How does your website look on the small screen? How well does your shopping cart work with tiny smartphone buttons? Is your social media activity happening during your audience’s most active periods?
Or is mobile marketing just one more wrinkle in your online marketing that you don’t have the time, money or expertise to address?
A couple of mobile marketing reports came out this past week and they illustrate the opportunities and threats posed by mobile devices. If you’re a retailer, I think the message is quite simple: There is nothing more important to your business right now than mobile, even if you don’t currently sell online. If you’re not a retailer, the growing influence and shifting demographics of mobile require your undivided attention. Now!
Where the Eyeballs Are
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Just when you thought Internet traffic growth was slowing down, along come mobile devices and… boom! In comScore’s IRCE State of Online Retail Presentation, they show modest three-year growth for desktop browsing and an explosion in mobile browsing. Tablets and smartphones accounted for 80% of the increase in browsing time.
Mobile browsing is not replacing desktop browsing, it is adding to it. If your website is not mobile friendly, you’re leaving those minutes on the table. It’s that simple.
The implications are even more critical for retailers. If you’re a brick and mortar retailer, it’s been a rough period. If you’re an online retailer it’s been great and if you’re a mobile-optimized online retailer it’s PARTY TIME!
When the Eyeballs Are
The mobile browsing phenomenon is altering the marketing landscape in a number of ways, and two of the most dramatic shifts are who is doing the browsing and when they’re doing it. When you’re putting together your social media marketing strategy, this is a critical aspect to understand and embrace.
Who are you trying to reach and when are they online?
This data from Flurry Analytics shows that the average time spent on iOS devices steadily increases all day, peaks at around 9pm and then falls off a cliff.
Other data presented shows some sharp differences in the types of mobile apps being used by millenials and even more dramatic differences between men and women.
Bottom Line
If you’re a retailer and mobile isn’t your number one priority right now, you’re likely leaving money on the table. It’s where the money is right now (and it’s probably cheaper than foot traffic). And if you’re not a retailer, mobile is a growing and shifting component of your content and promotion efforts. You need to understand it and optimize for it.
Thinking small is the key to achieving big results.
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