Mobile marketing refers to a form of marketing that aims at reaching out to users who utilize mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. The strategies employed in mobile marketing encompass in-app advertisements, SMS messages, as well as mobile-friendly emails, websites, and landing pages.
The significance of mobile marketing stems from the increasing trend of people using their phones or tablets to browse the Internet instead of computers. Currently, mobile devices account for over 50% of Internet traffic.
If you fail to create a mobile marketing strategy for your business, you are not taking advantage of the majority of your potential leads.
Mobile Marketing Channels
When considering mobile marketing, it is important to note that any channel accessible from a phone or tablet can be utilized. Nevertheless, there are primary channels specifically favored for mobile marketing.
SMS or Text Messages
SMS or text message marketing allows consumers to conveniently receive notifications, updates, personalized promotional offers, and time-sensitive deals quickly and easily. This form of marketing reaches consumers wherever they may be and regardless of their activities, with exceptionally high open rates of nearly 100% within the initial 20 minutes.
Push Notifications and In-app Messaging
When users choose to receive notifications for businesses with an app, you have the ability to send them offers, suggestions, notifications, and reminders to their home/lock screen. This can be done even if they are not currently using the app. If executed correctly, push notifications can serve as a potent mobile marketing tactic.
In-app messages can reach your entire user base without needing an opt-in from users, hence making it an effective way to gather information, establish preferences, and inform users about additional offers.
If your app includes an inbox, you have the option to utilize it similarly to email marketing by engaging in extended and detailed communication. App inboxes offer a plethora of analytics information and also grant you the ability to oversee message content even after it has been received in the inbox. This enables you to enhance the user experience and tailor offers more effectively.
Mobile Optimized Email Marketing
Although email marketing is not exclusive to mobile devices, it is crucial to ensure that your email marketing is optimized for mobile since most smartphone users access their email on their phones. By creating content with mobile devices in consideration, implementing mobile responsive website design, and utilizing branded mobile apps, recipients of your emails will find it highly convenient to visit your site and take the desired action directly.
How to Get Started with Mobile Marketing
To begin using mobile marketing, follow these steps in a sequential manner
- Determine your goals
- Set your key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Create your buyer personas
- Pick your tactics, like in-app ads
- Build your campaign
- Launch your campaign
- Measure your results
Mobile Marketing Plan
Not every strategy will be suitable or feasible for your particular business, although the mobile marketing strategies we mentioned earlier are all highly effective.
Your mobile marketing plan is crucial because it determines the roadmap and strategy for your mobile marketing efforts. This plan outlines the channels and strategies you will employ, as well as how you will integrate mobile-specific marketing into your overall marketing mix.
When creating your mobile marketing plan, follow these three steps to ensure success:
1. Select and Prioritize the best Mobile Marketing Strategies to Use
In order to make the right choice of strategies, it is crucial to consider your business model and the specific audience, location, and timing you wish to target. Additionally, carefully evaluate your marketing goals and objectives and assess how mobile marketing can assist in attaining them.
Look at the marketing channels you’re already using and see where you can use mobile marketing to strengthen different channels, like social media, or fill gaps, like location-based marketing, to round out your overall marketing efforts.
In order to effectively meet the needs of customers, it is essential to create comprehensive customer personas and determine the specific situations and timing in which they utilize mobile devices. This involves identifying if they are aimlessly browsing social media due to boredom, seeking an immediate solution to an urgent requirement, operating a vehicle, or being present at their residence.
Begin by analyzing the situation and identifying the most advantageous and convenient tactics. Start implementing those strategies and later incorporate additional ones, while minimizing or eliminating those that prove to be ineffective.
2. Consider Your Budget and Make the Most of Free or Low-cost Mobile Marketing Strategies
Mobile marketing offers several advantages, one being its cost-effectiveness! To maximize its benefits, opt for cost-free tactics such as claiming your Google location and other location-specific listings or opt for affordable options like text message marketing.
By considering the costs and potential savings, incorporate personalization and precise targeting into your mobile marketing plan to minimize wasted ad-spend and maximize ROI. This will ensure a sustainable plan that optimizes your available budget.
3. Optimize Your Current Marketing Channels for Mobile
Take each of your current marketing channels and make them more suitable for mobile devices – specifically focusing on your website, search ads, email, and social media marketing.
You can easily harness the advantages of mobile marketing by simply adapting your existing strategies to be mobile-friendly. This uncomplicated approach is the most straightforward and convenient way to initiate mobile marketing, even if you lack the resources to undertake dedicated mobile campaigns.
