Time and again, a company will come up with the question which is more of a dilemma, “Is it the right time to drive most of the marketing resources towards mobile marketing?” Most of the time this question will be left unanswered and conventional practices shadows its importance for the fear of not getting good returns of investment. It is time to delve inside this idea to make mobile marketing an important part of your company’s business plans.
We are living in an era of smartphones and tablets, and it is no surprise that most of the engagements in the internet are coming from the mobile platforms. In the starting of 2013, more than 5 percent of sales of Amazon were coming through mobile, which when roughly estimated comes to around 6 to 8 billion dollars (according to the report by Citi Analyst Neil Doshi). The shopping trends have already inclined towards online years ago due to the ease of shopping and availability of products.
It is an amazing thing that an increasing amount of Google search queries (around 15 to 25 percent increase as reported by the same report) is coming from the mobile platforms. Though mobile marketing is not done extensively by most companies, it is not a new activity as big companies have been using it effectively to increase their sales over the years. Thus, it is essential for those who are left in the race to implement and adapt to the changing trends, and take an active part in the mobile marketing scenario.
Before showing the importance of mobile marketing, let us look at some startling statistics as reported by score.org:
- 50% of mobile users use it on their way to store.
- 60% of the users use it while shopping in the stores.
- 39% walk-out of stores is influenced by smartphones.
1. The new and easy way to shop
The whole idea of shopping has been changed with the coming of online shopping and home-delivery systems. Now with mobile applications, it is has become a lot easier to do shopping whenever and wherever required without even moving from your place. Thus, a whole new generation of new shoppers have come up and this group is increasing. If you are not going mobile, you are losing them.
2. Distraction to attraction
Smartphones have become an indispensable part of our life. Whenever we are bored while standing in a queue or on a long journey and need a distraction from the monotony, smartphones come to the rescue. Whether we are playing a game or browsing the internet, we are flashed with mobile ads and often we get attracted by a product. If you have not started with a mobile marketing plan, your competitors will eat up your share of sales.
3. Reviews to Decision to Sales
According to a report by Smart Insights, around 90% percent of smartphone users do pre-purchase activities and these activities often buying decisions. But what would happen if you do not have a well-optimized and designed site for mobile. There will be a gap between the customer’s buying decisions and your sales options. These customers will go elsewhere, where they will find it easy to shop the required product having the same specifications like yours.
4. Be Social and Get Closer
Social media is changing the way businesses interact with customers. There is a whole new level of transparency and insight into the requirements of customers. Nearly 80% of the social media interactions take place through smartphones and this is a great way to engage with customers and it is critical in finding the information associated with the industry.
5. Rule your neighborhood
Most of the time smartphone users are looking for local information; from the nearest pizza restaurant to hair salon. You can optimize your website so that it is optimized to the local searches made by the mobile users. If you do not, there is a high chance that the store in front of yours is going to get more sales through their good mobile marketing plans.
Conclusion:
It is high time that companies understood the power of mobile marketing. People move with smartphones everywhere they go and a sale can happen any moment. So with good mobile marketing, customers will remember your brand and products.
This article is written by Hasibuddin Ahmed. He is a knowledge junkie and an SEO writer in the job portal – naukri.com, and often writes on topics related to online marketing jobs. He is also a foodie and an avid reader with the same voracious appetite. Follow him: Twitter | Google+ | LinkedIn.
