Is your company’s marketing mobile friendly?
Mobile marketing is a hot topic. In 2013, over 2 billion people are using their mobile phones to access the internet. That includes using smartphones to:
- read email
- make purchases
- research and comparison shop
- watch videos
- listen to or download music
- watch tv and movies
- connect on social networks
- do banking
- take part in online training, conferences and webinars
- use maps and navigate routes
image source: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I remember growing up without a cellphone, when email was new (Freenet is what I started on – anyone else remember that?), having a website was forward-thinking for a business, books were printed on paper, and when people had conversations at restaurants and bus stops.
Now, my husband and I start the morning in bed by reaching for our cell phones, and I can’t leave the house without grabbing my mobile.
Crazy right?
So what does mobile marketing mean for your business?
In a world that runs at 90 miles a minute, people are no longer just using home computers to access information. It’s vitally important to make the online experience user-friendly for not only desktop computers, but mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.
As a self-employed visual marketing strategist, I work from home. I spend a lot of time in front of a computer, whether it’s editing photos, writing blog posts, creating training videos, developing online courses, or Skyping with clients. I also learn from a lot of excellent mentors by taking part in mastermind groups, attending online conferences and telesummits, and watching webinars.
I realized recently that I hardly ever listen to music any more when I’m driving. Why? Because I’m usually listening to a podcast that I downloaded, or listening to a live webinar on my smartphone. If I’m in my car for a 20 minute drive across town, that’s 40 minutes round trip – time that I won’t get back, so I figure I may as well use it to be productive.
Yesterday I listened to a YouTube marketing webinar by my go-to guy for video marketing info, James Wedmore. {Great tips, as always.) A webinar on the go – I love it!
Here’s the thing. A few days earlier, I tried to watch a webinar on my phone while I was sitting by the lake drinking my Americano. Guess what? Because the webinar software they broadcast on used Flash, I couldn’t access the webinar on my Android smartphone. How annoying.
And today, I tried to sign up for this super-cool sounding newsletter via my mobile phone. But the process to navigate their website and click tiny links was so frustrating, I left, and that company never got my oh-so-valuable email address.
You see, I never realized until this year how different a user’s experience is on a mobile phone. They way a website looks and users interact with it is totally different. Some services don’t even work on some smartphones (depending whether you use an iPhone, a Blackberry phone or an Android).
10 things to consider about mobile marketing
Test your website, Facebook apps, landing pages, email newsletters, and other online marketing on different platforms (tablet/iPad, smartphone, desktop computer). Better yet, test them on different web browsers too (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Explorer).
- Is every section visible?
- Is it easy to click?
- Is it easy to navigate?
- Is it quick to load?
- Do the links work?
- Do users have to scroll around?
- Is important info like phone numbers, maps and opening hours visible and clickable?
- Do your videos play?
- Is your opt-in form to capture email addresses easy to use on all devices?
- Is the text size big enough to read easily?
So stop frustrating your mobile customers. Make sure you have a mobile version of your website, or use a responsive website theme. Don’t leave money on the table or miss opportunities by not having a mobile marketing strategy.
