Must Know Mobile Marketing Statistics

Mobile Marketing Statistics That You Need to Know

Americans spend an average of 158 minutes on their mobile devices everyday. That's more than 15% of their time awake. Perhaps more surprising, 75% say they bring their phones into the bathroom, and another 15% admit to answering their phones during sex. In other words, people love their mobile devices.

Some more juicy stats from the folks over at Pew Research:

• 90% of Americans own cell phones
• 42% own a tablet computer
• 32% use mobile readers
• 55% of US consumers use their mobile devices to go online
• 79% participate in texting

What does that mean to marketers? It means that your audience is more mobile than ever before, and if you’re not adjusting your marketing strategy to account for this, you’re most certainly missing out. In fact, mobile commerce is projected to account for 15 percent of total ecommerce sales this year.

Yet, according to a recent poll by Aweber Communications and 60 Second Marketer, 1 in 3 businesses are still not capitalizing on the mobile marketing goldmine. If you happen to be one of these latecomers, or you’re just starting to dip your toe into the mobile marketing water, here are 5 key things you need to know before you get started.

You must be ready:

There’s really no point in driving people to your mobile brand if they’re not going to have a great experience. The first step in developing a successful mobile marketing campaign is identifying your objectives and then implementing a strategy to meet those goals.

Think of the context of your mobile users. Mobile users aren't looking for the same information as your typical desktop users. How can you bring that information front and center. Think about what you want to get from your mobile users. Do you want to provide value for your existing customers (reducing churn is part of marketing too) or acquire new ones. Where are they in the purchase cycle. Maybe it isn't best to go for the close right away.

Your site should be optimized for mobile use:

Once you understand what you’re objectives are, you must turn to the technical aspect of mobile marketing. That is, optimizing your site. Mobile devices, whether it’s a smartphone or tablet, are obviously much smaller than desktop computers. Your site must be mobile-friendly, including the following features:

• Responsive design to automatically adjust to any mobile device
• Fast load time
• Limited data entry required
• Easy access to information

It's important to keep in mind that responsive web design doesn't just mean increasing the font size shrinking the width. Consider the context of a user browsing your site on a mobile phone. Think about the specific information they are seeking and bring that to the forefront.

It constantly amazes me how few carry-out restaurants put their contact information front and center when I visit their site from my phone, or display a menu as a pdf download. There is no faster way to generate profanity from a marketer than making it difficult for me to give you my money.

Consistency is key:

Just as with your social media strategy, your mobile marketing should be consistent across all channels. Consumers want to experience the same look and feel when they visit your mobile website as they would when browsing your desktop site – albeit a more condensed version. Consider your mobile marketing as part of your overall branding efforts.

Location is everything:

One of the biggest benefits of mobile marketing from the consumer’s standpoint is the ability to receive targeted, relevant data wherever they may be at any given moment. Your mobile marketing strategy should leverage this by including geo-location API technology. In other words, you’ll know exactly where your target audience is so you can deliver the right offers to the right people at the right time for optimum results. In the context of our carry-out restaurant, consider providing driving directions from my current location.

Broaden your horizons:

Mobile marketing is about much more than just optimizing your site for handheld devices. There are plenty of of other ways you can take advantage of this growing market, including text message marketing, QR codes and apps, just to name a few. Test the waters and measure regularly to see what techniques garner the best results and don’t be afraid to have a little fun while you’re at it.

There’s no doubt about it, your target audience is going has gone mobile. Shouldn’t you? If you’re not yet cashing in on this incredible opportunity, the time is now. Don’t get left behind.

Wondering how to make your referrals go mobile? Check out this awesome example our customer Lunatik built on the Ambassador API. Schedule a consultation to learn more today.