People check their phones around 150 times a day on average. Our mobile devices are in our hands, pockets, or purses, or on our work desks or nightstands. They have to be within arm's reach of us at all times during the day.
That always-on behavior is exactly how marketers need to think.
If marketers want to survive in today's world, they have to stay connected 24x7 just like their customers do.
Need more reasons to embrace mobile? Here are 10.
1. Numbers are growing for mobile usage, but PC numbers are dropping
US adults will spend 23% more time on their mobile device a day than in they did in 2013.
Moreover, time spent on mobile will add up to two hours and 51 minutes a day vs. two hours and 12 minutes a day online on PCs.
Mobile device usage is rising because we have busy schedules and are on-the-go people, and unlike PCs, mobile devices can go with us.
Click Image To Enlarge
2. Mobile is more engaging
Because our mobile devices are small enough to travel with us wherever we go, we can constantly be engaging with a business through its mobile site or mobile app, or via social media. As long as a business creates useful, fun content and properly markets that content through social media, contests, and more, users will engage with that content and your brand, and do so at home, at work, at school or on the go.
3. Mobile devices are more personal
Marketers can target a user individually on his or her mobile device. Through native advertising, which is less intrusive than other forms of advertising because it's built into the mobile site or app design, you suggest related content and apps tailored specifically to your users based on content they've consumed. When you personalize like that, your users engage with your brand more, and they help make you more money.
4. Mobile makes sharing content easier
Thanks to sharing abilities on various social media sites, people can read, like, and share your content with a simple touch of their screen, and your content may even go viral in a matter of minutes. Once someone shares your content socially, their friends and followers see it and can share it. Then the content is seen and shared by more and more people... And so on. Mobile is the only way to get your content shared to a wider audience in a short amount of time.
5. Mobile apps are all the rage
If you have a smart phone or tablet, you have mobile apps (probably a lot of them). You have those apps because they're useful and/or entertaining.
According to Nielsen, people spend 89% of their media time on mobile apps a month. Knowing exactly how many mobile apps are out there is difficult, though, because new ones are developed daily, but it was estimated that more than 50 billion apps were downloaded in 2013. That number is predicted to grow in the coming years.
6. Users are more likely to contact your business on a mobile device
More people are searching for local businesses on their mobile device and continue to do so because it's so easy to do now with voice command. Google found that 70% of mobile searchers call a business straight from their search results. A little more than 50% of US customers use their mobile phone to find a service a business provides, and 84% of companies said they see an increase in new business once they have a mobile site.
You need to have a mobile site so that people searching for you or your service will give you their business rather than turn away from your business because your site is slow or not properly functioning on a mobile device.
7. A call-to-action (CTA) on a mobile device gets you results
Marketers know a CTA button is necessary on your site. That is just as true for mobile sites and apps. You want to make sure your CTA stands out through its placement, size, and color. You always want to make sure the CTA is easy to touch with any size of finger.
A CTA is great when viewed on a smartphone because users just click it and reach your business within a matter of seconds. On other mobile devices, a CTA can also prompt a user to email your business or order a product from you. All that gives you engagement results you want.
8. Mobile demands response and usually gets it
The goal of mobile marketing isn't primarily for branding or as a public relations tool. Its main goal is to get a response from users. After all, 90% of American adults have a cell phone and 42% have a tablet. Marketers can get the response and engagement they want through mobile.
9. SMS marketing has high open rate success
SMS (short message service) marketing is a smart move. Why? What's one of the only forms of communication you can use to reach someone even if they're in a meeting or class setting?
Text messaging.
People receive texts on their smartphones and tablets, which they always have near them, and they feel compelled to read those texts once they hear their phone alerts, so it's an effective way to market. Open rates of 98% have been recorded for SMS marketing.
10. Mobile helps with social media marketing
Mobile and social media are intertwined. As previously mentioned, people spend 89% of their monthly time on mobile apps, and much of that time is spent on social media apps. People use social media because it's a way to stay connected with friends and family, to get news, and to share content.
Today, these people spend a high percentage of their time on social media platforms on a mobile device rather than a PC. So if you're optimized for mobile and have a good presence on social media sites, it's a win-win situation for you.
Click Image To Enlarge
Mobile is where consumers are, so it's where marketers need to be.
Marketers who understand we're in a world that's constantly connected and who act on that fact by embracing mobile will be the ones who stay ahead of their competitors and get the engagement and results they want.
COMMENTARY: Any marketer who ignores mobile devices as a media channel to reach its target market does so at its own peril. Consumers now own one or more mobile devices (smartphones, tablets or laptops) and the ability to go mobile, send and receive email, connect with friends on social networks, exchange content and shop online can no longer be ignored. Not only should marketers consider converting their websites so that they are mobile-ready, but they should consider mobile-only websites and mobile apps to insure they can market to mobile consumers no matter where they are on a 24/7, 365-day basis.
Courtesy of an article dated June 11, 2014 appearing in MarketingProfs
Comments