Hey, you! Yes, you. When was the last you used your phone? An hour ago, 30 minutes ago, 5 minutes ago, or 1 minute ago? Or are you on your phone right now?!
We look around us today and see that mobile devices have pretty much consumed us in a way that we never predicted. Children as young as 6 to the elderly aged 80+ can be seen using mobile phones. As disruptive as the internet has once been as a technology, now, the internet through mobile is on the exponential rise. In 2018, it was recorded that 52.2% of all website traffic was generated through mobile phones.
That’s right! This means that mobile devices had very well surpassed desktops last year.
And now, for the big impeding question – *queue the drum rolls* – with this being the situation in the digital world today, what does this mean for people like us – the marketers of the 21st century?
If this is your expression right now, we feel you. All this can be a tad bit overwhelming. But fret not! Here, we try to roll out some tips for you so that you, too, can start your journey with mobile marketing.
What is mobile marketing?
Mobile marketing is the new-age digital marketing strategy that involves reaching your target audience in ways optimized for their smartphones, tablets, and/or other mobile devices through applications, social media platforms, websites, SMS/MMS, emails, and more. Essentially, all content you see on your phone, which has been optimized, especially for this purpose, is a part of the mobile marketing ecosystem. For example, all the top fashion brands now have mobile applications where customers can complete their purchase. It has progressed from physical stores to website stores to now, app stores. I think you get the point. Mobile has become the beacon of the digital realm.
Why is mobile marketing beneficial for you?
It is all about user behavior. Remember the question at the start of this article? When was the last you used your phone? Needless to say that we spend a significant portion of our daily time on our mobile devices. On average, we spend 3 hours and 15 minutes on our phones daily. Now here comes the big one – that is a whopping 45.5 days in a year.
It becomes self-explanatory as to why mobile marketing needs to be a part of every firm’s business strategy nowadays. No matter the size of the firm, it is vital to adopt this digital trend and implement a high-value mobile marketing strategy.
But how do you do it? Where do you start? Where do you go from there? How do you know it is working?
Getting a little dizzy?
It is okay! Continue reading to know how you can get on top of your game!
The Holy Trinity
1. Research
– Know Your Customer
The one thing that Donna from Suits has taught us is the power of information. No one knows your customer as well as you. Let’s go ahead and also say that the customer does not identify themselves as well as you do! In most situations, this is the case. Customers do not even know that they need something until they see it or are offered it.
The first step to achieving a successful mobile marketing strategy is to, quite literally, psychoanalyze your customer. What are their inherent needs? How are they searching for solutions? Why are they choosing one particular brand/service over another? What is the customer journey map? These are all essential questions you need to answer.
A good starting point is to first profile your ideal customer. Customer profiling allows one to understand the characteristics of a purchaser/consumer/user and predict how they will behave. This concept is not strange to most marketers. All you have to do now is move one step further and profile your customers in terms of their mobile usage. You have to ponder upon the why, when, where and how of their mobile usage. By leveraging this information, you will apprehend where and how your mobile strategy can come into play.
– Stalk Your Competition
Shhhhh, let me tell you a secret. Everyone does it! Do not be afraid to put on that detective hat and whip out your magnifying glass. To be on top of the game, you need to understand who is playing the game. Begin by identifying your competitors – are they a direct, indirect, or an aspirational competitor?
Studying what your competitors are up to is an excellent tactic to either find gaps you can fill or gain inspiration. You have to literally track their every step by either utilizing platforms such as social media, industry news, 3rd party competitive intelligence partners, or even by directly being their consumer! Use their app, register to be a user, follow their social media platforms, do everything to obtain competitive information.
2. Optimize
– Redesign Your User Interface
The key is to keep it simple. The first step to implementing your mobile strategy is to make sure that the user interface, be it the website, application, or platform, etc., is explicitly redesigned for mobile devices.
For example, websites displayed on desktops have different designs and specifications from those shown on mobile devices. Mobile devices are smaller, and thus need interfaces modified for use. It has been noticed that interfaces that use sleek design, cleverly placed visual aspects, and an easy call to action button get most conversions.
In general, keep formatting until you get the right aesthetic and functionality you are looking for. Moreover, the page layout has been said to have the most significant impact on overall performance. Thus, be consistent, folks.
You might also want to consider jumping into the “app” bandwagon. If your brand does not have a dedicated application on the iOS or the Play store, it is time you change that! With the rising popularity of apps and the constant use of them in our everyday lives, the benefits of it are very apparent.
– Refurbish Content Shown
With the growth of technology and tech-savvy individuals, capturing a person’s attention has become a challenge. Thus, we truly believe in the “less is more” motto. With competitors fighting on usage time and visibility, it has become all the more important to be concise and clear.
