Given that users are turning to smartphone, phablets and tablets more than ever before, mobile isn't something for your clients to add on to an existing marketing strategy. Today, marketing is mobile, and if their company isn't building a mobile plan, it's falling behind. Here are five tips that can help you successfully introduce mobile technology into your client's branding and marketing.
Change The Priorities
Traditionally, designers started from the assumption that their site would be viewed on a large computer. Then, they bolted on mobile functionality. The idea was to create a scaled down site that could simulate the desktop experience in a good-enough fashion on a mobile device.
To have a successful mobile marketing strategy in 2014 and beyond, you will need to change priorities. Now, sites should be designed from a mobile-first perspective. Adopting this approach means you ensure that a mobile user can get everything they need, and that their experience can then be scaled up to add additional features (or just to look better) on larger devices.
Just Be Responsive
Given the large number of mobile devices, it can be challenging to build a strategy that suits all of them. If you have a large and established mobile marketing strategy, you might choose at some point to create some unique and differentiated products.
Especially when you're getting started, though, setting up a single presence that uses responsive web design lets you reach every device from a single platform. Responsive designs are those that can automatically modify themselves to fit just about any screen or platform, letting your web presence work as well on a small smartphone screen as on a desktop computer with a large and high-resolution monitor. Setting up a responsive site saves you from the complexity of managing multiple systems.
Have Clear Hooks
A marketing strategy that leverages mobile technology accepts the reality of the mobile user's attention span. It's pretty short. This means that the best content is designed to grab attention quickly and retain it. Here are some of the ways that you can build effective content for the mobile setting:
- Write attention grabbing headlines that use evocative language, are relevant to what your audience cares about and clearly define the benefit the reader will get from spending time on the piece.
- Embrace multimedia. Many users might not read text on a small screen but will look at images or watch videos.
- Offer a mix of content, but make it all scannable. While short form content is generally better for mobile devices, a truly dedicated reader will go through a very long piece on a mobile phone. Breaking up long blocks of text with lists or headings can help, though.
Embrace Localization
One of the many features built into most mobile devices is location sensing capabilities. Not only do mobile devices know where they are, but they can also let you know where they're viewing you from. This gives you the opportunity to share information on your local offerings, direct them to your nearest location or give them content that is tied to the local area or to local events.
Check Your Metrics -- All Mobile Devices Aren't Equal
Once you have your client's mobile marketing strategy up and running, loop back and measure what is happening. Given the right data mining tools, you can identify patterns between users of similar devices. If mobile phone users are always looking for store locations, you can send them inducements like one day coupons to get them in the store. Tablet users might want to see your video content, while desktop users might need access to your support pages. Understanding this can help you expand your responsive design strategy by back filling it with more device-specific targeted content.
While the popularization of mobile computing is causing significant changes in marketing strategy, mobile devices also make some basic truths about marketing that much truer. Content is still king and users still like content that is applicable to them. With that in mind, a mobile marketing strategy might not be that different from the strategies that preceded it.
