What is mobile marketing and why you can not afford to ignore it

We will be surprised if you do not read this article on your mobile phone, since many of the world's population turn to their phones for information. People visit websites, open emails, make purchases and do research, all directly from their mobile devices. This means that one of the best ways to reach your target audience is through mobile marketing. There is no doubt that focusing your energy on building your mobile presence is crucial for any business that wants to succeed.

We have put together an introductory guide to mobile marketing to help you consider why and how you should build a mobile marketing strategy. The first and perhaps most essential step for mobile marketing is to make sure that you create a website that is mobile friendly. This ensures that all visitors have a pleasant experience when they come to your site. This guide will help you figure out the rest of the details of your mobile marketing strategy to ensure you reach the right audience and guide people seamlessly towards your website.

What is mobile marketing?

Mobile marketing refers to multi-channel advertising and digital marketing strategy that promotes a company's products and services via a target group's smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. This includes websites, emails, SMS (short message service) and MMS (multimedia message service), social media and apps.

This strategy of omnichannel engagement, whether short-term or long-term, has to do with the increasing shift of potential consumers' attention and money to the mobile world. In order to gain and maintain attention, companies need to invest in highly strategic and personalized content. When done right, mobile marketing creates a personalized campaign for a user who is constantly on the go and connected to their phone for at least 3 hours a day.

Mobile marketing has the power to raise the brand value as well as the demand for your products by creating a stronger real-time connection between you and your customers. In fact, in the United States alone, the use of mobile versus desktop computers is estimated to grow by almost 20% (to 55.7 million users) by 2022, and the number of people using the Internet exclusively on a mobile device will grow by 10.6%, and now 55 , 1 million users. Focusing on creating a seamless mobile marketing strategy and user experience is likely to greatly increase your marketing efforts. Here are some tips to help you do just that.

Components of mobile marketing

When considering your mobile marketing strategy, you should keep in mind all the mobile channels your potential user can be found on. It is important to understand which media are most relevant to your user base. If you reach them in the right places, you have a better chance of speaking a language that potential customers will understand. Consider the following formats for your strategy:

Create a mobile-friendly website

Your website is the center of your business, and it is important that it represents you and your brand in a clean and professional way. It is therefore crucial that your website is mobile friendly so that potential users who surf the phone have the same opportunity to see your websites.

The content of the website must be suitable for the mobile world, which means that the menu must be easily accessible and the content must be adapted to smaller screens. You should also make sure that it loads quickly and has no technical mobile errors that could cause a user to reject. When you create your page on Wix, a mobile-friendly version will automatically be produced for you. Be sure to switch to the mobile view of your site before going live to review it.

Another important part of mobile-friendly websites is to ensure that users can easily start and complete a purchase, all directly from their phones. Research has shown that no less than 84% of users have experienced problems completing a mobile transaction. It is therefore important that you make it clear where to click to see item details, what to do to get to check out, how to securely add payment details and more. While this may already be in place on your desktop site, it is important that you double-check what it looks like in the mobile version, as sometimes buttons may be skewed and items may not be centered.

Enable interactivity

One of the most effective mobile marketing strategies is to only evaluate the user experience on a phone versus a computer. Mobile devices have a clear advantage over desktops by having a clickable screen. This means that promotional expressions can be interactive, as can your photos and campaigns.

Everything on the screen feels more clickable and zoomable, and should be treated as such. People are also more likely to roll over when using a telephone. We therefore suggest that you think about how you usually behave on the phone before you put the finishing touches on the mobile website.

Phones also help promote the immediacy of making a purchase and are the perfect marketing tool to inform your customers about promotions, discounts, special offers and sales you want them to know about.

Share content via SMS / MMS

Now that you know how to ensure that your website is mobile friendly, you can focus on other mobile marketing tactics that can help bring traffic to your website. One of the first places to start is with text messaging. While it may seem a bit aggressive to send text messages to customers, it is a great way to target an interested audience, such as customers who have purchased from your site in the past. Research has found that the opening rate for text messages is as high as 98%. SMS and MMS content that gives particularly good results includes sales offers, incentives and special campaigns that encourage readers to click on the link you have added and make a purchase.

