Mobile, Mobile, Mobile

If you haven’t already learned this by now, mobile is important. Yet, even though a lot of people know this, a majority of websites are not mobile optimized. In fact, only 10 percent of all websites are mobile friendly, 16 percent of marketers have developed a strategy for mobile, and only 14 percent of that 16 percent stated that they were satisfied with how their mobile strategy is working.

So why is this happening? Why are companies having trouble taking advantage of what is obviously the most important thing to marketing? Well, it seems that people are becoming overwhelmed with all this information and don’t even know where to start. Mobile marketing is still very new territory after all, so it’s a good idea to prioritize what’s important to you and your company before making any mobile marketing decisions. Because not only can taking on everything at once become overwhelming, but not all companies have the money and resources to do all of this at once.

How To Prioritize

The 5 choices you have to prioritize are mobile SEO, mobile site optimization, mobile email optimization, mobile applications, and SMS. The key to prioritizing these is remembering what you are trying to accomplish as an individual and as a company.

The first option is prioritizing mobile SEO.
This is a great option to start with if people are in large part using search engines such as Google to find your site. This doesn’t always mean they are just looking for your specific company, but they can also be searching for a problem that your company can solve for them. The 3 main ways people search for content on the internet is through branded queries(the searcher knows your name, but they need more information to push them over the hump to make a transaction), interrogative queries (the searcher doesn’t know your name, but they want what your company is offering; this is why you want to show up first on Google), andtransactional queries (the searcher knows your name and knows what you offer, but they don’t know where to go or where to get it.) All 3 of these types of searches are reasons why you would want to optimize your mobile site’s SEO. Because if you’re showing up at the top of these search results, people are clicking on your site, your site traffic goes up, and you are generating more leads.

The next option is mobile site optimization.
This is a good option to prioritize if people are already visiting your site regularly without using a search engine to find you. You can measure this in the amount of direct traffic your site is generating. Direct traffic is anyone who is visiting your site without the assistance of a search engine. Usually companies who focus on mobile site optimization are 1 of 3 types. They are either an ecommerce company that primarily conducts its business through the internet, a company that sells event-based material such as movie and concert tickets, or a company that stores information on its site that people would want to access on the go. Examples of this would be banks (people like to check their balances on the go) or airline companies (people like to check their flight information.) Again, prioritizing mobile site optimization is best for companies that are already getting direct traffic on their sites.

The third option is mobile email optimization.
Mobile email optimization is for companies that already have their customers in the middle of the sales funnel. The customer has already visited your site and has probably done business with you in some shape or form. Now you want to nurture your lead by sending your customers emails to remind them of the products, services, and possibly event special events your company if offering. The key to optimizing your mobile email is to ensure that your emails look good across all mobile platforms (smartphones, tablets, etc.) You also want to keep your subject line at or under 20 characters, make sure the message is clear and interesting, it’s being sent in both plain text and HTML, there’s limited images in the email, and it doesn’t necessitate excessive scrolling and pinching to read it. You also want to remember if you are directing people to landing pages on your website, that these web pages are mobile friendly and easy to read on a mobile device.

The next option is mobile applications, or mobile apps for short.
Firstly, before you even think about focusing on this, make sure you have a good idea. It’s been proven that for every 4 apps downloaded on a mobile phone, only 1 will be used again after that initial use. Remember, the best and most useful apps are ones that help your current and potential clients do something better or easier. Examples of this would be placing orders for purchases, calculating common industry calculations, or getting alerts for problems or opportunities. Using “fun little ideas” for mobile apps is a waste of time and will not achieve the goals you and your company have set.

Another option to focus on is SMS.
SMS optimization is perfect if you are wanting to focus on optimizing your current customers’ experience. This isn’t a bad idea since so many companies focus so much on getting newleads that they forget the ones they already have. SMS optimization includes providing service alerts, reminders, making service sign-up quicker and easier, and communicating with active customers. If you are wanting to focus on any of these facets, then SMS optimization should be your priority.

Focusing In

Of course, it would be great if you could do all 5 of these at once, but most companies do not have the money or resources to do that. Focusing on one of these methods is a great place to start, especially if your company is at that particular stage in acquiring clients.