5 Tips to Help You Plan Your Mobile Domination Strategy

Do you have a mobile strategy? If not, you should. Consider the following statistics:

• Mobile media time has exceeded desktop media time significantly — 51 percent compared to desktop’s 42 percent.
• Mobile traffic now accounts for more than 60 percent of all online traffic.
• An estimated $13 billion was spent on mobile advertising in 2014.
• Fifty percent of mobile users visit a store within a day of conducting a local search, compared to 34 percent of desktop and tablet users.
• The number of mobile-only Internet users has exceeded the number of desktop-only Internet users in the U.S.

If you don’t have a mobile strategy, it’s time to change things around; whether your goal is to get more traffic, better rankings or improved conversions and sales, it helps to have an effective mobile strategy.

Here are five tips to help you plan an effective mobile strategy:

1. Focus on the Younger Generation: While there’s been a consistent increase in the number of mobile Internet users, the reality is that much of this growth can be attributed to the younger generation.

Data published in Thrive Analytics’ 2014/2015 “Local Search Report” reveals that Gen Y consumers are four times more likely than Boomers to use a mobile device to look for local products or services. Mobile activity among the younger generation was also noted to be increased in all aspects compared to older generations.

If you don’t have a large enough marketing budget, or you’re not sure how to approach your mobile marketing for maximum ROI, it might help to focus on the younger generation first; ensure that your targeting and marketing messages are tailored to younger users, and you’ll be more likely to reap the rewards of mobile marketing.

2. Ensure a Well-Optimized Mobile Site: A critical mistake most Web business owners make is they invest in mobile marketing for a website that hasn’t been optimized for mobile users. While it’s good to have a well-designed website, it’s crucial to understand the Internet usage patterns of mobile users differ from that of desktop users, so it’s always better to have a mobile-optimized website.

Google recently made it mandatory for websites that want to rank for mobile terms to be mobile-optimized, so optimizing your website for mobiles also helps with your search rankings. You can either go for a responsive design or a dedicated mobile site for mobile users.

It’s also important to note that mobile optimization doesn’t end with having a mobile or responsive design; it’s also critical to optimize your conversion and checkout processes for mobile users, to increase the likelihood of them taking the actions you want them to.

3. Consider if Creating an App Aligns With Your Goals: When the subject of mobile marketing is being discussed, most people instantly think of creating mobile apps.

It’s fun to have a mobile app, but it won’t always aid your conversion goals. If you run a service business and you plan to educate people through your website, investing in a mobile app could very well be a waste of resources. If, however, you run an online store or a transactional site that requires repeat action on your site, developing a mobile app that gives you a permanent presence on your users mobile devices will be advantageous.

4. Incorporate and Target Relevancy in Your Mobile Strategy: According to data from Thrive Analytics’ 2015 ‘Local Search Report,’ 56 percent of mobile users clicked on a mobile ad and made a purchase because the ad was relevant to content they were already looking at; relevancy was reportedly more effective than offering special deals or coupons to consumers. Taking note of this is critical if you want to get results from mobile marketing, especially if you’re considering integrating mobile marketing with your content marketing.

Whether it’s through social media ads, PPC ads, e-mail marketing or other forms of advertising, the importance of relevancy can’t be overstated. It’s much more effective to explore targeted mobile marketing on a small scale than generic mobile marketing on a large scale.

5. Ensure Search Engines are Aware of Your Plans: Recent data released by Google revealed that there are now more mobile searches than desktop searches. This is something worth taking note of.

Early this year, Google announced it would be giving preference to sites that are optimized for mobile devices over sites that are not optimized, and the aftereffect of this has been a massive drop in rankings, and as a result traffic, of non-complying sites. Many people rushed to build a mobile site, but the reality is that search engines are not aware of some of these mobile sites; especially if you have a different mobile site for users, that they are not automatically redirected to, it is important to ensure that search engine mobile content crawlers are aware of the mobile version of your site.

Tobi Bamidele is a marketing consultant who has been published on some of the world’s biggest blogs, including Under30CEO, Tech.co and Social Media Today.

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