You might have observed that mobile marketing is driving the attention of the organizations and you might have also thought why is it getting so much focus of the marketers. So let me take you deep into this discussion, at present, it is being said that if mobile is not at the very center of your marketing strategy then it is time to adapt it or die. In the year 2015, Google had announced that mobile traffic has overtaken desktop traffic for the first time, and from then this difference has constantly increased. Mobile isn’t just a technology of the future, but it has revolutionized the business. Before we dive deep into this topic, let us first understand
what is mobile marketing?
In common language, the art of marketing your products and services to appeal to the mobile and other handheld device users is known as mobile marketing. It is usually a component of a multi-channel campaign. Everything that can be done on a desktop can also be done on a mobile device, so increased use of the mobile phone is disrupting the ways in which people use to engage with brands. From building a closer relationship with customers to developing a creative marketing campaign, there is so much one can do with the help of mobile marketing. When done efficiently, mobile marketing directly reaches to the potential customers that are targeted audience in a personalized manner, which increased the chances of conversion.
According to the statistics presented in Deloitte’s 2016 Global Mobile Consumer Survey,
- 80% of internet users own at least one smartphone
- Over 40 percent of Americans of all ages check their phones within five minutes of waking up
- On average, an American checks his/her smartphone 47 times a day. The 18-to-24-year age group checks nearly twice as often, i.e. 82 times a day.
- Mobile platforms, host up to 60% of digital media time for users in the U.S.
These studies show that the era of mobile marketing has arrived and also shows the signs of playing a key role in the marketing arena.
Why is mobile marketing so important?
After understanding the efficiencies of mobile marketing, and knowing that marketing is rapidly moving towards entering the era of mobile marketing, it is important for us to know what are the things that make mobile marketing so important.
1. Increasing count of smartphone users:
The number of smartphone users is constantly rising and has reached a count of 3.3 billion in 2019, which is very huge. The rate at which smartphone users are increasing in number predicts the future of mobile marketing. In 2011, there were 35% smartphone users and in 2019 this number grew to 64%. Targeting the audience through mobile is comparatively easy and hence increase in the count of smartphone users is considered as a good sign by marketers. Organizations that are not using mobile marketing strategies are actually ignoring potential customers in such a huge number.
2. Higher CTA
Mobile marketing encourages higher call-to-action. In various cases you, yourself might have experienced that you don’t take time to make a decision. Of all the online transactions, 40% are done from smartphones. User-friendly websites and informative content help users to make quicker decisions hence resulting in higher CTA.
3. Better Customer Engagement
Customer engagement and satisfaction plays a key role in the success of an organization. One of the major benefits of mobile marketing is delivering a personalized approach, and it is also an important factor in delivering customer engagement. As 80% of the social media time is spent on mobile, presence on social media and interaction with the audience also helps in better customer engagement. Mobile-friendly websites and customer services also optimize customer engagement.
4. Higher Conversion Rate
The conversion rate on smartphones and tablets are higher than on any other device. The average e-commerce conversion rates for a mobile device are higher by 64% when compared to the average desktop conversion rates. The open rate of SMS is whooping 98% as compared to 20% of emails. 65% of all emails are first opened on a mobile device. The conversion rate is 160% higher among consumers shopping sites that are optimized for smartphone sites. These figures show that conversion rates of the audience using mobile phones are higher.
Top 5 ways to boost your business with mobile marketing
With so many marketing benefits and enhanced features, mobile marketing is creating a permanent place in the marketing strategies of companies. Let us have a look at some of the methods to boost your business with the help of mobile marketing.
1. Create a mobile-friendly website
A mobile-friendly website is not an option anymore; it is a must. It is the most basic step towards applying mobile marketing to your business. If your website is not mobile-friendly, users trying to visit your website through smartphones or tablets will get frustrated. In some cases, they won’t be able to find your site, as the new update of Google algorithms, sites that are mobile-friendly are ranked higher by Google. According to a study done by socPub, 57% of users don’t recommend organizations that have a poorly designed mobile site. Use responsive design so that your website is displayed correctly on all types of smartphones.
2. Fuel SMS marketing
SMS, also known as short messaging service has huge capabilities of optimizing your marketing strategies. It gives you a chance to reach directly to the personal device of your customer or potential customer. By SMS, you can connect to the huge audience directly and 90% of the messages are opened within three minutes compared to 90 minutes for average emails. Also, the open rate of SMS is 98% and 45% is the conversion rate. Text messages are believed to be 8 times more effective at engaging customers. A study also says that almost 50% of U.S. customers make direct purchases after receiving an SMS-branded text. SMS are a very personal and hence very powerful method of mobile marketing. Make sure to handle it with detailed strategies and effective tactics.
3. Develop interactive mobile advertisements
Mobile advertising sector has evolved rapidly since the rise in the use of smartphones. Interactive advertisements are no more considered as something extraordinary when it comes to mobile advertising, instead, it is looked as a proved method of advertising to target customers. According to the reports presented by Tremor video, interactive advertisements boost the amount of time consumers spend with a brand by 47% compared to non-interactive counterparts. Interactive ads are the future of mobile advertisements.
4. Location-based marketing
Location-based marketing has taken marketing space to another level. Targeting potential customers on the basis of their location is something that has optimized the efforts of marketers. The location information of a user is obtained from their smartphones and then personalized SMS or info is sent to their mobile phones. Proximity marketing is another type of marketing in which messages are sent to the users within a specific radius of a location. It also enables marketers to display content or advertisement within a certain location.
5. Provide data-driven, mobile-friendly customer service
The data-driven approach is already benefitting marketers in different ways and using that in mobile marketing can further enhance the performance of mobile marketing strategies. Data help in understanding the behavior of the target audience and can enable marketers to personalize their strategies to target those users.
As mobile marketing is a very fast way to directly communicate with the customers, it plays an important role in delivering better customer experience. Using text-messaging to manage customer service issues can help organizations in developing their brands and also boost customer loyalty. Offering live-chat based customer service is also something that helps in engaging with customers to solve their issues. Mobile marketing is also an effective way to collect the data and feedbacks of the customers for the improvement of your products and services.
A mobile marketing strategy is not a stand-alone effort, but it is a combination of various marketing campaigns. Mobile technology is not a trend that will be going away anytime soon. Mobile everything is the wave of future and by integrating and optimizing your mobile marketing strategies you can be better prepared for the future. It’s time to start upgrading your marketing strategies.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aashish Yadav
Content Writer, Martech Cube
Aashish is currently a Content writer at Martech Cube. He is an enthusiastic and avid writer. His key region of interests include covering different aspects of technology and mixing them up with layman ideologies to pan out an interesting take. His main area of interests range from medical journals to marketing arena.