Sometimes this planet can seem like a very vast place, but a new study shows that we might not be as far apart as you might think: 50 percent of the global population is now in possession of a mobile phone, putting you - and your business - a lot closer to a new sale than possibly ever before.
Here are five ways you can harness the power of mobile marketing to boost your sales:
1. Take Advantage Of Consumer Psychology
Knowing how consumers think and act can help you formulate a new mobile marketing strategy or revamp one that's already in play.
For instance, one study found that mobile users are three times more likely to accidentally tap on a static banner ad because it appears to be a part of a blog or article versus 3D or animated banners that are clearly used for advertising purposes. With that knowledge in mind, you can shift your focus from rich-media banners, which apparently are a comparative waste of time and page space, to static banners that may not incur as many intentional taps but lead to increased page views all the same.
2. Step Up Your Email Marketing
Social media ads have their uses but email conversion rates are three times higher than Facebook, Twitter, or any of their social counterparts. When it comes to reading emails, 64 percent of decision makers do so on their mobile devices, so instead of casting a wide net on Facebook, target the powers that be in an email that is optimized for mobile, greets them by name, outlines your message in a customer-centric way, and incorporates a call to action (more on that below).
3. Create Branded Content
A blog can be a very powerful thing, but only if you do it right. Stuffing content full of self-promotional garbage or long-tail keywords that only make sense to search engines is going to hurt you far more than it helps you, but writing smart content that appeals to consumers - describing how you can solve a problem for your audience always works - but still incorporate SEO (search engine optimization) can convert browsers to buyers pretty quickly.
70 percent of mobile searches result in online action within just one hour. Basically, if you create interesting content that ranks with search engines, draws mobile users to your site and still entertains and/or educates readers once they get there, you've done a fantastic job of setting yourself up for future success.
4. Optimize Your E-Commerce Site for Mobile Purchases
Most businesses know that people are buying online, but some might not be aware that 29 percent of all e-commerce transactions occurring in the United States - and 34 percent of those occurring globally - are actually conducted via mobile phone. Sales transactions through a smartphone or other mobile device are expected to reach a staggering $721.4 billion by 2017.
Though not everything is perfect for purchasing online, the products and services that are suite for e-commerce need to be displayed in a way that is accessible regardless of the way customers are choosing to view them.
5. Advertise on Social Media - and Use a CTA
Social media: it's not just for sharing cat videos and political memes anymore. As of September 2015, Facebook boasted 1.39 billion users who were signing in via a mobile device each month, and they're spending more time on Facebook than on any other site, including Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter (the next four on the list according to usage data).
The audience is there, but how to engage them? Using a call to action (CTA) appears to be key. Facebook campaigns that utilized CTA buttons had almost three times the click-through rate of ads without a CTA; interestingly, although "Shop Now" was the most popular button used by businesses, "Learn More" performed much better. What we can extrapolate from that data is consumers are more interested in being educated about a product in a sort of soft-sell way than they are drawn in by straightforward calls to shop or buy immediately, so craft your campaigns with that in mind.
Everybody is chasing bigger, better numbers, but as these 5 insights show, improving sales may be more about B2C connectivity than big-budget ads. By simply upping your mobile marketing game and engaging in a stronger, smarter way, you could be reaching next-level status in just a few clicks.