Optimize your website and do it locally

Phones are of course different from computers in that they are always with us on the go. This means that when people search for something on their phone, they often look for local results, no matter where they are. When some Google "ice" when on vacation, they will find a local ice cream shop. To ensure that you provide results for these types of searchers, you should make sure that your mobile site and ads are located.

To ensure that people can find your position on Google, you should make sure to claim your business and state the position or locations. You can also run localized Google ad campaigns. Local Google ads allow you to show your location and your local phone number in ads based on the searcher's location. This is a mobile marketing strategy that can give you a leg up and ensure that your ads stand out from other advertisers.

Create mobile-friendly landing pages

Landing pages, or standalone websites that help promote a specific campaign, are an important part of a company's success. Designing your landing pages in a way that is appealing and best represents your brand and products is the key to profitability. Make sure you pay attention to the customer's needs so that you know what your message should be focused on. And as you did with your site, make sure your landing pages are mobile friendly too. You can create a landing page that has a mobile-friendly design by using Wix's landing page templates.

Create and promote an app

Many businesses today have their own app. When created properly, mobile apps can help you engage your consumers and drive traffic to your site. Evaluate your field and explore the many types of apps out there to find out if it is the right move for you to invest in an app for your brand. You can then easily create an app with this app builder.

Apps can then be marketed in app stores that allow your brand more exposure. App marketing advertising usually works like other PPC platforms. You can also market your app via banner ads or with QR codes on other relevant mobile sites. This allows you to expand your user base and ensure that the mobile experience you provide customers fits well with their devices.

How Mobile Marketing Can Help Your Business

Mobile marketing is crucial if you want your business to succeed and if you want to support major marketing initiatives you may be investing in. Depending on your industry, target audience and budget, mobile marketing can do wonders for your brand. Here are some of the reasons why mobile marketing is so indispensable for your business.

01. It is the best platform for targeting, reach and engagement

There really could not be a better or easier way to target, reach and engage consumers than on their phones that are with them all day long. No matter where they are or what time it is, mobile marketing advertising lets you stay in touch with them like no other marketing channel out there.

02. Mobile marketing makes things more personal

Mobile advertising happens to be one of the most personal forms of advertising. Not only do you capture users on a device they are always with, but you also have the ability to review past actions performed by those users. In fact, 58% of smartphone users feel more favorable towards companies whose mobile sites or apps remember who they are and their past behavior. This means that your users will have a better connection to your brand if you take the time to customize their user experience.

03. Reach your customers instantly

Whether you want to wish your consumers "Merry Christmas" or you want to send them a quick push message telling them that sales are on, the use of mobile marketing will convey your message in seconds. While it may seem intrusive, research has found that 75% of potential consumers would like to receive an SMS with a tempting campaign from you.

04. Save money with mobile marketing

If we have not already convinced you, this is likely to be the case: mobile marketing is extremely cost effective, especially compared to traditional forms of advertising such as TV ads. Digital and mobile advertisers use a calculation called "CPM" (cost per thousand) to measure how much money it will cost them if they want their ad to reach 1000 potential consumers. The cheapest CPM can be achieved with social media marketing and in-app advertising, which are significantly more cost effective than their traditional advertising counterparts. So if you want your marketing campaigns to have a huge impact and increase your return on investment (return on investment), mobile is the way to do it.

05. Many people shop on mobile

Shopping online and via mobile is a daily affair for most people. In fact, more than half of all internet traffic comes from people who shop on their phones. This is what makes it worthwhile to invest in your mobile website, and therefore you need to guarantee that your mobile e-commerce experience is no less than perfect.

06. Creates strong brand engagement

Creating a strong emotional or psychological connection between a brand and its consumers can help drive your sales. Brand engagement is derived from factors such as satisfaction and trust, which influence consumer behavior and encourage them to make a purchase from your site. Your customers will trust your brand and want to buy from it again if they have had a good experience with your brand on computer or mobile. And since many customers arrive on their mobile phones, it's worth the time to make sure they also have a good branding experience.

When it comes down to it, running a successful e-commerce website, or any website for that matter, must go hand in hand with mobile marketing and digital marketing strategies. You can not afford to ignore the majority of potential consumers, and that's why your site needs to cater to mobile consumers.

Freddy Fix borrowed from Wix