When tied with consumer research, you will understand at which touchpoints your consumers utilize mobile devices. For example, with statistics like 30% driving traffic and only 11% accounting for revenue, we can understand that consumers are using mobile devices to conduct their searches and gain knowledge. The final touchpoints are still converted only desktops or physically.
With this in mind, you know that the content that has been optimized for mobile devices must be more informative in nature. This will ensure that you give your target audience what they want. Reports have shown that 29% of mobile visitors switch to another site when they do not find what they are looking for. Thus, for a high-value mobile marketing strategy, targeting the right content to show the consumers is vital.
– Be Wary of Loading Speed
We fortunately or unfortunately live in a fast transacting world, which means we worship speed. According to the Aberdeen Group, with just 1 second of delay in loading, they calculated that customer satisfaction decreased by 16%; there was a 7% loss in conversions and that it produced 11% fewer page views. These impending results very clearly illustrate the effects of the speed of loading.
Remember how we said “cleverly” place visual aspects, well, this is precisely why. When an interface is image-heavy or even media-heavy, it takes more time to load. Thus, be strategic about media placements and weigh out the effects of them.
– Harness The Power of Mobile
Needless to say, that mobile is a potent tool. There is so much that it can do which marketers, like us, can leverage on.
The first is push notifications. These little things are so compelling. As aforementioned, attention span these days is concise. With competitors fighting alongside each other for the same proportion of time, push notifications bring with them the ability to capture attention. But, only if done right.
Push notifications give you access to “speak” to each individual. With customization, you can forge a relationship between your consumer and you. Relay important information, reminders, or any relevant content with a personality to your consumer through push notifications. This tool has been said to increase app usage by 88%, with 50% users opting for it as they find it useful.
Now, let us introduce to you another aspect of mobile that can be leveraged on – geofencing. This location-based mobile marketing strategy allows you to target your mobile users within specific geo. This gives you the ability to take your mobile marketing strategy further by really being able to accurately target very niche and particular users.
For instance, if a particular consumer of yours is near your brick and mortar store, you can send them promotional push notifications that are related to the store.
Do you see that? Did you see how push notifications made a comeback? That’s right. It is all about the integration and the synergy of all these tools. When putting together, you have something that is of high-value and powerful, a strategy that promises not only acquisition but also conversions and retention.
3. Measure
– Revisit Your KPIs
And now, for the final lap! It is all about goal setting. So to answer the question as to whether your mobile marketing strategy is working, we need to first ask, what are your goals? Goal setting is just as important as it is to implement your plan. You need to understand your objectives of the strategy.
For example, if the objective of your mobile marketing strategy is to gain awareness, then your KPIs will look something like several impressions or CPM (cost per mile)/CPC (cost per click) from mobile devices. However, if your strategy is genuine conversions, then, your KPIs will look like several purchases/registrations/deposits/installations or CPI (cost per install/CPA (cost per action) from mobile devices.
Choosing the right metrics and continuously measuring an optimizing them is crucial to having a working and flourishing mobile marketing strategy.
– Conduct A/B Testing
Yes! It is like a science experiment. You have a hypothesis. You have two variables – one control and one variation. Then, you experiment, measure and repeat with multiple variations until you find the most favorable results. It is that simple! You can do this with every aspect of your mobile marketing strategy – design, content, images, call-to-actions, target consumers – it is an endless list.
The trick is to test the touchpoints that are important to your target audience. Keep experimenting until you see have the “Eureka” moment! After that, continue experimenting with other aspects. As we mentioned, these testings are endless. For example, you might find that something as simple as a green call-to-action button instead of a yellow one has a higher click-through rate. Hence, it is safe to say that the more you experiment, the higher your chances of optimizing successfully.
So What Now?
With the tactics shared above, you can create and optimize your mobile marketing strategy, enabling your brand to not only reach out to a larger target audience but also with more precision and depth. Remember that this is only a guide and you would still have to strategize according to your industry, business and customers.
In this digital industry where individuals are checking their mobile devices 150 times a day on average, it is about time that your brand recognizes this as an opportunity and invests in it. Of course, like any other implemented strategy in a business, you will also have to continuously evaluate this strategy – continually conduct market research, keep optimizing by testing and measuring KPIs.
So, all in all, we leave you here with all the knowledge you need to stay on top of mobile marketing strategy innovations, where you can drive your brand to generate leads and conversions that matter!
Good luck with all your endeavors, fellow marketer.
Author: Komal Reddy | Junior Digital Account Manager