If you’re reading this article on a mobile device, it is probably time for you to get serious about mobile marketing. Consider these statistics:
- Mobile search surpassed desktop search in 2015, and the gap is widening (source: Google)
- People spend about 87 hours per month on their mobile devices (source: SmartInsights)
- People spend 69 percent of their time online using a mobile device (source: Comscore)
- 71 percent of marketers believe mobile marketing is core to their business (source: Salesforce)
- Mobile advertising will take 82 percent of ad budgets by 2019 (source: Emarketer)
- 80 percent of B2B buyers use mobile at work (source: BCG Research)
Think Mobile First
“Mobile first” became the mantra for web design in 2015. It’s becoming the mantra for all of digital marketing. This means that you would be well advised to design your marketing strategy for mobile users from the start. Here are the basics of mobile marketing that you need to be aware of. For more, check out this article on Why Mobile Website Design is More Important than Ever.
Use Responsive Design
Your website needs to adapt to the size of the screen used to access it. In the web design world, this is called responsive design. If a page does not display well on mobile devices, it will be abandoned and Google, which commands 96 percent of mobile search, and will penalize your search engine rankings.
Create High-Speed Web Pages
Most users abandoned web pages that take more than two seconds to load, and that’s on desktops. Mobile users have even less patience. You can test your site’s speed (mobile and desktop) using Google’s PageSpeed Insight tool.
AMP it Up
The Accelerated Mobile Project (AMP) is an open-source initiative that allows you to develop mobile-friendly versions of websites using a lightweight version of HTML that will be stored in a way that makes them very fast on mobile devices. This is becoming a must-have feature of web design.
Focus on Functionality
Some 40 percent of users told Google they will not return to a site that does not quickly satisfy their needs. This means that in addition to loading quickly, the page must deliver what users are looking for. Put the most important information at the top of the page. It’s likely all that will be seen on a mobile device. Make your call to action a push-button experience–make phone numbers dial by tapping them, and don’t use forms that require a lot of typing.
Personalize Ads
78 percent of shoppers said they welcome ads that are relevant to their interests. This makes personalization imperative. Social media advertising platforms make it possible to deliver ads based on location and interests, and a combination of both. Use can even take into account factors like time of day and local weather to give people what they’re looking for before they ask.
The Revolution is Here
The mobile revolution is upon us. Mobile marketing and mobile advertising are imperative for most businesses. According to Ad Age, the smartphone is the most rapidly adopted technology in the world since television. In the United States, 77 percent of adults use smartphones. Mobile advertising is by far the largest and fastest growing digital advertising channel. It’s where your customers, B2B and B2C spend most of their time. The good news: they want to hear from you. Don’t keep them waiting.