When making your website responsive and suitable for mobile devices, it is important to also evaluate your content and messaging to ensure they are effective on mobile and small screens. The approach of starting with small steps and gradually expanding enables you to gather data and create listings before venturing into new strategies for mobile marketing.
By thinking step by step, you can initiate the process by incorporating small additions such as including an opt-in for an SMS list in your marketing emails and on your website.
Mobile Marketing Tips
Mobile marketing is undoubtedly important for your company, but how does it actually manifest? What forms can mobile marketing assume, and how can you begin to create them? Presented below are six straightforward tips for mobile marketing that will assist you in brainstorming and executing successful campaigns.
1. Craft a Mobile-Friendly Website
To begin your mobile marketing campaign effectively, it is recommended to create a website that is compatible with mobile devices. Since your website serves as the main platform for all your online marketing efforts, it is essential for it to be easily accessible for mobile users.
In order to make your site mobile-friendly, it is important to practice responsive design. This means adjusting your site to match the screen it is being viewed on. This involves scaling the proportions of shapes, buttons, and text for mobile screens. It is crucial to make your site mobile-friendly as Google evaluates sites based on their mobile format.
If your website is not capable of being easily viewed and navigated on a mobile device, it will not receive a high ranking in search results, regardless of whether the search is conducted on a desktop computer.
2. Launch Some Responsive Paid Search Ads
People commonly use their phones to access Google for the purpose of seeking information. Whether they are outside or at home, many individuals utilize Google to search for information or discover places to go. These inquiries present an opportunity for you to connect with people through paid search advertisements.
With Google Ads, you have the ability to create ads that specifically target searches related to your business. For instance, if someone searches for “auto repair st. Louis,” your auto repair shop can have your ads appear in the search results. Furthermore, you also have the option to narrow down your ad targeting based on people’s location, allowing you to focus on individuals in close proximity to your shop.
3. Advertise Through Mobile Apps
Mobile apps offer an additional platform for advertising your business, apart from the Internet. These apps, such as weather or gaming apps, provide a chance to reach potential customers and generate new leads.
Similar to paid search ads, mobile app ads can also be created in Google Ads. This can be done by navigating to Display campaigns and selecting Placements. From there, you have the option to target specific apps or app categories with your ads.
In addition to advertising in third-party apps, you have the choice to develop your own mobile app for your business and market to users through it.
4. Set Up and Optimize Google Business Profile
A valuable opportunity for mobile marketing that should not be ignored is Google Business Profile. By creating a Google My Profile, you have the ability to enter details such as your business name, phone number, and location. The reason why GBP is highly beneficial is due to its integration with platforms like Google Maps.
If an individual uses Google Maps to locate golf courses nearby, they will come across your golf course listed in the search results and indicated on the map. Additionally, GBP can occasionally present results in regular Google searches, thereby enhancing its advertising effectiveness.
5. Harness Email Marketing and Advertising
Although individuals typically check their work email on a computer, they frequently access personal emails on their mobile phones, and in fact, over fifty percent of emails are opened on mobile devices.
To promote your company directly to individuals through their mobile inbox, you can utilize an email marketing and advertising campaign. The initial step involves sending marketing emails containing updates or exclusive deals, for which it is necessary to first establish an email list on your website.
By providing visitors with an opportunity to receive exclusive discounts or new content, you can encourage a significant number of them to willingly provide their email addresses. Additionally, employing Google Ads allows you to create paid Gmail ads that are displayed prominently in individuals’ inboxes. These ads can be targeted like typical paid advertisements, without the requirement of an email list.
They are visible to users who access their email through a search engine or the Gmail application.
6. Run Social Media Ads
Using social media is a common activity on phones. On average, 28% of a person’s Internet time is spent on social media. This makes social media a great focus for your mobile marketing strategy. In addition to managing your business’s social media account, you can create paid ads on social media to reach your desired audience.
You can make your ads appear directly in users’ social media feeds by utilizing in-feed ads.
Side notes
Mobile marketing should not be ignored as it is a crucial part of digital marketing. It is cost-effective and can seamlessly integrate into your overall marketing plan while producing remarkable results.
By properly combining mobile marketing strategies and creating an effective mobile marketing plan, you have the ability to reach your desired audience no matter the location or time with tailored marketing content that is both pertinent and personalized.
