I always find it interesting when two or more innovations blend together to give us something even more amazing. Cloud computing and mobile technology have been two of the most talked-about trends in the past few years and while they have brought significant changes in the way we do business, the interaction between these two innovations looks promising. As businesses are constantly trying to reinvent themselves, they are under the mounting pressure of coping with the fast-paced evolution of the marketing sector and the emergence of new marketing practices. So, what worked for you before might not show the same results today.

Mobile is where your customer is

We can conveniently say that we have left those days behind when mobile-enabled web presence played second fiddle to web usage via desktop. Research from CNN suggests that mobile usage among adult Americans has surpassed PC internet usage. As such, mobile has become one of the most important platforms for businesses to reach out to their consumers. Mobile marketing is largely a consumer-driven marketing stream where consumers are deciding the fate of marketers and the practices they are employing. For instance, reports show that 42.3 % of consumers prefer SMS deals over bar-code scans or push message coupons. Now, if you’re not agile enough to revise your marketing strategy according to this consumer behavior, you might be losing a lot of potential customers. The bottom line is: you have no option than to stay current.

How cloud is helping marketers?

According to data shared by Accenture, out of 77% of marketers who think customer experience is important for their company, only 62% are confident about doing it right. One of the biggest reasons behind this failure is complex and ineffective marketing processes followed by lack of control over data. Cloud computing is eliminating these flaws from systems giving marketers the leverage to engage more customers in a much better way. Once marketers get a grip over the processes, everything else falls into place.

How cloud impacts mobile marketing?

Custom marketing solutions. Cloud based marketing systems will help you create and automate custom, mobile marketing solutions such as personalized daily message alerts, order confirmations, or travel updates etc.

App designs. You can draw on cloud’s computing power to design next-gen smart apps. A study shows that 16% of smartphone users made a purchase due to a marketing message they received on their phone. This is an indication of how mobile plays a vital role in the purchase decisions of your consumers.

Broader reach. You can expand your reach using mobile cloud applications since they can be easily accessed through a browser. So cloud computing apps can be used by mobile users as long as they have internet connectivity.

Improved communication. One of the most evident impacts of cloud on mobile marketing is that you can upgrade and take your marketing efforts to the next level without having to spend too much on infrastructure or hardware-software upgrades. Cloud-based collaboration systems can let you streamline your marketing processes by way of improved internal and external communications with your peers, partners and even customers.

With benefits as diverse as what cloud has to offer, it is emerging as a platform that most marketers are likely to use for improving their mobile marketing efforts. As a marketer, hitting the right spot with your customers is just not enough; you’ve also been given the task to increase the ROI of your company. Cloud-based marketing helps you achieve both of these goals.

Have you started marketing through cloud-based systems? Where does cloud fit into your mobile marketing system?

This post was written as part of the Dell Content Partners program, which provides news and analysis on technology, business and gadget-geek culture. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don’t necessarily represent Dell’s positions or strategies.