Smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, smartwatches. The technology sphere teems with devices to keep us constantly connected. And while you may be on your A-game when it comes to Internet marketing, do you know what you’re doing with mobile marketing?
A 2018 Pew Research Center fact sheet reports 77% of American adults own a smartphone, and one in five are “smartphone-only” Internet users, meaning they rely exclusively on their mobile devices to shop, read reviews, respond to email, and perform job searches.
We live in a world where 140 characters make more of a splash than a long-form article, where screens are smaller, and attention spans are increasingly shorter. So in this highly distracting environment, how do you make your sales business stand out among all the others? You have just seconds to make an impression, after all.
Here are a few best practices to adjust your company or brand marketing for a mobile device audience:
This seems like a no-brainer, but it bears repeating whether you’re targeting your marketing campaign for Internet or mobile. Ask yourself the following:
Say your demographic is 40-something investment bankers. They’re likely not spending much time on Instagram or Snapchat. Get their attention on Facebook or LinkedIn, and target ads on business websites. Know who you’re selling to so you can solidify your strategy for how to sell.
“I’m lovin’ it.” “Eat fresh.” “Taste the rainbow.” “Snap, crackle, pop.”
What do all those slogans have in common? They’re short and sweet. They’re clear without being overly cutesy, and you instantly know the brand when you hear the slogan. Just say “No” to too many words, particularly in your mobile marketing. With such short collective attention spans, you have just a second to make an impression, and you’re more likely to get a prospective customer with short, impactful sentences and pithy slogans.
If you’re making the effort to put Facebook posts, mobile texts, and email newsletters out there, track what’s working … and what’s not. Code incoming links, watch which Facebook posts get the most click-throughs and make the most impressions … and which don’t. Use what works and scrap what doesn’t.
If we’ve learned anything over the past few years, it’s that Google, Facebook, and the like constantly shift their practices. We’ve seen Facebook scramble its algorithms, making it more difficult for small businesses to get the notice they need without paying for sponsored posts. And with Google, well, just because a search term ranked high last month doesn’t mean that will hold true next month.
If you can’t afford to hire a point person to track those trends, stay abreast of changes via social media. Sites like Social Media Today and Hubspot do a great job of notifying readers about upcoming changes.
The above points may seem like common sense, but don’t forget: In a world of ever-shifting mobile technologies, you’ll need to keep your finger on the pulse to stay relevant.