These days, everyone has an iPhone or a similar mobile device – and most of these people use that mobile device as a primary way to interact with reality. Successful modern marketers understand this and make efforts to optimize for a primarily mobile audience.
What exactly does this mean? And how do you make the most of this approach?
Getting Professional Help
Before you get too far into the planning process for your mobile marketing strategy, it’s a good idea to take a step back and make sure you have access to experts who can guide and shape your campaign for the better. Seasoned marketing veterans with sufficient knowledge and experience can help you avoid common pitfalls and ultimately boost your return on investment (ROI).
One option is to work with a fractional CMO. A fractional CMO is a fully vetted marketing expert who could conceivably serve as a full-time CMO. However, unlike a full-time CMO, a fractional CMO works in a consulting capacity, typically as a contractor. You can use them for a single campaign, you can use them periodically, or you can draft a totally novel arrangement as you and your CMO see fit. In any case, they can help you better understand your mobile audience and better market to them.
You can also work with a professional marketing agency or a team of contractors to help you plan and execute the work. Optimizing for a mobile audience and using your marketing dollars effectively are much easier when you have competent experts on your side.
Tips for Appealing to a Mobile Audience
These are some of the best strategies for appealing to a mobile audience in your marketing:
1. Ensure compatibility across all devices. Mobile devices come in many forms, so it’s important to optimize for compatibility across all conceivable devices. If your website or advertisements look good on your smartphone, that’s great – but it still only represents one device in the vast landscape of potential devices. Test thoroughly to ensure compatibility for all your potential users; your materials should look good on all types of phones, tablets, and other mobile devices.
2. Design ads for mobile. When designing ads, design for mobile first. You might have a brilliant idea for a unique visual or a specific message, but if it doesn’t look good on mobile devices, it’s probably not going to perform well. The only exception is if you’re designing exclusively for a desktop audience, but in this era, such a move is not typically advisable.
3. Be concise. When using a mobile device, people have limited space to work with and they also have limited time. Even if they don’t, they probably have a limited attention span. Accordingly, when writing content, creating visuals, or designing ads, you should always keep conciseness in mind. The shorter and punchier your messaging is, the more favorable it’s going to be to mobile users.
4. Utilize visuals. Similarly, you should rely on visuals whenever possible. A mobile audience is a visual intensive audience. Even if you use a mobile device for reading digital books or exploring random written content online, you need to know that the majority of mobile users find it difficult to do any significant reading. Photos, videos, and other visuals are generally much more effective. This is especially important to recognize if you practice content marketing, as your visual content is probably going to exceed your written content in reach and perceived value.
5. Take advantage of local searches. People often use mobile devices when on the go, so exploit that by focusing on local searches. If you already practice search engine optimization (SEO), you’ll be in a prime position to succeed in local SEO. Following best practices like developing focused content and building links can help you establish a firm foundation; from there, you can add and clean up local citations, optimize for local keywords, and develop your Google Business Profile.
6. Get social. Social media platforms primarily focus on mobile apps to encourage more user engagement. Take advantage of this by making sure your company has an active presence on every social media platform that matters to your target demographics.
7. Use SMS marketing. SMS marketing can be highly effective under the right conditions. SMS messages are inexpensive and easy to automate, yet highly effective, so design a drip messaging campaign to more effectively reach your best customers.
8. Send push notifications. Similarly, consider sending push notifications to your users, especially if they’re in a location that’s relevant to your business. A push notification is a way to grab someone’s attention – and potentially persuade them to take action, such as visiting your physical storefront or taking advantage of a limited time offer.
9. Measure everything. Objectively measure and thoroughly review all your most important key performance indicators (KPIs). You can use this information to refine your campaign.
10. Be ready to adapt. The world of mobile marketing is always changing, so you need to be ready to adapt. Today’s best strategies won’t remain the best forever.
Mobile devices are here to stay. At this point, the majority of internet traffic is mobile, and mobile traffic is only expected to grow in the future. The sooner you optimize and refine your strategies to appeal to mobile device users, the more formidable your marketing strategies will become.
