3 Mobile Marketing Tips to Ease Your Company's Transition

 Worldwide mobile advertising revenue will expand 3.5X its present size by 2016. (Source: Yankee Group)

47% of marketing companies plan to increase their efforts in mobile apps in the next year. (Source: Experian)

Email opens on smartphones and tablets have increased 80% over the last six months. (Source: Litmus)

Can you see a pattern beginning to form here?

Mobile marketing and engagement is more important now than ever before. On a steady incline with no signs of letting up, mobile marketing is beginning to transform the way in which businesses are approaching their strategic marketing strategies.

Since it's inception, mobile marketing has begun to chip away at the traditional ways in which consumers behave, ultimately creating a new standard for promotion, engagement, and the average consumers buying process.

Although its hard to imagine these days, there was a time where we had to go to the store to make a purchase, visit the library when we came across a book we wanted to read, and call a friend when we wanted to catch up.

With smart phones, tablets, e-readers, and social networks paving the way for a more mobile-reliant society, businesses must learn how to make a smooth transition if they wish to keep up.

Create a Mobile Site That is Functional

Smaller screens, touch-based navigation, and inconsistent degrees of wireless connection are all mobile factors that make it difficult for businesses to create a mobile adaptation of their site that is equally as functional as the desktop version, if not better.

With mobile, users expect instant gratification, which means your mobile pages must be designed to load quickly. According to Knotice, "our human need for immediate results gives our brains about 4-6 seconds (maximum) before most of us will try an alternate route to get at information we need."

I'll admit, I am guilty of becoming frustrated with a webpage that won't load even when I know I am in a place with a spotty wireless connection. It's almost as if as consumers we expect webpages to magically load under any circumstance. While it may not be fair, it's the way people work.

Aside from timeliness, work towards making the conversion path between one page to another relevant page as quick, and simple as possible. Consider the way in which your customers are likely to navigate your mobile site. If they are in the products section, how many steps are they going to have to take to make it through checkout? Make it easy.

The goal is recognize the tap, swipe, and zoom format that accompanies mobile devices, and use this information to simplify any and all navigation paths.

Strengthen Your Social Media Efforts

65% of  time spent on social networks happens on mobile. (Source: Mashable)

In fact, statistics show that YouTube reaches more U.S. adults aged 18–34 than any cable network.

Prior to this, there was once a time when television was sweeping the nation. Families were straying from tradition, letting go of their routine family dinners around the table and opting for less conversational dinners on the couch with the television blaring.

Now a time has come where not only do we no longer eat as a family around the table, but if we do it's in front of the television with a handful of our mobile devices within an arms reach.

This means that in order to keep pace, businesses must shift their efforts and learn to place a heavier emphasis on creating an engaging user experience on a multitude of social networks.

As consumer become less reliant on stationary technology like television, and home computers, the involvement with alternative mobile social networks continues to increase.

While I am guilty of having not only a Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn account, I also have an Instagram, Vine, Snapchat account for added entertainment, information, and engagement. While many consumers frequent more than one social network on a regular basis, it is important to narrow in on the networks that are used most often by the people in your target audience.

Although I have every account under the sun, a business looking to target my demographic, would benefit from beefing up their Facebook and Twitter efforts, as those are the ones I use the most.

Utilize Geolocation Information

25% of smartphone owners ages 18–44 say they can’t recall the last time their smartphone wasn’t next to them. (Source: Fast Company)

What this statistic reveals is that we are taking out smartphones everywhere.

We bring them to work, they accompany us into the bathroom, and most of the time they land a spot in our beds every night.

If we don't go anywhere without them, why isn't your business making use of geolocation information?

According to Tech Target, geolocation is the wireless detection of the physical location of a remote device.

Geolocation services like Foursquare, a check-in based social app, grant businesses the opportunity to increase their reach through loyal customer check-in services.

In order to unlock the potential benefits of geolocation information, encourage your customers to check into your location on social networks. It's a good idea to offer some type of reward in order to increase amount of action your business receives.

The more your customers check-in, the most reputable your brand becomes, while the chances of untapped customers discovering your business increases.

Geolocation information is all about getting the word out, and learning more about where your target audience is located. This type of information will make it easier for your business to implement a more personalized brand experience.

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