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Mobile devices and the influx of mobile technologies have changed the landscape for marketers in recent years. Today, mobile content is consumed more actively than any other types of media available. In fact, Mary Meeker, an analyst at Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers who reviews trends that are occurring in technology, predicted that mobile search would take over fixed internet searches by 2014. At this point, statistics show that multi-platform use has continued to rise with more than 60% of internet users searching on more than just a PC alone.
Unfortunately, despite the growth in mobile search, today’s marketers are not always up to par when it comes to creating mobile content that actually converts at the same rates as desktop content. Studies estimate that mobile content conversions are generally one third less than desktop conversions. As a marketer, it’s imperative that you determine ways to increase mobile marketing conversions to justify your mobile advertising spend.
Here are five strategies to boost conversion rates and improve ROI for your business or brand:
1. Be Consistent. Consistency is key in mobile marketing but this doesn’t mean you can have a set it and forget it attitude if you expect your mobile strategy to result in higher conversions. According to Exact Target, a sister company of SalesForce.com, it’s important to send consistent offers to customers so that they come to expect (and wait for) your message. You may send out an email every Monday or a special offer the first Friday of each month—how you choose to develop a consistent offer will ultimately depend on your business but with the right offers, sent at the right times, and a consistency that customers come to expect, you’ll see conversion rates improve.
2. Customize. Mobile conversions are significantly higher when the user experience is customized to their individual needs. According to Conversion XL, using personalized content and behavioral targeting features is not only fundamental to an online marketing strategy, it can also lead to significantly increased mobile conversions. The idea here is to target content to customers based on their behavior and other factors. This allows you to create a customer experience that is engaging, interactive and tailored to the individual needs of the customer in a way that will lead to an almost certain increase in conversions.
Customization can be based on an array of variables, laid out by the marketer based on importance for the overall campaign. These variables may include:
- Location
- Type of device being used such as iPhone, Android device, smartphone, etc.
- Frequency of visits (i.e. Is this a new visitor, someone who’s been to the site a few times, someone who comes daily?)
- Where the visitor came from (Google search, Safari, another website, etc)
- In session behavior including activity such as click throughs and pages viewed
- Age, gender or socioeconomic status of the searcher
Ultimately, the customer experience is based on a wide range of variables including browsing behaviors, search preference, buying history, etc.
3. Encourage. Mobile marketing is very in tune with social media. If you’re not spending time focused on both strategically then you’re likely wasting a lot of time and money in the wrong areas. Consider the fact that more than 70% of mobile web users also access social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter from their mobile device. You can bet that increased conversions will come from any campaign that integrates social media into the strategy and encourages fans and followers to engage with your mobile campaign.
Whether you incorporate special offers to those who engage on social media or you promote a special feature of your website or your own mobile app, the engagement that you get in social networks can lead to significantly higher conversions. According to Digital Media Zone, 50% of social media users under the age of 35 are influenced to follow product or service recommendations made by their friends online. The bottom line is, you cannot afford to be missing out on the conversions that are taking place as a direct result of social interaction and encouragement.
4. Embed. There are all sorts of different embedded technologies available to marketers these days: QR codes, smart images, NFC (Near Field Communication) tags, etc. These technologies are in the hands of marketers to increase mobile conversions in a variety of ways but many mobile marketing professionals overlook such technology because it’s too new or because they simply don’t know enough about the tools that are available to them.
Effectively embedding things like QR codes and smart images into a mobile marketing campaign can deliver incentives to your visitors and will lead them to interact and flow through the sales funnel. Don’t be the marketer that allows embedded technology to escape your plan—such oversight limits the potential for higher conversions and may leave you looking like you aren’t hip on the mobile hype!
5. Evolve. This again is where the set it and forget it attitude simply won’t do. Your marketing messages must evolve continuously in order to keep the customer engaged. Consider using various attention getters to keep your customer involved. For instance, if you have an ecommerce app, you may send push notifications that alert a customer who has been inactive for a period of time to return to their shopping cart to finish the order. If you’re a restaurant you could send push notifications to customers who have your mobile app alerting them of a happy hour special or a special event. Some customers will respond better to an email so you may consider sending out an email in conjunction with other marketing channel messaging in order to test the effectiveness of different channels with different groups. A combination of efforts, that evolve based on customer behavior, and a little bit of trial and error will result in higher conversions over time. Build, measure, learn.
The post 5 Surefire Ways to Increase Mobile Marketing Conversion Rates (And Improve your ROI) appeared first on Launch & Hustle.