With mobile phones becoming an essential part of everyday life, more and more people are now owning personal mobile phones. According to a study conducted by We Are Social [1], 50% of the world population owns a mobile phone. If smartphones are taken into consideration, 65% of new handsets sold are smartphones these days. This indicates a very huge potential for companies and brands to reach out to their potential customer base through mobile advertising.
Mobile advertising simply is communicating with existing and potential customers through mobiles. But in an age where different media compete with each other, it is necessary to have mobile marketing strategies that can make a business stand out. There are a few strategies shared below that can help a business effectively use mobile marketing and make the most out of it.
With increase in focus on online marketing, most businesses are creating their websites. But using the same website for mobile marketing can be a big mistake. It is necessary to understand that mobile users view the website on much smaller screen of the mobile phone as compared to a laptop or desktop. A well-organized landing page with clear linkages to subsequent pages can make the mobile website very user-friendly.
The menu options and other filter or search options need to be displayed clearly on the mobile screen. This however does not mean clustering the landing page with all options. An easy to follow navigation works effectively in making a website mobile friendly. Most mobile users are familiar with the commonly used three bars on the top right or left of the landing page. They are easy to understand and enable smooth navigation through the website.A combined study from iAcquire and SurveyMonkey shows that 40% customers switch to a competitor website if they do not find seamless user experience on one [2].
A person using mobile phone to look up a product or service is very different from one using a laptop for the purpose. Hence though multiple pages, links, tabs etc. are important for a desktop website, they are not essential for mobile websites. Mobile users are looking for very specific piece of information and hence it is crucial that the content of the mobile website is "to the point."
Mobile users also do not always have access to Wi-Fi connections. They use their cellular data for connecting to the internet and hence look for quick information. It is advisable to provide the key information in the form of bullet points on mobile website instead of lengthy paragraphs. Having short and persuasive headlines can also engage readers to continue reading.
It is also essential to optimize the content of mobile website for search engines. The same study from iAcquire and SurveyMonkey also reveals that 70% of mobile searches lead to an action on the website within first one hour. Hence featuring top on the mobile searches can prove to be extremely beneficial in increasing leads and sales.
While smartphones are becoming predominantly important, there are still a majority of consumers who use non-smart phones. As per a survey by SurveyMonkey, even amongst smart phone users, 41% were found to use their phones for sending text messages in 2014 [3]. Hence SMS services can prove to be a great mobile advertising channel to increase reach to non-smart phone user population.
A big advantage of using SMS services for mobile advertising is that they can be easily tracked. The number of consumers who opened the message and clicked on advertised links can be checked to measure the incremental leads brought in by this channel. And while searches and banners are very generic mobile advertisement measures, SMS can add a personalized touch to the ad campaign.
While a mobile website is a way to attract more leads, a mobile application helps create customer loyalty that leads to continuous sales over time. A mobile app runs seamlessly and provides users a much better user experience than a mobile website. Encouraging visitors of mobile website to download the app is a step towards ensuring that they use the app instead of going back to a search engine to look up for service provider again. This can lead to diversion of leads to competitors.
Advertising a business on the mobile apps of other complimentary service provider is also a great way to generate more leads for the business. This is very similar to using AdSense for internet marketing which places advertisements on pages relevant to the business. The users of the app can be encouraged to either visit the business website or download their app. App downloads and usage can also be tracked real-time to monitor performance and take actions for improvements.
While using either mobile website or mobile app or even both, it is very essential that the visitors be able to locate the contact personnel of the business. If there is also a brick-and-mortar store, the website visitors should be able to locate the nearest store easily. Having helpline or “contact us” information on the mobile website makes visitors more confident about making a purchase or ordering a service.
Similarly, for leads who are looking for the store information to make a purchase, it is best to have the business marked on the local map. Listing with "Google My Business" can make it very easy for users to locate the business through mobile searches. Including a map with the store marked on it also provides directions to the visitors.
These are some of the most important strategies that one must follow to successfully use mobile advertising to generate more leads and increase sales. Keeping these strategies in mind can help businesses make small changes that can make big differences to their sales. Mobile advertising is a very powerful medium to create awareness about a business and receive feedback from consumers. Businesses are already catching up with it. Missing out on such huge opportunity could mean leaving quite some money on the table.
Research sources used in this blog post:
[1] https://wearesocial.com/uk/blog/2014/09/world-mobile-phone
[2] https://www.iacquire.com/blog/mobile-behavior-big-game-seating-a-study-with-surveymonkey
[3] https://www.slideshare.net/SurveyMonkey/mobile-consumertrends-v7/7-SendiMessageQ_W_E_R_T
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