Mobile Marketing for Small Medium Businesses

What is Mobile Marketing?

Mobile marketing in its simplest definition is “marketing on or with a mobile device, such as a smart phone”.¹ This week we take a 8-minute glimpse into mobile, its growth, marketing through mobile, and if you should embrace it.

We will also share some tips on how you can get into mobile marketing.

The Mobile Shift

How Many of Us Are Getting Up-and-A-Mobile?

The Australian population by September 2015 recorded at 23,869,0002². Of that, 62.84% or over 15 million Australians owned a smartphone. According to the IAB Australia/Nielsen’s ‘The Mobile Story’, that reads a 38% increase in over 2 years as at quarter ending July 2015, from 11.1 million to 15.3 million.³ This mobile shift is strong and the movement is still growing.

Smartphone and Tablet Ownership Trend in Australia, April 2013 – Jul 2015 | Image Source: http://www.desketing.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1448287200_7a87cd54d624da241efa7087c362d82e.pdf

Ways of the Mobile Ones

We also like to use our mobile devices in shorter but more frequent sessions compared to how we use our desktops. To be exact, that is an average of over 4 times more frequent – 199 smartphone sessions compared to 46 desktop sessions per person in a month.³

PC, Smartphone, Tablet Monthly Session – Frequency & Duration | Image Source: http://www.desketing.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1448287200_7a87cd54d624da241efa7087c362d82e.pdf

The trend is also that Australians (18 years +) prefer to use their smartphones over tablet devices or desktops to read news and information, spending an average of just under 35 hours per person browsing or using applications per month.³

Average Time Spent on Digital Devices | Image Source: http://www.desketing.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1448287200_7a87cd54d624da241efa7087c362d82e.pdf

Old Mobile Phones Outnumber Australians

Australians have also taken to mobile handsets in a big way. So much so that the number of old mobile phones now overshadow the number of Australians^17,18 – 25.5 million old mobile phones vs 24.1 million Australians (at the time of writing, August 2016).

Australian Population Clock, Aug 2016 | Image Taken Off: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs%40.nsf/94713ad445ff1425ca25682000192a2/1647509ef7e25faaca2568a900154b63?OpenDocument

#Mobilegeddon

Another reason for the increasing importance of, and shift onto mobile is because Google has developed a preference for mobile-friendly websites. April 21, 2015 ‘Mobilegeddon’ ⁴, was when Google implemented some tweaks to its search engine algorithm. Reports from Stone Temple Consulting⁵ and Adobe Systems⁶ showed that non-mobile-friendly websites suffered from those tweaks.⁷

Stone Temple Consulting studied 50,000 websites for one month after the changes took effect and found⁵

• 46% of those sites that weren’t mobile-friendly fell in Google search rankings
• 30% of those sites that were mobile-friendly gained in rankings

Adobe Systems studied over 5,000 sites and reported traffic to non-mobile-friendly sites from Google mobile searches fell 12% in the two months after April 21 as opposed to mobile-friendly sites.⁶

Why Mobile Marketing?

It is clear Australians are increasingly moving towards the mobile platform and doing more on their smartphones.  What this also represents, is a new medium that can facilitate engaging ways of connecting with your audience.

Getting personal and up-close

Reaching out to your audience through their smartphones means the customer journey happens through their personal device. Literally, a brand gets closer to a user through a smartphone, as opposed to, through their computer monitors.^8,9 That is a more personal engagement with the user and its psychological experience is distinct on its own.^8,10

Micro-moments

The efficacy of using this mobile medium is improved by how attached users are to their smartphones. It is also a mobile device that users have with them most of the time.¹⁰ The consistent pattern of frequent usage speaks largely for itself. We now integrate use of smartphones broadly and in-depth into our everyday living seamlessly. Google expresses this very aptly as micro-moments.¹⁰

  “At Google, we call these micro-moments.
They’re the moments when we turn to a device—often a smartphone—to take action on whatever we need or want right now. These I-want-to-know, I-want-to-go, I-want-to-buy, and I-want-to-do moments are loaded with intent, context, and immediacy.”

Reaching out for that smartphone

We consult our mobile smartphone in most decisions and it is also one of the first things we do in the morning like checking emails and weather forecasts.^8,9,10 Google’s research quantifies high percentages of users tuning into their smartphones when making decisions.

 Scenarios and percentage of users reaching for their smartphones¹⁰

• 68% check their phones within 15 minutes of waking up in the mornings
• 87% always have their smartphones with them
• 82% look into purchases they are about to make in a store
• 91% search for ideas when performing tasks
• 66% search about what they saw in a TV commercial
• 71% used a store locator to find a store location

Images Taken Off: http://www.desketing.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/micromoments-guide-to-winning-shift-to-mobile-download.pdf

How to ‘Mobile-Marketing’

Based on current trends, mobile marketing is more than the newest shiny thing. It is the new way forward. It gives rise to new and more direct ways to connect with your audience and here are some tips to engage audiences on mobile.

Assess your mobile-marketing needs, readiness state and strategy

• Determine your objectives and what you want to achieve from mobile¹¹
• Identify key results you want to achieve from mobile marketing campaigns¹¹
• Adopt a customer journey strategy as part of your overall business strategy^11,13,16

Get a mobile-friendly version of your website

• Responsive design is key, regardless of device or platform^8,11,12
• Implement a simple mobile-friendly site – easy to navigate about and task-driven.^8,11,15
• Ensure your mobile site is built to manage changing mobile technologies¹¹

Your mobile site must stand on its own, not as an extension of your desktop site.

