Most business are still 5 years behind in their knowledge of online marketing. Most small businesses do not understand how effectively mobile apps can be as sales tools.
“There is a knowing-versus-doing gap. They know they need to do it, but how do they do it?” Greg Stuart, CEO of the Mobile Marketing association. In an attempt to close this gap we will highlight several techniques that small businesses in Florida can use to adopt a powerful mobile strategy.
Portio Research (March 2013) estimates that 1.2 billion people worldwide used mobile apps by the end of 2012. This number is expected to increase 29.8% and reach 4.4 billion users by the end of 2017. Much of this growth is expected to come from Asia, accounting for half of app users in 2017. If the American economy doesn’t catch up, these Asian companies will steal the ‘lions share’ of the potential revenue.
Some main misconceptions is that a mobile strategy involves expensive apps.
1. Gather Intelligence
HootSuite experts state that social media monitoring in a mobile environment is important to learning who your consumers are, what they want, and how to sell to them. Is your consumer visual? Will they watch videos? Do they read articles?
Most businesses have a blog, but does your consumer want to be educated? Do they read? Would they rather watch a video – or do they not want to commit to watching a 3 minute video? Even if you do not invest the time needed to become ‘famous’ on Facebook, you can learn enough about your consumer base to make a difference in your conversion-to-buyer ratio.
2. Integrate Customer Engagement into your Business Process
Do you have a sales process, or do you just hope that consumers will buy? Can you track your consumer’s behavior. Engaging consumers Is the best way to connect customer engagement and the business process. Once you do this you’ll see an increase in your conversion-to-buyer ratio and sales.
3. Put Customer Needs First
You can build a strong mobile strategy. Consumers have mobile specific needs. These include:
- Geo-targeted services
- Special mobile apps and website layout
- Shorter distance between contact and ‘buy now’ buttons
- Less clutter – more customer focus
- Video and graphics vs text.
- Speed of page load.
4. Multi Screen Marketing Strategy
Websites are expensive, but what is the cost of losing consumers? Over 40% of smartphone users watch TV while browsing on a smartphone. These consumers are more interested in information if it is delivered via video than an article that requires more focus, and scrolling through multiple screens.
5. Clicks and Scrolling
One benefit of having a mobile website (or app) is that it lets the business focus on the needs of the consumer.
- Page load speed
- Make ‘contact tools available on every screen
- Get into their contact list
- Engage
- Focus on local
- Connect to mobile friendly apps – like maps, contact, review tools, etc.