Why to Get Going Now!
According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the number of web-enabled smart phone users in the U.S. jumped from 35 to 45 percent between May 2011 and February 2012. Current estimates say that more people will search the web from their mobile devices instead of their desktop computers by 2014, although many experts consider that a very conservative estimate. In this new mobile marketing landscape, however, the users are way ahead of the curve compared to web marketers and advertisers: While 20 percent (and counting) of Google searches now take place over mobile devices, only 2 percent of websites have been designed with the mobile web in mind. That means mobile users suffer 98 percent of the time, trying to sift through hard-to-navigate, non-mobile-optimized websites. When mobile consumers suffer, so do the businesses that have not thought far enough ahead to incorporate mobile web design, mobile marketing and mobile advertising into their marketing plans. And by far enough ahead, we mean yesterday.
The good news with mobile marketing is that with so many businesses still behind the curve, this gives savvy businesses that adopt a mobile web design for their websites now a leg up on the competition.
Here are 8 benefits of mobile marketing that your business can enjoy if you jump in today:
1. Mobile Marketing is Very Now
Mobile marketing differs significantly from desktop web marketing: Desktop searches are usually about things people plan to do in the future, whereas mobile search users are on the go and looking for a product or service that they want to spend money on right now. It can mean spontaneous sales for the company prepared to lure mobile customers. Mobile advertising, therefore, has the potential to reach customers who are in your area and ready to buy your products or services almost immediately.
2. Mobile Advertising is Highly Relevant to the Consumer
Because mobile ads can be specifically targeted to local consumers through their smart phones, these ads have a higher response rate than ads blanketed over a wider audience. This makes them very cost-effective, and even popular among the target audience. Over the course of 2011, clicks on mobile advertising exploded by 711% because of that local relevancy.
3. Mobile Marketing Efforts are Easy to Track
There are several ways to track mobile marketing messages and calculate the responses and click-through rates, which makes it easier for businesses to get solid data on their mobile marketing ROI. This helps businesses adapt more quickly to the changing wants and desires of consumers, which enables them to stay ahead of the competitive curve and keep their customer experiences positive.
4. A Big Benefit of Mobile Marketing: Going Viral
The connections people increasingly have with social media outlets on their smartphones make it super easy for a great mobile advertising campaign to go viral and reach even more potential customers than originally intended.
5. Mobile Marketing Boosts Search Engine Rankings
The heavyweight search engines like Google and Bing seem to be boosting search rankings for websites that have links and mentions on social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn; and a majority of these links, citations, tweets or post are coming from mobile devices. Mobile web design also enables businesses to get into the exploding number of local mobile search directories. This means that your mobile website will float to the top of more mobile customers’ searches, making it highly likely they will see your mobile-optimized website first, which gives you a better chance of drawing people into your shop.
6. Mobile Advertising Can Enhance Customer Experience
First impressions are critical in web marketing, and even more so in the world of mobile web marketing, mostly because of the speed at which mobile customers make decisions. Potential consumers are easily frustrated by difficult-to-navigate websites that have not taken mobile web design into account and will quickly search for a site that is mobile optimized. A mobile-optimized website is more likely to make a positive impression on potential customers at that critical decision-making moment when they are in your area and ready to spend money.
7. Mobile Marketing Puts You Ahead of Your Competition
With nearly 98% of the world’s business websites still not optimized with mobile web design, now is the time to jump in and get a mobile web design company on your side before your competitors do. If your business is one of the first to tap into this exploding market, your business will be in a much stronger position over the competition in the long run.
8. Mobile Advertising is Portable
People with smartphones take them everywhere. It’s like an addiction. That means that your mobile marketing messages go everywhere with them as well, reminding them that since they are in your neighborhood, they might as well stop by. And mobile-optimized mapping features make it easy to guide these customers straight to your door.
The business possibilities and benefits of mobile marketing have the potential to boost your business right now and long into the future. And with the number of smartphones set to exceed the number of human beings living on the planet sometime later this year, this is not an opportunity you can afford to miss. Contact us today to mobilize your website for the future!