Mobile Marketing

Digital Marketing - Study Notes:

A mobile-first approach

When we think about consumers today, we must adopt what's called a mobile-first approach. This is simply where advertisers begin with the mobile as their first point of interaction with the consumer. And they create an experience that aims to draw people into the funnel from early-stage mobile interaction because that's what people use to get their information from the start.

And not only is this approach rewarded with better organic search rankings. Studies have actually shown that there is a direct correlation between higher mobile traffic, which may not directly convert, and overall site conversions, as many people begin their research phase on a mobile device. So, if they start researching, they're far more likely to go ahead and convert.

You also need to consider mobile consumer behavior. For example, it's actually quite difficult to enter your credit card details in a mobile phone on a small screen. This means that mobile web traffic doesn't directly lead to many online sales, but it has been shown that the more traffic you're getting from mobile, it does positively impact revenue and sales when people convert on a desktop device.

There is a distinction between what's called mobile web and mobile apps. Mobile apps use tokenization, where they save your profile details and your credit card, and it's much easier to convert using an Uber app or different things like that.

Now, in the world of connectivity and 360 consumers, it's important to note that mobile is relevant really at every stage of the purchase journey, from awareness to consideration and then from conversion to retention. So, this means that the mobile mindset must be a mobile-first approach, and this is central to our digital marketing success.

Mobile and the purchase funnel

The mobile funnel requires some specific optimization to make it work effectively.

• Ease of access: Put simply, it has to be easy to use. It has to have ease of access.
• Simplified purchase checkouts: Don't make it too complicated or difficult to get through lots of details.
• Tokenization: This does help. Are your credit card details saved? Are your details saved?
• Shareability: Can it be shared amongst your social peers on your native mobile apps, and so on?
• Suitability to a mobile screen: It's quite small. So, can people see the checkout in their purchase journey there?
• Navigation through touch screens: These are all considerations to optimize your mobile conversion journey.

Now, of course, the ultimate goal is to make it as simple as possible for the mobile user to navigate through the journey. Remember that the limitations of small screens, and keypads, and things like mobile internet, can just get in the way of a simple conversion journey.

Key concerns

It's always best to minimize what's called friction in the journey. These are the things that get in the way. Mobile consumers also tend to be concerned with a number of factors that may affect whether they convert or not.

Security and site speed

These include things like security and site speed. So, downloading heavy images and heavy sites on a 3G network or a 4G network can eat up people's credit, and that's a consideration why they may not proceed.

Difficulty in submitting lots of details

Remember, people are using a small mobile touch screen. As a rule, you should only ask for the details you really need. For example, lots of sites ask for things like address and date of birth, when they certainly don't need it, just because they think they should ask for it. So, if you're asking for things like that, think, "Do I actually need to collect this information to proceed?" Because if not, it's just friction.

A tip for everyone is you can use what's called field-specific keypads, like the number keypad or the email keypad, to make it easier for people to complete online forms. This is where the keypad changes to your mobile keypad when you're entering your phone number, or to an email keypad when you have to enter an email address – makes it ever so slightly easier.

Opportunities

However, moving on from a pure digital world, let's focus on the advantages of mobile for marketing a business with a physical presence.

Google Local marketing

One of the most impactful advantages of mobile is things like Google Local and Google Local marketing. This involves using things like Google Maps, where consumers will just navigate to your store using their mobile phone.

In-store promotion

Consider using redeemable in-store promotions. For example, if you check into a store with your Facebook account, you can get a free coffee. What that does is it brings an online experience to an offline transaction. So, you're getting direct revenue and commercial activity via the online-offline interface.

And the true value of mobile really is the ongoing connectivity that brands can have with their audience because you can connect with your consumer at any point during the day using mobile technology. Keep in mind that, all the time, marketers should be thinking about how we can actually add value to their day by giving them helpful utility, like map locations, interesting content, or promotions that's actually relative to the physical location of that mobile user. So, can they go in store? These are key opportunities that marketers should be thinking about when doing any kind of mobile activity.