8 Ways Mobile Devices Can Improve Your Marketing Results

In today’s world, it seems that everyone is on the go.

Or, at home. Since Covid has created a work-from-home evolution and changed the work eco-system in the U.S. forever.

However, whether at home or out-and-about, according to Pew Research Center, 97% of people own a cellphone of some kind.

This is a powerful number.

Where else can you get that many people under one medium of messaging delivery?

Nowhere. 

All of  the different ways you can get your message (promo, ad, newsletter, catalog, update, etc.) in front of an audience may seem intimidating or overwhelming. Just thinking of the many ways you can reach an individual via their mobile device (minus a simple phone call) are mind boggling. Here are just some of the ways:

  • Mobile Apps
  • Push Notification
  • Text
  • Website Ads
  • Active Website Shopping
  • Email
  • Social Media

That’s a lot right there. You could spend an eternity just on those 7 ways of using direct marketing, email marketing, SMS marketing, geo-location marketing, social media marketing, display advertising, retargeting, and multi-channel marketing to create meaningful engagement.

There are many things a business needs to consider when conducting their marketing, especially if it is promotional in nature.

Many companies focus on CONSUMER DATA or on HOUSEHOLD DATA. Then there are those that focus on BUSINESS DATA, INDUSTRIAL DATA, and INTENT BASED DATA. With all this data and use cases, is there a way to create a common denominator that all businesses can follow in order to to utilize mobile devices to improve their marketing strategy? Yes. You Bet.

It is possible to build a common denominator of the 8 ways mobile devices can improve your marketing strategy. Whether you are focusing on:

  • Better Customer Experiences
  • Surveys
  • Promotions
  • Branding
  • Better Understanding of Your Customers
  • Maximizing on Data-Driven Technology to Increase Your Audience
  • Utilizing Customer Intelligence Solutions to Clone Your Customers and Optimize Prospecting

It will help to note that, according to Pew Research Center, smart phone owners in America went from 35% in 2011 to 85% as of RIGHT now.

This is very telling. It means that Americans, in general, are very receptive to the use of their mobile devices, and that means they are receptive to messaging through their mobile devices. That is the common denominator. They are expecting to be reached via their mobile devices. There is no surprise.

8 Ways Mobile Devices Can Improve Your Marketing Results Some fun facts:

  • Texts are read more than 90% of the time, according to venturebeat.com.
  • The mobile industry had a revenue of $1.05 trillion in 2017, according to slicktext.com.
  • 81% of all emails are now opened and read on mobile devices, per superoffice.com as of May 10, 2021.

The mobile and online arena for helping your audience experience your messaging is vast and ready for you to venture within its waters to:

  • Generate New Prospects and Customers
  • Create an Enhanced Customer Acquisition Strategy
  • Manage an Even Greater Customer Retention Initiative
  • Keep Your Brand Alive and in the Radar of Those People That Matter To You

This applies to all industries, businesses, mom and pop shops, businesses of any size or any annual revenue, in any state, and any city across the U.S. Your business, whatever it may be, can use mobile to win new engagement and/or new customers.

Now, where do you begin?

First, let’s blow your mind when it comes to the various industries and specific areas of interest that mobile marketing can help in terms of engagement:

  • Adtech/Martech
  • Consumer Trends & Insights
  • COVID
  • Customer Experience and Engagement
  • Data Management
  • Data Privacy & Governance
  • Data-Driven Marketing (Brand)
  • Partnerships
  • All Industries
  • Automotive
  • Communications
  • Consumer Packaged Goods Brands
  • Financial Services
  • Food Delivery
  • Government
  • Grocery and Convenience
  • Healthcare
  • Insurance
  • Manufacturers
  • Media and Publishers
  • Restaurants
  • Retail
  • Technology
  • Travel and Hospitality

As you can see, there are no areas mobile marketing of some kind can’t make a difference.

Now, for what you’ve been waiting for.

