Get your thumbs ready because I’m sure you’ll want to text some of the insights below to your team.
I’ll even give you enough reasons to use all the money-related emojis your mobile keyboard can handle and give you some hands-on strategies to successfully using mobile marketing in your online business
So, here’s the deal…
The iPhone was released almost 10 years ago, and let’s face it, the world was an entirely different place back then. The Snapchat puppy filter that’s now part of a generation’s culture didn’t exist back then even in the mind of the chat company’s creator, who at the time Steve Jobs was introducing the iPhone, was only 17 y.o. To create a video was something only big companies could afford.
Creating digital products was difficult and expensive, and people were stuck to their desks, struggling to keep their sanity during a dull 9 to 5 job. There were no on-demand services, no tech unicorns, but only a handful of startups, and no gig economy.
Well, now let’s snap back to the present, where 2.4 billion people will use a smartphone this year
That’s 250 million more than in 2016.
Our phones have cameras so good you can make a movie for the big cinema screen using them. A few dollars can buy you the skills of talented freelancers from thousands of miles away. You can broadcast your message for free to hundreds, thousands, even millions of people from your phone. You can manage your team, handle clients, launch products, create content, and do epic stuff, in general, from a small device in your bag or pocket.
With 87% of people always having their mobile phones by their side, do you dare to go about your business without a mobile marketing strategy? That’s kind of insane…
Using Mobile Marketing In ANY Niche Is Becoming the Most Important Side of Marketing
It does, and that brings both headaches and great opportunities. Think of it as a blessing in disguise. You very well might be among those of us who have to take advantage of mobile marketing to stay on top of the game, but that also means we’ll be ready to help others do it when this wave of the future will also hit their niche. Oh, can’t you hear the sound of money pouring in?
Mobile marketing is basically multi-channel marketing. Or to be more exact, multi-channel marketing with a twist. What your strategy needs to excel at is keeping things simple. On a mobile phone, people only pay attention to the things that are interesting and engaging.
So you might be wondering, how exactly should you start getting your mobile marketing ducks in a row? Well, here are 7 steps for you to share with your team and friends:
#1 Optimise Your Websites for Mobile Traffic
This tip shouldn’t surprise you. According to real-time analytics company DeviceAtlas, 37% of all website visits are made from smartphones. For some time now, more people use their phones to search for information and products than their desktops in many countries around the world.
Google worked hard to make a mobile-first index a reality. Their plan? To use it to serve users listings for both mobile and desktop websites. In this context, having a high-quality mobile website or a responsive design will help you get a better ranking.
A key aspect in optimising for mobile is to use shortcuts to help users access the content. So use plenty of go-to buttons and links to speed up the process of finding what they came for, but make sure you do keep as much content on your mobile website as you do on the one for desktops.
Also, if users have to interact with your content to access what they want, keep in mind that you should adapt these interactions to what they can easily do using the small keyboard and touch screen on their smartphones.
#2 Take Micro Moments into Account
Simply put, micro-moments are a new consumer behaviour. Because the mobile phone is always with you, whenever you want to do / know / find something you just type it into your phone. Google defines these micro-moments as the behaviour at the intersection between intent, context, and immediacy. E.g. you are out for a walk and you see someone carrying a cool, deliciously looking cup of coffee, and you immediately search on your phone for the brand name you noticed to see where the coffee shop is located. You turn to your mobile phone to provide you with the information you need to take action.
You can take advantage of this new consumer behaviour by anticipating the various micro-moments related to your niche, providing users with the answers they were looking for, and being quick in doing so. These things, translated from Googlese to plain English, mean having a website that loads fast and running mobile search ads or uploading how-to YouTube videos to put your product in front of users when they’re most interested to find out more and buy.
#3 Go for Video and Snackable Content
You’re checking your phone when you’re in the waiting room, while commuting, walking the dog or during any other activity that’s not totally epic. So does everybody. The best type of content to consume during these Facebook scrolling, Instagram checking, Twitter lurking times is something easy to digest that can teach you something, entertain you, or amaze the heck out of you. Think of BuzzFeed’s Tasty videos.
They’re short. They teach you something. They are fun. They are worth sharing. It’s no wonder they have videos that got over 100 million views each just on Facebook.
This type of snackable content is just perfect for being played on a mobile device, and it’s also really cheap to film and edit. You don’t even have to do videos of that’s not what floats your boat, you can do slideshows, quizzes, photo albums, and anything else you think might be interesting and easy to consume in 2 minutes max.
