There’s no denying that the power of smartphones and tablets as a communication and information tool is growing by leaps and bounds each year. More than ever before, people are looking up, interacting with, and purchasing from businesses using their phone rather than their computer, and if you’re not prepared to accommodate those people, you’ll quickly find yourself falling by the wayside. Fortunately, it’s not incredibly difficult to be mobile-ready. Here are just a few tips to help get you on the right track:
Make Sure Your Site Is Mobile Accessible
According to a comScore study, more people access online stores through mobile devices than through any other medium. “Since U.S. consumers now spend more than half of their time on retailers’ web sites using their smartphones and tablets, mobile can’t be viewed simply as an ancillary device or action, it now epitomizes how consumers think and act when they interact with retailers,” says Shop.org executive director Vicki Cantrell.
Shop.org is the National Retail Federation’s online division. “Retailers have to continue to invest to make sure they get their mobile offerings right, or will increasingly risk alienating customers and leaving significant money on the table.”
What this means for you is that you need to be sure that your site is set up to make your customer’s visit as easy as possible. If your main call to action is difficult to find on a phone, your contact information isn’t readily available, or your checkout software doesn’t work correctly on mobile devices, you run the risk of losing potential customers before you even have a chance to win them over.
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Take Advantage Of Location-Based Services
While things like Foursquare may not be near the top of your marketing list, the potential they have as marketing tools is still quite large if you use them correctly. Not only will the person using the service be more inclined to visit your store, but their friends will be able to see when they check in, thus gaining you even more publicity. In addition, tools like Foursquare often offer tools to allow you to reward customers with special discounts and offers.
Stay Active On Social Media
This is a great tip for an overall marketing strategy, but when you think about how many people are using their smartphones for social media in today’s world, it quickly becomes evident that utilizing social media properly can do wonders for your mobile marketing. When posting to your accounts, be sure to keep in mind whether or not your posts are a good fit for mobile. For instance, a quick picture or quote is easy to share or comment on, but a link with no explanation might not see a lot of interaction.
Keep Your Promotions Mobile-Friendly
Whether you’re posting a deal on Facebook, tweeting about a new offer or sending a newsletter to your email subscribers, you need to ensure that your communications are easy to read and interact with across all mobile devices. If you need to, send out a test to check them on your own phone and tablet before actually using them. Make sure that in an effort to make things easier for mobile users you aren’t removing essential information.
Test, Test, Test
One of the most important things you can do when it comes to mobile marketing is to test your ideas and constantly work on finding new ways to improve. Adding a mobile landing page? Take some time to interact with it on your own phone and tablet to help identify potential problems before they’re live and costing you users. Not sure if your homepage is mobile-friendly? Ask someone who’s not very tech savvy to perform a few tasks on their phone, and report back to you any issues they have.
While optimizing your business for a mobile world may seem like a daunting task, these few easy steps can make sure that, even if you’re not 100% ready, you’re not left in the dust by other companies who are embracing mobile.
What challenges has your business faced in this area? How did you overcome them? Let us know in the comments section below.
