Below is a guest post by T.J. Kirgin (@Anchor_STL), the second-generation chief marketing consigliere for Anchor Media Communications & Digital Services.
Today, a major convergence is at hand, driving a complete paradigm shift in marketing. First, you have search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Next, you have social media sites. Then, you have mobile phones — powerful, portable, wireless devices that allow access to the aforementioned technologies from just about anywhere.
This convergence set off a nuclear bomb in the ad world, as power shifted away from the marketer and to the buyer. Today, buyers can easily research products and services, and potential vendors, before making purchases. And, they often search for information, answers and solutions, and then make data-driven decisions based on their findings.
This is the very foundation of what we know as inbound marketing. Inbound is about providing quality content through multiple channels to position your company or brand as a thought leader or subject matter expert. This unique and actionable content then drives more traffic to your site, more leads from your traffic, and more sales from your leads.
The only problem with inbound marketing is most agencies forget that the vast majority of research is performed via mobile phones and tablets.
6 Mobile Marketing Tips
With a large and rapidly growing amount of “inbound” traffic originating from a mobile device, I offer the following six tips for agencies:
1. Create a Mobile-Friendly Website.
A mobile-friendly website should be your number one priority. First, create a mobile content strategy. Ask yourself: what do my prospects, leads, customers, vendors and employees need and want from my company? Then deliver that information via mobile as simply as you can. Your mission is to create efficiency that makes site visitors’ lives better through easy accessibility of content.
With a content strategy in place, decide how you want to proceed. Technology options include:
- HTML5 and jQuery mobile web apps, which look and function like native apps but live on the web in place of your site.
- Adaptive, reactive or responsive CSS, which can easily be set up using a WordPress plug-in.
- Hybrid solutions, in which you have a mobile web app for the homepage and key features, but content is navigable as responsive CSS. (Note: This is my preference.)
2. Redirect Mobile Searchers to an Optimized Experience.
Put the technology in place to recognize when a visitor is assessing your site via a mobile device. From here, you can redirect them to an optimized experience. Formatting your content for easy readability and navigation on your visitor’s preferred device improves overall experiences and conversion rates.
For more information, check out our recent blog on mobile browser detection and redirects.
3. Ensure Landing Pages Are “Thumb Friendly.”
Whether you are driving traffic from Facebook or Google, easy-to-use, mobile landing pages with forms are a must. Unfortunately, most marketing automation platforms lag in this area. For this reason, I recommend using a mobile marketing automation platform that specializes in mobile-friendly landing pages or coding your own.
4. Test Your Emails on Mobile.
Again, most platforms are really behind here. The emails most vendors call mobile-friendly are not as robust and cross-platform capable as they should be. Make sure to test all emails before sending on the iPhone, Androids and various tablets.
5. Use SMS Auto Responders and Nurturing Automation.
If leads come in via mobile, why not nurture them via mobile? On average, it takes 90 minutes for an email to be opened, but only 90 seconds for a text message. Plus, 91% of Americans are within three feet of their mobile devices, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
For all SMS marketing, make sure to use a trusted partner, and stay up to date on federal TCPA laws and carrier regulations.
6. Optimize for Mobile Search.
Google dominates search with a 95% market share. It also has a separate set of requirements for mobile SEO. Gain mobile-optimization tips in this three-part blog series.
- Mobile SEO Part 1: An Introduction
- Mobile SEO Part 2: Creating Mobile Redirects
- Mobile SEO Part 3: Google Hates Duplicate Content
In Summary
Agencies can reap a lot of rewards from inbound marketing. However, without integrating mobile into the strategy, you may leave leads on the table or harm your brand via a poor user experience.
I leave you with one priority action item: Go to your Google Analytics account, and click on traffic sources > mobile > devices. Here, you will find the percentage of your overall inbound traffic that originated from mobile. This is a great place to begin creating your mobile marketing strategy.
Share your mobile experiences, tips and challenges in the comments section below.
Image credit: William Hook