Mobile is rapidly becoming the primary device for many activities around the world.
Recently Google reported that more searches are now taking place on mobile devices than on desktops. Clearly this shows a massive shift in the way users are interacting with digital data. Mobile is no longer on the fringes and something businesses need to talk about doing.
Mobile is here and it is now a way of life. From search to email, mobile should be many businesses’ primary consideration when preparing for customer interactions. Fact of the matter is that users interact with data differently via mobile devices and if you are trying to use a shoehorn to squeeze your web site into mobile devices you will most likely have disappointing results.
As the mobile application development market has grown and evolved we have found that it is as much about building for customer behavior as it is building for smaller screens. Before you talk to your iPhone application developer or Android application developer, make sure you take the time to understand your customers.
Over the past few years we are finding that it is the customers themselves that are causing businesses to re-explore the notion of the purchasing process to meet their needs. Savvy businesses are taking the time to understand customer behavior and are adjusting for that behavior.
These days a visit to the showroom floor is just as likely to be for research as making a purchase. You will find the purchase journey often started days ago with a customer reading reviews on their smartphone while commuting to work. Mobile has become integrated with the purchase process.
By understanding customer behavior you can provide the tools your customers are looking for to improve the purchase process and increase likelihood of making sales.
Mobile commerce is growing rapidly as the market matures and it is set to be the next wave of growth within mobile. Remember that within the new shopping paradigm, a customer may not buy a product until days after seeing it on a showroom floor or they may want to buy it while reading reviews on their smartphone. You must present a unified experience that inspires confidence whether a customers is standing in your store or set to buy products from their smart phone.
Smart phones have become deeply integrated with our lives and can augment almost any activity we engage in. Brands that understand this can develop mobile applications to compliment their customers’ lives.
One of the greatest advantages of mobile is its ability to respond to a user’s contextual information. Delivering specials or other relevant information when a user is near one of your physical locations can be useful and desirable for you users, many who are willing to opt in to notifications and data programs to improve the quality of their experience. The opportunities for improving the quality of your messaging are endless if you work toward improving user experiences.
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One of the key features of mobile devices when it comes to marketing is geo-locating. Fact is, the opportunity to deliver the right message in the right place is a marketer’s dream.
Geo-location is the ability to determine a smartphone’s location. Clearly an advertisers ability to deliver personalized content to a user, based on their exact location sounds like a fantastic opportunity. The tools are available now, are you taking advantage of them?
Before you discuss geo-location with your iPhone application developer or Android application developer, familiarize your self with the different approaches. While you may know about geo-location you may not understand the details or the differences of different types of campaigns.
Geo-fencing
Geo-fencing allows you to deliver ads, messaging or notifications within a specific perimeter around a location. Typically 5 miles is considered the most effective radius as results fall off quickly at distances further in studies (JiWire). Your messaging must be effective to get results but communications within this range have been shown to have greater effectiveness due to increased relevance.
Geo-conquesting
This is simply a variation on geo-fencing where you create a perimeter around a competitor’s locations and deliver ads, messaging or notifications in that area. There are several cases of geo-conquesting shown to have great results but you must be careful to use it when appropriate. It has also not worked well in cases where a great deal of customer research is involved in selecting a product. Make sure to decide if customers view your product as more of an impulse buy before implementing a geo-conquesting strategy.
Part of the reason that location oriented marketing is so powerful via mobile devices is that phones have become the de-facto source of local information now. Users are quick to check their phone to find local information so location relevant messaging can leverage this to be truly effective. This extends to consumers using mobile phones while on the showroom floor making mobile devices important to purchase decisions.
A well thought out campaign can draw customers in at the most opportune times. Savvy brands are expanding the mobile marking programs with improved data retention and analysis to improve performance, but already mobile ads and location based campaigns are showing impressive results.
Photo: Gonzalo Baeza (Flikr) http://bit.ly/1AZIa6b
With smartphones becoming more important every day, a mobile first marketing approach is becoming critical for modern businesses. Mobile device users are currently spending on average over 3 hours and 45 minutes per day on their mobile devices so the suggestion of a mobile first approach should be no surprise (Flurry).
While many businesses still make mobile an afterthought, savvy business people are making mobile a priority to capitalize on trends in the market.
Before just pushing ahead with an iPhone application developer or Android application developer, it is best to understand how mobile can best fit within your overall marketing plan, and even more importantly, how mobile fits with your customer’s path to purchase. Mobile application development is about more than bringing and app to market, it is about creating an application that provides value for your business and customers.
Serve your customers
Start by asking yourself how your application can serve the needs of your customers. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Some times the best application come out of non linear thinking. But don’t be afraid to look at trends to evaluate utility with respect to what your consumers are used to in the market.
Also, remember when you build your application to make it a continuation of your branding and to focus on creating a uniform experience with your web site or physical locations.
Don’t forget to optimize your user’s experiences. Keep their convenience in mind as no consumer wants to use a complicated application that is not intuitive. No where is this more important than with a small screen. Users will quickly delete mobile applications that aren’t easy to use.
Utilize location based marketing
One of the biggest advantages of mobile marketing is the location data created on user’s mobile devices. This data can be utilized to create better mobile marketing strategies. For instance, promotions delivered within 5 miles of a retail location are shown to have a spike in effectiveness. Mobile allows you to deliver messaging while users are in the right location for your messaging to have maximum effect.
Personalize the experience
Not only do you need to utilize the context of location, but the most effective applications and mobile marketing programs are personalizing their experiences to users. Messaging is most effective when it is relevant and mobile users are typically willing to give you the information you need to improve their experiences’ while on your application.
Make your website fast and responsive
Make sure your website is responsive and friendly. You will need to keep mobile connection speeds and screen sizes in mind, as poor experiences will lead users to abandon your site quickly. Avoid large images and make sure your visitors can navigate your site easily. Mobile web visitors are often on the go so convenience is at a premium. Don’t forget to optimize your site with an easy to access phone number and directions to your store.
Photo: Luke Ma (Flikr) http://bit.ly/1AVnVq6