Digital marketing analysts have been tracking the surge in mobile marketing for over a decade, advocating for mobile-friendly interfaces across platforms. However, with mobile officially accounting for over half of all web traffic, mobile-first interfaces are set to be the new normal. You can expect to see the word ‘desktop-friendly’ being bandied about more often than not in the future.
Ecommerce was one of the first spaces to catch on and powerfully leverage mobile. The pandemic has only accelerated this trend. To help you fully engage with mobile-first shoppers in this new reality, we’ve put together a short list of tips and strategies you can use.
Create Responsive Content
Recycled advice perhaps, but incredibly important nonetheless. Mobile-friendly website content isn’t so much about getting your prospects to tap that ‘Buy’ button, as much as preventing them from bouncing off your website in the first place. It serves as the foundation on which to build the larger appeal of your platform.
Personalize the Customer Journey
The modern shopper wants and needs a personalized approach to commit to a purchasing decision. Cross-device tracking should be a part of your marketing strategy. It’ll enable you to gather the data you need across the buying cycle, and help you target your customer where and how they prefer.
Use Video
If you haven’t realized the potential of video, where have you been really, for the last 10 years? People prefer to consume their information via video rather than text and retain it better that way too. In fact, over 75% of adults make a buying decision after watching a marketing video.
Try Hyperlocal Targeting
Geo-location information on mobiles really opens up this option for marketers in a way that desktops can’t. Say you’re a local business and you only want to target customers within a small radius around you, this is the perfect way to make your marketing budget count.
Augmented Reality Is the Up-and-Coming Thing
Virtual and augmented reality has long since shed the connotation of being gimmicky attractions. They’re a real marketing option for brands and, guess what? The consumers are all for it. Home decor brands like IKEA have been using it for a while to help buyers visualize what their new furniture might look like in their homes.
Employ Voice Search
Over 71% of US smartphone users use personal assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Home. What does this mean for you? Optimize your eCommerce pages for conversational queries, including adapting to the language and long-tail keywords you’d expect your prospects to use when they’re talking into their phones.
Build an App
Even if your brand hasn’t felt the need for one yet, consider building one anyway. User behavior on mobile doesn’t really work the same way as on desktop. People will often use their preferred apps rather than mobile browsers to do everything from connect socially, browse information, news, and, indeed, buy stuff. The more app installs you can motivate, the bigger your captive audience gets, ripe for targeting via push notifications and email.
Remember back when mainline advertisers first transitioned to social media and filled up their banner images with copy like they would with print ads? Those ads simply wouldn’t convert because of an outdated approach. Much the same way, mobile differs from other devices. It’s an ecosystem with its own set of rules that brands need to fully adapt to in order to truly succeed.
By Katie Tejada
Author Bio:
Katie Tejada is a writer, editor, and former HR professional. She often covers developments in HR, business communication, recruiting, real estate, finance, and law, but also enjoys writing about travel, interiors, and events. She works closely with GiftYa, an online gifting solution for those looking to spread the love.