As its name implies, mobile marketing is aimed squarely at reaching mobile users with your marketing message. There are a number of reasons why mobile marketing is an essential part of your overall digital strategy. Consider these statistics:
- According to Pew Research, 97 percent of Americans own a smartphone, and according to research you can do yourself by walking down any street, those smartphone owners are not shy about using them.
- Email Monday reports that 81 percent of smartphone users access their email from their phone regularly.
- 76 percent of consumers who search for a type of local business on a mobile device call or visit that business within 24 hours, 88 percent within the week, according to Google.
What we are seeing consistently across everyone of our clients is that the use of mobile has overtaken both desktop and tablet numbers combined. Especially with the new phones with larger screens, more and more people are using their smartphone. These statistics make it apparent that mobile marketing should be a significant part of your inbound marketing tool kit.
Mobile Marketing Tools of the Trade
The question, though, is how to leverage mobile marketing in the best way for your organization. What tools can you use?
Website Tools: The centerpiece of your inbound marketing strategy is your website. So, the first thing you must consider when embarking on mobile marketing is whether your website is up to the task when it comes to mobile. When a mobile user accesses your site, what does he or she see? Does your website display as it should, and does it load quickly? If not, this needs to be addressed quickly.
Google provides a couple of tools to help you assess your website's mobile friendliness. The easiest to use is the Google Mobile-Friendly Test, which you can find here. Simply put in your website URL and a basic Google report pops up, telling you whether your site makes the grade.
For a more comprehensive report, you can use the Mobile Usability Report. This report is useful because it identifies errors and gives pointers on how to fix them. And of course, Google Analytics is another tool to help you analyze your website mobile data.
SMS Marketing: An incredibly powerful mobile marketing tool that is often overlooked is text messages. Campaign Monitor reports that the open rate for text promotions is 98 percent. SMS marketing messages are read quickly and are guaranteed to reach an audience that has agreed to receive them. What could be better than that kind of marketing tool?
QR Codes: Use QR codes to streamline the user experience on mobile. Medium suggests some quick ways to put QR codes to work. Use QR codes to:
- Direct visitors to a landing page tied to a specific campaign
- Give visitors quick but detailed information about a particular product
- Offer a coupon
- Function as a Facebook 'Like' button on your webpage
Social Media Marketing: Though social media marketing is its own sub-category of digital marketing, social media is still a huge part of mobile marketing strategy. Why? The simple reason is that consumers access their social media accounts via their mobile devices all the time. So, a good social media strategy is ultimately also a good mobile marketing strategy, so long as the content you share on social media is optimized for mobile.
The Bottom Line
Digital marketing is an ever-evolving form of marketing. As both B2C and B2B consumers choose mobile devices to access your content, your marketing strategy must move in lockstep with their buyer journey. For the foreseeable future, that movement involves a strong mobile marketing component.
Not sure about how your mobile marketing is shaping up? Simply request an assessment today to start a conversation about how mobile marketing can be integrated more fully into your comprehensive inbound marketing strategy.
Written By: David Carpenter