Another thing worth mentioning is that video views (especially on Facebook) are so cheap now that marketers don’t even take them into consideration. Views aren’t a metric anymore. It’s so easy to produce video content and promote it on a huge social network like Facebook, that people access on their mobiles, that they only bother to look at the business impact of a video. For example, in some parts of the world, $3,000 is enough to get a video seen by 4.5-5 million people in your target group. Make the video interesting and you can successfully launch a brand new product in a market, reaching far more people than using TV advertising, for only a fraction of the cost.
#4 Run Your Ads on Social Media Platforms Targeting Mobile Users
It’s no secret that 89% of the time people spend with their eyes glued to their mobile phones’ screens is inside apps. Well, also unsurprisingly, the apps people spend most time using are social media platforms and chat apps. That’s why all major social networks (and soon the chat apps) are letting small businesses and big brands alike target consumers based on a wide range of factors, making sure the offers are relevant and timely.
#5 If You Launched an App, Have an mCRM Strategy
People like apps because they offer them a frictionless experience and makes it easier for them to access the content they want. If you’ve taken the step to create a mobile app for your business or your business is in fact an app, you should know that your competitors might have an mCRM strategy in place already.
Successful apps aren’t common. At all. Just think about it. The average person downloads 9 apps per month, but then only 7.5% of app installs become retained users. More than 90% of app installs are done basically just so people would have something to delete afterwards. It can be because the app isn’t what they were looking for, or they feel the app is bugging them too often with push notifications (looking at you HUMAN!), or they simply forget they installed it and never use it.
This is where an mCRM strategy can help you retain the users you convinced to download your app and keep them willing to give you a glowing review. What you need to know is that your relationship with the users should be tracked and maintained across email and in-app messages, and also through push notifications for which you need to get people to opt-in if they’re using an iPhone. Out of the 3 channels for your mCRM efforts, the latter is the one giving people headaches, because your copy and the time you’re asking for permission need to be just right. On the iPhone, there’s no second shot at getting people to opt-in to receive push notifications from an app.
If you haven’t launched an app for your business, you’re probably not missing out. It’s great to just offer your potential clients an enjoyable experience accessing your content directly in their mobile browsers. If you don’t have to, there’s no need to struggle to make an app run properly and get enough downloads to make it worth the investment.
#6 Use SMS Marketing Like Your Life Depended on It
The life of your business might really depend on it. Let me tell you why… You see, there is nothing else besides SMS marketing to guarantee you such a ridiculously high open rate. SMS marketing results are simply ridiculously good. And how could they not be when it taps such a compelling human need brought upon humanity by mobile phones – the instant gratification of a scroll or swipe or tap? As soon as we hear the ding! or ping! or buzz! we NEED to see what we received.
That is what drives people, 97% of the time, to check a text message within 5 minutes after it was received. We can’t help but look what we received.
So, as I said, the life of your business might depend on collecting phone numbers on your website and any other way you can. Get people to opt-in for your text messages and it will be better than being able to whisper in their ear.
As marketers… using your website to grab the attention of people is getting harder all the time. Text Deliver is a software that lets you get them engaged and KEEP them coming back, so you can take advantage of the 98% open rates that using mobile marketing brings – for literally any website/offer/page you want to bring people back to.
#7 Test Your Mobile Marketing Campaigns Before Going All In
When you finally finish work on that new info product you know it’s going to bring you a fortune, or you’re ready to start a campaign to build your list, and you know mobile is the way to go, do a soft launch first. Really.
Exactly because you put so much effort into something, you should be thoughtful of your effort. Don’t jump head first into a mobile marketing campaign, especially if it’s your first time. Do a soft launch first, like releasing your new product first in a smaller country than your target market, or somewhere where is cheaper to advertise.
A soft launch before the big one is a safe way to check for 3 key metrics for mobile marketing:
- Virality: Are people sharing your content, parts of your campaign, your app? Are they noticing, acting upon and talking about your product?
- Retention: Are people coming back? Are they open to being called back to your campaign or website? Are they leaving their contact details? Are they showing you they are finding value in what you’re selling?
- Conversion: Are people actually paying money for what you’re offering? Was your pitch convincing enough? How many of them are actually opening up their wallets?
[bctt tweet=”No matter the results, it’s always better to know than to assume. An assumption might lose you money instead of filling up your bank account.” username=”wildfireconcept”]
Well, I hope I’ve equipped you with enough insights and instilled you the curiosity to explore the subject further and transform your business. Smartphones aren’t going anywhere, and they’re constantly changing, making us change our behaviour with them. Don’t let the clients you deserve get snatched by your competitors!
How are you using mobile marketing on your websites? In your business? Do you have any resources you recommend and/or use regularly? Post them in the comments below!
