Marketing in the Moment and on the Move

Mobile marketing is the most accessible type of marketing in the world today, with consumers spending more and more time on their smartphones and tablets.  65 percent of digital time in the U.S. is spent on mobile devices rather than desktop, up from 53 percent in 2013.This means you can get your message to customers when and where they need it most. A BI Intelligence report predicts that mobile commerce will grow from 20.6% in 2016 to 45% in just the next four years. The trick with mobile marketing is that it is time and location sensitive. Unlike traditional marketing channels, this means you can connect with customers during specific moments in real time. By capitalizing on this, you can tailor advertising to where and when your customers are most likely to respond.

Optimizing for mobile users

The first step to effective mobile marketing is focusing on achieving clarity and creating compelling images. Mobile users often engage with their devices in short bursts, so you can’t depend on them to read through paragraphs of information, as they might if they were at their desktop at home. 50% of emails are opened on mobile devices. To ensures you are optimizing your mobile marketing potential  you need to:

• Resize images by proportion of screen
• Increase the size of links and call-to-action buttons
• Switch to a single-column layout for better readability
• Place the most important content in the upper-left-hand corner of your email, where readers see it first
• Make sure the sender name, or “from” name, of your emails is familiar—the name of your company rather than the name of the person in charge of sending emails
• Link only to sites that are mobile friendly

Apps help you market in the moment

The best apps do one thing well, rather than trying to do several different things by addressing a specific user need. Apps offer the highest level of convenience for mobile users, and have grown to account for 86% of smartphone time this year. With more accessibility than ever before, the process to create an app is not out of reach. An added bonus for small businesses, they’re becoming less expensive to develop. But before you set out to create one, make sure you have a distinct purpose in mind to fill a particular niche.

One distinct advantage of having an app is that you can reach users when they’re near your business. Geofences and Bluetooth beacons can alert you whenever potential customers are within a defined range. This allows you to create a custom message that can include special offers, surveys, and other place sensitive call to actions.

In addition to or in lieu of an app, a text message campaign is another cost-effective way for small and medium-sized businesses to reach customers on the go. This type of campaign can highlight services or promote product deals. An automotive repair shop in Canada boosted appointment rates by more than 60 percent with a text campaign. This type of marketing creates a personal aspect to advertising and helps build a strong relationship with the customer.

Integrate your content          

Using many different marketing channels is important, but consistency is key. Most consumers use multiple devices and an interaction that begins with an in-store visit could continue with a mobile search and ultimately be an online purchase. If all your marketing channels do not have the same up to date information, you risk losing and frustrating potential customers. As mobile usage continues to increase, small businesses must engage with consumers across various platforms, keeping up with the ever changing marketing world. With a smart mobile marketing strategy in place, you’ll increase your company’s opportunities to connect with more customers.

To learn more about how your small business can implement a mobile marketing strategy, download our whitepaper here.