Make your business “Mobile Fast”
Today’s mobile device user expects mobile experiences to be fast, in the moment and engaging, while putting them in the driver’s seat to interact with your brand.
Considering the rapid changes we are facing in ecommerce, mobile should be a top priority. A recent study by Shop.org, Bizrate and Forrester shows that mobile now accounts for nearly one-third of all online sales. Smartphones drive 17 percent of online retail sales, while tablets account for 14 percent, and usage is growing fast. The same study shows nearly 60 percent of marketers say “figuring out mobile” is their top priority this year.
Customers – whether retail or B2B – aren’t waiting. They use mobile to get information, make comparisons, engage with brands and make purchases. To survive and thrive, marketers today need ways to quickly accelerate business via mobile and catch up with today’s fast-lane customers.
Roadblocks
Marketers face the “chicken-and-egg” phenomenon when it comes to speeding up their mobile programs. CMOs demand metrics to define strategies, but mobile marketing is still in its nascent stage, so metrics can be few and far between. Which comes first? The strategy or the metric to decide on strategy? Meanwhile, customers keep accelerating their mobile life.
Some real challenges: Budgets and strategies made 6-8 months ago were based on 2014 and 2015 insight (ancient history in mobile marketing terms). Much has changed even since 2016 began and the expensive mobile app or website created a year or two ago may be forcing strategies down the wrong path. Finally, many organizations simply lack available expertise and resources to map a better course.
Here are three things you can do to move into the fast lane and catch up with customers:
Step back briefly and assess your mobile marketing approach and the platforms that support it. Ask tough questions. Are you relying on standalone channels that are out of sync with other marketing channels and platforms? Do your mobile options offer ways to readily engage with customers across their preferred platforms? Does your content resonate? Is your program flexible and dynamic to adjust to the needs of customers in the moment they engage with the brand? Do people know what they are supposed to actually DO once they engage with your brand via mobile (seek more information, purchase, book, etc.)?
Resist the urge to start over from scratch (unless you absolutely must). Seek a platform that allows you to take advantage of investments already made in mobile marketing, including technology, content, apps and social engagement. Many organizations have a lot of the essentials in place already, but content is not being served up in ways that align with consumers’ mobile behaviors and preferences. In many cases, the problem might lie more in an existing presentation layer. Marketers have an opportunity to refocus on what their customers truly want and need – and eliminate the tools and elements that don’t align with that.
Implement a simpler approach to drive past barriers. The barriers that keep mobile marketing programs in the slow lane can be eliminated quickly, with the right approach. Marketers need a new platform that speeds past mobile apps and mobile websites. The good news is, options now exist that allow brands to quickly migrate to better, more effective platforms that meet customers on their terms
Getting out of neutral and into the same lane as customers can happen quickly with a smarter, simpler approach to mobile. Watch the video below to learn more about how to accelerate business via mobile and discover the wide range of possibilities with Wrap.
