Mobile marketing – “the use if the mobile medium as a means of marketing communication “ or “distribution of any kind if promotional or advertising messages to customers through wireless networks” [1]
In any branch of marketing, a key to being effective is to market in the correct channels, to the correct audience, and to engage your consumers. The rise of mobile marketing gives you the opportunity to be successful in all of these categories. Since 2010, the number of smartphone users has nearly doubled from 62.6 million users to 115.8 million users and is projected to grow to 192 million users by 2016.[3] The use of mobile devices also allows you to have real time access for engagement with consumers. Both of these facts, point to how essential the use of mobile marketing is to the success of your overall marketing campaign.
When discussing mobile marketing, you are referring to much more than the mobile site, things such as NFC, SMS, LBS, QR codes are all sophisticated parts that fall under the general term mobile marketing. Here we will discuss the basics of the mobile site and its importance for businesses to have them.
When discussing mobile sites there are 3 key competencies that they must possess: Immediacy, Simplicity, and Content. What this means is that when a website loads on a person’s phone, they see it as a simplified, easy-to-read version of your regular site, which highlights the important content, and not just a shrunken copy of your regular website.
Well-designed mobile-friendly sites provide a great overall website experience to your mobile users derived from an increase in customer engagement, improved customer satisfaction as well as an innovative/high quality appearance. Considering the continuing growth of the use of smartphones as well as the mobile web, it has become essential to provide a second to none mobile experience which provides quick access to information about your business.
Benefits of mobile friendly websites include:
- Opportunity: Mobile presence opens up new windows of business and networking opportunities.[2]
- Compatibility: Mobile websites can be viewed through the browsers of all major smart phones.[2]
- Efficiency: Simple navigation through easy to use features improves customer experience. Mobile websites give the quick information that your visitors want.[2] Most users don’t have a whole lot of patience when it comes to finding what they need with their smartphone too.
- Awareness: Provide the public with easy, mobile access to your company’s services offered, pulled from your original website content.[2]
- Accessibility: Mobile friendly websites can be viewed from anywhere while on the go![2]
- Speed: Mobile users are often short on time, squeezing in online tasks as they go about their day. To help them, mobile sites are designed to load faster than regular sites.
Having a mobile-friendly site is a low cost but very effective feature to offer to your customers. It also follows the increasing trend of the rise of smart phone and popularity of mobile internet. It is expected that within the next three years, more people will be accessing the internet via mobile that those using a PC.
Now is the time to go mobile!
[1]”Mobile Marketing.” 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_marketing [2] McGeHee, . “MobileWebGuy.” N.p., 01 12 2012. Web. Web. 2 Apr. 2013. <mobilewebguy.com>. [3] “Number of smartphone users in the U.S. from 2010 to 2016.” Statista (2013): n.pag. Statista. Web. 2 Apr 2013. <http://www.statista.com/statistics/201182/forecast-of-smartphone-users-in-the-us/>.