• Design your mobile campaign from ground up optimised for mobile¹¹
• Take full advantage of the mobile medium to interact with the user^8,11,15
  • Take/track/share pictures and locations, augment reality, listen to music, watch television
• Engage with users via mobile-friendly calls to actions ¹¹
  • ‘Download Now’, ‘Tap to Explore’, Apple Store icon, Google Play icon

Mobile Ads on Social Media

• Instagram, Twitter, Facebook facilitate mobile-device focused ads that targets by device.^8,12,14
• Geo-target your audience to increase conversions by area or distance radius.¹²

Mobile Ads with Google Adwords

• There are different types of Google’s Mobile pay-per-click ads which appear differently compared to desktop.
  • For example, create Call-Only ads with Adwords for devices that can make calls.¹²

Text Message Campaigns

• Use SMS marketing to offer something of value to your target audience that is worthy of the interruption it will cause
  • For example, include links to new content, a landing page or exclusive offers.^11,12,14

Mobile-Friendly Emails

• Incorporate responsive email design layouts for your email campaigns on mobile and desktop
  • For example, links and phone numbers to be clickable, leading to an interaction beyond the email.¹² You want to capture their attention in the email and continue to engage with them beyond that email.

Simply, you need to create an excellent user experience for audiences with mobile behaviour, searching for information on-the-fly. To draw you a picture of the opportunities that potentially exists – if each user experienced, say, a hundred mobile micro-moments a day, that means 15 million Australians represent, one billion five hundred million opportunities to engage with them every day.

Find out how Desketing can help boost your mobile marketing campaigns.

References

1. Karjaluoto Heikki and Leppäniemi Matti, “Factors influencing consumers’ willingness to accept mobile advertising: a conceptual model”, Int. J Mobile Communications, Vol 3, No. 3, 2005, p. 198.
2. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2016. 0 – Australian Demographic Statistics, Dec 2015. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3101.0 . [Accessed 5 Aug 2016].
3. IAB Australia and Nielsen. 2015. The Mobile Story, Nielsen Mobile Ratings. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.desketing.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1448287200_7a87cd54d624da241efa7087c362d82e.pdf. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016].
4. 2016. Mobilegeddon. [ONLINE] Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobilegeddon. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016].
5. Stone Temple Consulting Corporation. 2016. Mobilegeddon: Nearly 50% of Non-Mobile Friendly URLs Dropped in Rank. [ONLINE] Available at https://www.stonetemple.com/mobilegeddon-may-have-been-bigger-than-we-thought/. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016]
6. Adobe Systems. 2015. Digital Advertising Report, Adobe Digital Index | Q2 2015. [ONLINE] Available at http://www.desketing.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Q2-ADI-Digital-Ad-Report.pdf. [Accessed at 5 Aug 2016].
7. The Wall Street Journal. 2015. Google’s ‘Mobilegeddon’ Was a Big Deal, After All. [ONLINE] Available at http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/07/15/googles-mobilegeddon-was-a-big-deal-after-all/. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016].
8. 2016. Top 7 Reasons You Should Make Mobile Marketing a Priority. [ONLINE] Available at https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/277758. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016].
9. Microsoft, MSN. 2016. 3 Reasons Mobile Marketing Is a Must for Your Small Business. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/smallbusiness/3-reasons-mobile-marketing-is-a-must-for-your-small-business/ar-BBv3r8H. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016].
10. 2015. Micro-Moments: Your Guide to Winning the Shift to Mobile”. [ONLINE] Available at http://www.desketing.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/micromoments-guide-to-winning-shift-to-mobile-download.pdf. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016].
11. 2013. 10 Mobile Marketing Tips for Small Businesses. [ONLINE] Available at http://www.cio.com/article/2381406/marketing/10-mobile-marketing-tips-for-small-businesses.html. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016].
12. 2016. Essential Mobile Marketing Tips For Small Businesses. [ONLINE] Available at https://authoritylabs.com/blog/mobile-marketing-tips-small-businesses/. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016].
13. com. 2016. 2016 State of Marketing Research Report. [ONLINE] Available at https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2016/03/state-of-marketing-2016.html. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016].
14. 2016. 6 mobile marketing techniques you should know about. [ONLINE] Available at http://www.campaigntrack.com/6-mobile-marketing-techniques-you-should-know-about/. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016].
15. Social Media Examiner. 2016. How to Optimize Your Mobile Social Media Ads. [ONLINE] Available at http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-optimize-your-mobile-social-media-ads/. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016].
16. Mashable Australia. 2015. 4 ways marketers can seize ‘mobile moments’. [ONLINE] Available at http://mashable.com/2015/08/20/seizing-mobile-moments/#pV.xKYdmBkqM. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016]
17. MobileMunster, Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association. 2016. 5 million mobile phones cluttering Australian homes. [ONLINE] Available at http://www.mobilemuster.com.au/news/articles/2016-04/255%20million-mobile-phones-cluttering-australian-homes/. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016]
18. SBS News. 2015. Australia has more phones than people. [ONLINE] Available at http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/01/02/australia-has-more-phones-people. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016].
19. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2016. Population Clock. [ONLINE] Available at http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs%40.nsf/94713ad445ff1425ca25682000192af2/1647509ef7e25faaca2568a900154b63?OpenDocument. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016]
20. 2016. Australia has more dead mobile phones than people. [ONLINE] Available at http://www.governmentnews.com.au/2016/04/23632/. [Accessed 5 Aug 2016]

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