4 Mobile Trends You Don’t Want To Miss
The mobile trend has evolved into more than optimizing a website or app for mobile devices. Sure, having an optimized site for mobile is still important and yes, having an app for multiple platforms is a must, but the true revenue generator relies on the customer’s experience. With mobile devices being within an arms length of consumers, it is up to companies to establish a trusting relationship with the customer base. Building relationships extends beyond thanking a customer for a purchase. The customer’s relationship and experience with a company will outlast any competition that comes into play. Take Apple’s customers as an example: Many are loyal, devoted, and willing to fight tooth-and-nail for the company’s products.
User-First Design
In our intimately connected world users can interact with your business across many digital touch points including websites, mobile apps, mobile sites, and other digital devices. The journey consumers take when interacting with a company’s touch points needs to maintain a consistent if not almost identical experience. The concept user-first design focuses all design and functionality on the user’s experience, not a specific device. There is no such thing as a mobile or tablet user. Rather it is the same individual who simply is interacting with a different device. The experience of the screen size may be different, but the relevant information that needs to be delivered should be consistent. The key take away from this concept is to realize that mobile users, tablet or smartphone, should maintain a consistent experience that is tailored to the company’s target audience.
Mobile Always-On
Smartphones allow brands to stay in touch with customers. Take an eCommerce website from a desktop and mobile perspective. Flash sales have always been a consistent way of bringing in drones of visitors to the website to purchase a product. On the desktop website, the company would have to email the visitors to inform them about a sale and sure people may get to the sale in time or would visit the site at a later date. This happens a lot, even to this day. From a mobile perspective, push alerts are a great way to inform users about the sale and the best part is, what person does not have her smartphone within an arms length? The obvious advantage of mobile being an always-on device is that it creates a larger window of buying opportunity. The push alert creates urgency, but it also helps build a relationship with the customer and therefore a higher probability the person will shop at a brand’s store again. The always connected world can really improve the bottom line for businesses if used smartly and efficiently.
Mobile Measurement
Every organization that is online or has a mobile application should be measuring every aspect about the property. Whether a website or app, there is no excuse that every business owner should have a general understanding of how many visitors are being attracted. Having data will allow organizations to make intelligent business decisions on how to allocate capital towards a specific function of the business. Mobile is no different. Today’s mobile analytics have improved and will continue to do so going forward. The main message is always track where possible, whether that be a purchase on a mCommerce website or visitors viewing a popular product, analyzing the customer journey on why she made the purchase should be a main priority. With key information on hand, decision-makers can identify the aspects of their site that seem to do well with mobile users, such as what areas they visit most, as well as bottlenecks.
Customized User Experience
Mobile technologies also provide some unique marketing and advertising potential for businesses. Promotions can be set to appear as a full-page popup specifically for mobile users. Yahoo, for example, will ask a user looking at news if they would like to download their free news application. Other companies have been making headlines for taking advantage of check-in promotions. That is, if a consumer “checks in” at their business through a social media platform, a popup appears offering an instant discount that can be used that very same day. The ability to offer on-demand and responsive promotions in a unique setting provides marketers with new tools and capabilities.
We’ve only touched the surface of what mobile can offer for businesses as a relevant marketing platform. The accessibility and tenacity of mobile is here to stay. Businesses may find it in their best interest to put a step forward towards implementing the potential of mobile marketing.