Many companies have realized that mobile marketing investment is necessary to succeed in e-commerce.
The challenge now is no longer about having optimized sites or an excellent mobile application; instead, it is about attracting attention, building trust and meeting customer expectations. But to achieve this, online business owners need to understand more about the strategies they can implement and best practices.
Now that you are getting started in e-commerce, it is time to think about actions that help boost your online business. Next, we will tell you some fundamental aspects that you must know to succeed in mobile marketing.
What is mobile marketing?
Simply put, mobile marketing refers to the set of marketing strategies carried out through mobile devices. Undoubtedly, the use of mobile devices has tremendously changed the way consumers interact with brands. For example, people search for products, open their email, update their social networks, visit websites, and even make purchases from their smart devices.
Thus, effective mobile marketing will be achieved by understanding the mobile audience, designing content for those devices, and adapting strategies to reach consumers in the right place and at the right time.
Why focus on efforts on mobiles?
To understand the landscape and the importance of mobile marketing for both small businesses and established companies, we will list some interesting facts.
- Smartphone users are increasing. In 2012, around 1.13 million smartphone users were registered; this number increased by 27% during 2013 and has been growing in subsequent years.
- Mobile phones have made users spend more time browsing. Thanks to the fact that it is easy to access from almost anywhere.
- People spend 90% of their time on mobile apps. Because applications help to carry out many tasks, if executed correctly, they can build consumers loyalty.
- Mobile devices are easier to use than computers. Mobiles are more user-friendly, starting with their size and practicality; this is a strong reason they are beginning to replace computers to carry out simple tasks.
How to develop a mobile marketing strategy
Like any other marketing effort, companies must develop mobile strategies based on audience and industry analysis. In addition, technology increasingly provides more personalization options, and consequently, mobile marketing should be about that too.
So how do you create a mobile marketing strategy?
Understand your mobile shopper
You can’t start creating apps without knowing the needs of your mobile customers.
So to start, you should analyze your target audience and establish a mobile buyer persona. A profile that describes the client’s characteristics mainly explains how they use technology as sources of information, purchase process, the content they consume online, etc.
To find information related to your product or make purchases is through micro-moments.
According to Google, these are the key moments where consumers use their mobile devices to perform related actions with what they need or want at that moment. For example, users want to obtain information, go to a store or make a purchase, and they are loaded with intention, context and immediacy.
There are four key micro-moments:
- The moment I want to buy
- The moment I want to do
- The moment I want to know
- The time I want to go
Knowing these micro-moments will help you understand the context in which the customer’s need arises.
The following questions will help you begin to identify the data you need to know:
- What information do I have available about my clients’ moments, in addition to their demographics?
- What are the most critical moments for your strategy?
- What kinds of questions and needs do consumers have in those moments that your brand should take advantage of?
- How do consumers needs vary based on context?
- Am I taking into account all the key moments that occur during the consumer journey?
Set goals
It is necessary to define what your success will consist of. Do not forget that your objectives must be clear, measurable, specific and delimited in time.
Today, many users expect sites to allow them to transact smoothly and quickly from their mobile devices.
Execute actions
With the objectives defined, you will determine what tactics to carry out to achieve them. The mobile marketing strategies can be as varied and depend on the type of business. Some options that you can adopt include:
- Mobile advertising campaigns
- Email marketing
- Messaging
Website or mobile app
Today, many websites already have a mobile version, but not only is it enough to make sure that it adapts to their screens, but it must also be functional. The 79% of customers who declare themselves dissatisfied with a website’s performance say they see little chance of buying back there.
Your site must provide a unique user experience for mobile devices, and that means:
- Content that fits the screen without the user needing to zoom or slide sideways.
- Loading speed, many users leave a site if it doesn’t load in three seconds or less.
- Make it easy to carry out any action (purchase, subscription, download, etc.)
Additionally, many e-commerce businesses are capitalizing on the popularity of mobile apps to give customers an easy way to shop and keep up with their company.
Some benefits of mobile applications for online stores with:
- They create a direct marketing channel.
- It allows the brand to be available at all times for the customer.
- Improve customer engagement and add value.
- Strengthens the brand.
Suppose you think that mobile applications are for large companies like Amazon or Facebook. In that case, you have to know that small businesses have many opportunities; it is necessary to find the best way to adapt your business to a mobile application.