Here are the 8 Ways Mobile Devices Can Improve Your Marketing Results:

  1. Know Your Audience
  2. Keep Your Messages Short and Simple
  3. You Don’t Have to Pick a Channel, Use Them All
  4. People Don’t Always Respond the First Time
  5. Keep Your Social Media Alive and Well
  6. Make Sure You Are Capturing Website Visitor Information
  7. Don’t Be Afraid to Hire a Professional
  8. Don’t Let the Data Interfere With Your Commitment

1 – Know Your Audience:

This is simple, then not so simple. If you have been doing email marketing, or direct mail advertising, or watching who visits your website, and using tools to capture visitor data and campaign results, then you may or may not be segmenting your customers/prospects. If you are, this is helpful. If you aren’t, start. Both in amassing this data, and then utilizing this data via segments in whom you message (which will determine you content). This will help you speak a language that those different segments want to hear. Create messaging that fits your audience, not that fits what you want.

2 – Keep Your Messages Short and Simple:

Less is more. That is the main point here. If you look at display ads, retargeting ads, native advertising, content marketing, there is no blah blah blah. There are concise explanations, concise delivery of value and benefit, simple to understand promotions and, a clear call-to-action, and a clear direction for how your audience can respond to you. Watch what your competitors do as they communicate digitally. Watch if they are doing what we are suggesting here, and then use that as a catalyst to make the push into leveraging mobile for your messaging. Beat your competition, as most likely, they are not keeping to best practices.

3 – You Don’t Have to Pick a Channel, Use Them All

Multi-Channel marketing is all the rage. The reason for this, is that, as we saw above, there are many ways mobile users consume information. From social media to emails, to mobile apps, and SMS text advertising. So, stay flexible. Create a campaign that goes after their email inbox, the ads they see on their favorite website or on their TV’s, their Instagram and Facebook addictions… all of it. This is possible and just requires planning.

4 – People Don’t Always Respond the First Time:

Don’t get discouraged if your attempts at engaging with your audience via mobile is not successful on the first attempt. The numbers and data show that it is the consistency of effort that makes all the difference. Keep going, stay in their radar, don’t over do it, but keep it rolling. This kind of strategy always wins in the end.

5 – Keep Your Social Media Alive and Well:

This is crucial. Keep blogging (using keywords and relevant content), keep updating your Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, whatever channel you utilize. Keep adding content. This is important to Google and is important to your visitors to keep them stimulated and know that you are active and fully connected to your online brand.

6 – Make Sure You Are Capturing Website Visitor Information:

Find ways to get opted-in emails and phone numbers for text messaging. Follow the trends of visitors to your website. Learn how to drill down and gather as much intelligence as you can. This will help you steer the direction of your messaging.

7 – Don’t Be Afraid to Hire a Professional:

There is a lot here to digest and to execute. Nothing here is anything you can’t do by yourself. However, sometimes it takes time to beat the learning curve or there may not be time for your to do all of this, and everything else you do. So, no pride here, hire a professional company, it is OKAY. Just make sure they show you strategies that are relevant and not just a high-level view that sounds pretty, and make them show you their plan in a granular way for you to approve; and if they are creating the media, stay a part of that. Don’t give away creative power.

8 – Don’t Let the Data Interfere With Your Commitment:

This may seem counter intuitive, but what this is really saying, is that the data you get can be overwhelming, you may get confused, and you may see numbers that make you feel like you are wasting your time. Data is great, but “doing” is greater. You need to be committed to staying the course. To see which channel is making the difference, and if you can use that to inform your other channels if they are flagging, great. Use the same messaging across all channels and then do a/b testing across all channels. Be consistent in your messaging. Mobile advertising and outreach is a dynamic and ever evolving thing. Allow it to be. Don’t try to pigeon hole it or yourself. Be flexible. Your message is valuable and can ride any digital channel into the lives of your target audience.

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In closing, if you can’t leverage mobile to help get your messages out, then find a way. Period. There is no getting away from connecting with your core audience via mobile. The cloud is alive with billions of connections that crisscross the internet world and collide with the mobile universe.

People are more connected now than every before. The internet, IoT (internet of things, meaning, even TV’s that are connected to the internet can, and often do, receive digital advertising, that you can actually take advantage of), and even direct mail, are your friend. No marketing channel is an enemy or adversary. Use these channels to your advantage. Make connections, increase your audience acquisition, use data intelligence tools and customer modeling, data lists and marketing campaigns; all the time, without restraint or reservation. It is okay to make a mistake, it is not okay to stop trying.