Mobile Marketing & The Race for Market Share. Is Your Business Running Behind?
Mobile marketing is here. Solidified with a recent update by Google to its search algorithm, those who fail to embrace it are going to be left behind. What was predicted by many case studies prior to the turn of the century, mobile marketing is here to stay and must be used to build a brand.[1] With the amount of people now using their tablets and mobile devices for search, mobile marketing accounts for a large percentage of conversions. If you fail to embrace mobile marketing, you are going to lose out to a competitor who is already targeting your customers through mobile advertising.
Optimizing Your Website for Mobile Marketing
This is one of the first things that needs to be done if you want a chance to survive in the mobile marketplace. The number one reason why your website must be optimized for mobile marketing is because Google says so. While this sounds odd that Google should tell you what to do, keep in mind it accounts for the majority of searches made on mobile devices and ultimately will be the company that brings customers to your door. In fact, they have made a push to drop websites from search results if the website is not mobile-friendly, something that some businesses are still trying to catch up with.[2]
There are two ways to optimize your website in order to stay competitive. The first is creating a mobile-friendly design, and the other is a Responsive design. The difference is very simple. A mobile-friendly design will work for mobile devices. Many mobile designs keep the same design layout no matter what operating system or cell phone type being used. This can cause formatting issues when people who are looking at the website. The Responsive design “responds” to the specific operating system and device and adjusts accordingly. If someone views the Responsive design on an iPad, it will format for that device, etc.
Left Behind in the Mobile Marketing Race
As of April 2015, more than 40% of top websites were not yet mobile-friendly. A test of several websites by USA Today found that companies like California Pizza Kitchen, Coco’s, and Versace were not yet mobile.[3] So, these companies stand to lose out on millions simply for failing to optimize their website for mobile marketing. Tech Crunch also reported that 44% of Fortune 500 companies were not yet mobile-friendly as of April 2015, with billion dollar conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway being one of them.[4]
Will Desktops Be Completely Replaced by Mobile Devices?
Many have predicted the end to the desktop computer, seeing sales of such drop by as much as 14% year over year since 2010. Seems logical, but you need to factor in the things that cannot be done on a tablet or smartphone such as using multiple screens, multiple browsers, and storage.[5]These are problems that do not yet have solutions in the mobile market. As such, it is unlikely that the PC is marked for death any time soon.
Mobile Marketing By The Numbers
So why is all this important? Simple……money. If you run a business, the ultimate goal is to bring a profit. This means that you must market your products and services to customers who are willing to buy them. Here are the statistics to keep in mind that will hopefully convince you to start embracing mobile marketing.
- 4 out of 5 consumers use smartphones to make purchases.[6]
- Mobile searches now surpass desktop searches.[7]
- By 2019, 75% of digital advertising spending will be for mobile.[8]
- 60% of mobile consumers use their phones as their primary or exclusive internet source.[9]
- Mobile ads perform 4 to 5 times better than online ads.[10]
- 50% of consumers say they will NOT return to a website if it does not load properly on their cell phone or tablet.[11]
- 81% of mobile conversions take place within 5 hours of the initial search (quicker than desktop).[12]
If these numbers don’t convince you, there are many more you can find online. Truth be told, mobile marketing is now a billion dollar industry for a reason. Businesses have realized that they must embrace mobile advertising or leave potential customers to get solicited by their competitors.
