Looking local mobile technology benefits from customer insight

Looking Local recently undertook a survey with some key local authority customers to try to understand what they wanted from the mobile side of our service, why they did not promote access as heavily as the TV offering and what we could do to make mobile an equal channel to the TV.

Looking Local has offered a mobile solution to the public sector since 2006, however out of the 120 partners we currently have only a handful differentiates their service for the TV and mobile audience, all the others have the same service on TV and mobile. Looking Local sees this as a missed opportunity both in terms of potential of the technology, maximising efficiencies for our partners as well as keeping up to speed with public technology habits.

Recent figures show that just over 30% of the UK population has a 3G enabled mobile phone - that is around 23.5 million people - and that 12% of UK homes have no landline, relying only on the mobile. Further detail on this second point shows a higher incidence of mobile only ownership in households with young people aged 15-24 (43%), students (50%) and those in social grade DE (21%).
(Figures © Netsize 2010 and IPSOS MORI)

Usage of mobile on Looking Local during March 2010 - without any dedicated marketing - was 60,000 hits during 15,500 sessions and between July and December 2009 Looking Local recorded a 68% increase in mobile phone sessions. Looking Local has now confirmed that a significant proportion of its budget for 2010 will focus on bringing our mobile offering up to scratch enabling you to offer services on all platforms to an audience with ever varying tastes and needs in technology.

Headlines from our customer survey are as follows:

• Lack of Awareness: Many customers get involved with Looking Local due to DiTV access. We do recognise that the main focus when promoting the Looking Local technology tends to centre on the DiTV angle and the benefits to the digitally excluded, and mobile can sometimes be seen as an afterthought and that this is reflected in how our partners use and promote their Looking Local services. Looking Local intends to address this both in the sales process as well as offering a simple guide to inform customers how to make the most of what we have;
• SMS Facilities - Customers are keen on the ability to send SMS messages and run SMS campaigns from the Looking Local system. The setup and ability to configure shortcodes is something that almost all interviewed could see real benefits from;
• Bluetooth - Customers were keen on some kind of UK wide deal for local marketing efforts;
• Improved Mobile Web Interface - The survey revealed a desire to see the mobile interface move on to something more visually appealing and make better use of 3G connected devices;
• Personalisation - In that mobile technology can offer more personalisation than the TV currently, there was an expressed desire to look into this further, so that the user can indicate the key services they want to routinely access and the interaction is quicker and more useful;
• iPhone Development - With the increasing ownership of the iPhone, currently 7% of the UK population - various ideas emerged for iPhone apps. Looking Local is pleased to announce that we are in the final stages of developing our first iPhone app. Working with Kirklees Council and using our experienced developer team, the app has significance across the local authority market. Watch this space for more news on this...

If you have anything further you would like to add to these mobile survey headlines, or to talk about maximising the mobile side of the Looking Local technology, which all partners can use as part of their subscription, please contact your account manager.

Looking Local is also actively looking for partners to trial our new mobile technology, smartphone interfaces and SMS systems with, if your organisation is investigating mobile as a customer channel, let's talk...

To read more on our mobile offering click here.