Different geographic regions have adopted and used the mobile channel at different rates, based on differences in the mobile network infrastructure, network speed, handset availability, laws, billing rates, and cultural norms. Many of these differences were discussed earlier in Chapter 14, "The International Mobile Marketing Landscape."
With mobile marketing, geographic segmentation is very much about the situation the customers location might indicate. When people are in different geographic locations, they generally have different needs and different motivations. Mobile marketing campaigns will be more effective if you can anticipate with some precision where the recipients will be when they receive your marketing message. With location in mind, you can adapt your message to suit the needs of your potential customer when at work, at home, in the car, when commuting on public transportation, while running errands, or while out for a night on the town.
Understanding and anticipating your customers' physical location also gives you insight into their physical surroundings—you'll know whether it's noisy or crowded, whether they are near a computer, or even whether they're in a location where they might lose their cellphone signal, such as in a subway train. Different cities and regions have different norms. For instance, if you are targeting people during rush hour in Houston, you can expect that they will be in their car, but if you are targeting people during rush hour in London, you can expect that they will be using some form of public transit.
The geographic situation might also provide information about your target markets' social and temporal concerns. Are the mobile users you're trying to reach out with friends? Alone? Just killing time? In a rush? Do they need to get directions? Do they just want coordinate effectively with their families? When you answer these types of questions, you can more easily develop a compelling marketing message that your customers will actually act on.
