help bring this journey together here. And now I see that you're inspired to know more. And I'm about to go around the world again. So wish me luck on this 90-day solo journey. I also go by Dr. Mary Travel Best. That's another book series. But thank you for sharing a little bit about mobile here and keep doing what you're doing. It's great. No, I love seeing your travel pictures and I can't wait to see where you'll go.

[00:34:48] I become an empty nester in a few months. So my wife and I are already planning our travel. So I'll be out there with you as well. But and just on a travel note, for those that are listening, I have a brother going to Europe. He's like, Neil, what do I do with my internet? So for those of you that are global travelers, since, hey, we got you on the podcast here, I'm just curious. So I'm a T-Mobile customer because I know that when I go to Japan a lot, T-Mobile, it's free texting. It's very inexpensive phones.

[00:35:12] I used to use their $50 a month, 15 gig plan until I realized that it's really easy to use eSIMs. And now I use a company called Nomad. And there's a few of them out there. And it's just so inexpensive. And I was able to get one that works both Japan and Vietnam. So easy to use now that all the latest iPhones have double eSIMs. So Mary Beth, any other staying connected while you're overseas travel advice along those lines? Absolutely. I've been using eSIMs.

[00:35:39] I've been an influencer for Aerolo for the last three, four years. So I have a code. I can share that with anybody. They're one of the top five that I researched for sure. So I've, and I also use some time shifter apps for dealing with jet lag. So those are really helpful. So I've got lots of apps that I could recommend and do. So yeah. Yeah. I just think it's funny because when I go, whether I go to Europe or Asia using those time shifting apps, it basically just says, Hey, when you get on the plane, sleep, you

[00:36:08] know, and then when you wake up, there are times to avoid bright light and what have you. So I think a lot of it you can get used to, you know, is pretty intuitive, but yeah, definitely recommend downloading one of those. And very cool. And the eSIMs. You don't want to be walking into an airport and have to stand in line and then buy a little chip after somebody opens your phone up. And there's no need for that. So I would go with a company like Nomad or Erlo or others. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. Your phone is your friend. Yeah. It's so easy to use.

[00:36:37] So if you haven't been doing that, like myself, I was wasting a lot of money. Do that like right now before your next job, just, you know, download one of those apps and then you could subscribe and it's just really easy. So anyway, I'm sure by following your Dr. Mary travels best channel, we'll be able to learn more about these different connectivity tactics. So thank you again for joining us and yeah, safe travels. Thanks so much. Take care. You know, I hope you enjoyed that interview as much as I did.

[00:37:01] I've talked about digital first, social first, video first, but mobile first is a no brainer that often we just forget about. And yes, mobile is a part of everything, but it's the mobile first mindset that unlocks these opportunities that Mary Beth spoke of. So I hope you'll take her advice to heart. I know I will be. And I hope that you'll also hit that subscribe button so that you can continue to listening to the amazing advice that my guests bring to this podcast.

[00:37:31] Well, that's it for another episode of the, your digital marketing coach podcast. This is your digital marketing coach, Neil Schaefer signing off. You've been listening to your digital marketing coach. Questions, comments, requests, links go to podcast.neilschafer.com. Get the show notes to this and 200 plus podcast episodes and neilschafer.com to tap in to the 400 plus blog posts that Neil has published to support your business.

[00:38:01] While you're there, check out Neil's digital first group coaching membership community. If you or your business needs a little helping hand. See you next time on your digital marketing coach.