Have you ever had a SoLoMo experience where your mobile phone let you down? I had one this morning.
It was raining and I needed to go to the post office. I don’t know Raleigh very well, so I consulted my iPhone for the quickest walking route there.
I searched “post office” from one of my social apps and was told that the nearest location was 1.9 miles away. That was confusing because I thought one was a lot closer.
I tried Siri and got a similar response.
Suspicious that my “mobile advisors” were wrong, I asked directions from someone passing by and, sure enough, the closest post office was .1 miles away not 1.9 miles away.
My experience is unfortunately not unusual.
When it comes to getting directions, finding food or satisfying other “on demand” needs, we’re all turning more and more to our “trusted advisor” mobile devices. Most of the time our needs are met, but when a SoLoMo fail does occur, it can leave us inconvenienced and make us frustrated consumers.
For businesses, the impact of such a fail can be even greater in terms of negative financial consequences. Because of this, it’s important that businesses with locations are quickly found when users search for their products or services at the moment they want them. For this reason, optimizing one’s website alone for search engines is not sufficient.
The sophistication and popularity of mobile devices has brought a new challenge for businesses with locations, presenting a new “digital divide”. Addressing this divide means seamlessly integrating offline locations with online, mobile and social presence.
At Three Ships Media we’re paying attention to this and are committed to providing solutions across the digital spectrum that pull customers in and push business forward. This includes enabling our clients have a SoLoMo experience that works for them, their customers, and their prospects.
Editor’s note: Emma Battle recently joined Three Ships Media, a Raleigh-based digital marketing firm, as its president.
(C) Three Ships Media
