Who Is Using Mobile?

26 June, 2014 — 18 Comments 

Mobile Marketing is something that often gets pushed under the table. Here’s why you should NOT fall into that trap.

2014 is the year of the mobile. The year where 80% of us use smartphones to do our shopping; where 50% of us use mobiles whilst inside a physical store to research the same product, and the year where 75% of us admit to taking one into the bathroom with us!

This is serious stuff… extraordinary even. Who would have thought that 10 years ago our buying behaviours would reach such a level? Just mention these behaviours to your parents and I guarantee they’ll be appalled. But nevertheless, they are here. And we as marketers are not here to assess these economic trends, we are here to meet them: “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” (Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture)

The problem we face is that this is new territory for businesses. Having spoken to business owners this week, it seems that many are yet to even do anything proper with social media. So think of the reaction mobile optimization gets, albeit initially anyway. This is soon to change. Because no matter what your bosses, colleagues or partners say the fact is clear as day: if you do not invest in mobile marketing you’re leaving money on the table.

So to the common objections to mobile optimization. Some will say it’s too new and they don’t know where to start: that’s just lame. Some will say that they don’t know how to measure the ROI so it’s just wasting money: a valid concern, but still lame as an objection. And some will say they don’t have the time and want to focus energy in other areas that are more profitable: terribly lame.

Mobile marketing is here, and you either choose to innovate or you choose to die. So now what?

Well, straight off don’t get carried away and lose yourself in this world of touchscreen scrolling. Start with a basic mobile website with a responsive design. This will need to load quickly, and have no aspects that aren’t mobile optimized; otherwise you’ll lose your customers. This doesn’t cost the world.

Then invest in a mobile analytics service that’ll measure and accurately map out a visitor’s journey through your mobile website. This’ll give you an idea of buying behaviour relative to your unique mobile site and how you can teak things. Again, this isn’t that expensive.

As for content, take into account that mobile users take on more information than “regular” browsers (that’s if we can call it regular now). This is simply because a mobile is fixed with them all day. Think lunch breaks, trains home, waiting in queues, at the bathroom… these are all possibilities – even probabilities – to browse. So get it right. Information needs to be short, concise and to the point so it stands out from the rest keeping your visitor interested and engaged at all times.

Finally, and this is the next step once you’re up and running, consider the creation of a mobile app or a website in the form of an app. This will obviously cost more. But if you do have the budget (and are getting the traffic and seeing conversions) then you have Geo-Targeting, Narrowcasting and Gamification possibilities available as potential strategies. Okay, I admit, these are perhaps a little advanced but are nonetheless worth a mention because they’re inclusion within a marketing strategy depends on your current mobile marketing efforts.

Think of your own buying habits. Think of your kids, colleagues and friends and look at how often they’ll grasp a mobile or tablet. Chances are that they’re browsing with the intention of possibly buying something. And just how many people – aka potential customers and your target market – own a smartphone or mobile/tablet device?

Sure, mobile marketing optimization has been on the cards for years. But only this year have the stats been there to back these claims. You simply cannot let this slide because just about everyone is using mobile. It’s too important now.

Chances are that you’re probably reading this on your mobile device too…