The year is already under way and the time to integrate mobile in your marketing strategy is now. If you’re still trying to wrap your brain around why mobile needs to be top priority for your business, well, let me count the way…
- Mobile is the new normal.
A friend recently expressed his annoyance with having to send in a paper resume to apply toa job. He contended that
in this day and age, he should be able to send a link to his LinkedIn profile that contained his work history and recommendations. This was not some lazy teenager. This was a professional man with college-aged kids. Does this bother you a little? It should. Old ways of working are quickly going the way of the dinosaur. When people go to your website on their mobile device and your site doesn’t adapt it’s a turn-off. Scoff at that if you want, but in 2011, 50% of mobile searches led to a purchase, and 60% of consumers do product or service research several times a month via a mobile device (HubSpot 2012). - Mobile delivers instant access to your customers.
When it comes to vehicles, I’m the absent-minded professor. About the only thing I can remember to do is put gas in it. If there are no flashing lights I go about my merry way. I’ve said on numerous occasions that if someone had text alerts to remind me of tune-ups I’d willingly pay for that service. What about getting a discount for a car wash sent to my phone? It beats rummaging around for that lousy 1″x1″ coupon they print. If you want customers to respond quickly, nothing does better for instant communication between you and the customer, directly and with no middlemen, than mobile. - Mobile is a differentiator.
It separates the men from the boys, the BSers from those really walking the talk of customer engagement and usability. Those in social media quip that the ROI of social media is that your business will still exist. The same can be said about mobile. Mobile device sales have already outpaced the desktop. Those who have a mobile strategy are demonstrating a desire to reach customers where they are, on a device that they cant leave home without, in a way that is easy for the customer to read/access. Don’t you think that has some value to a potential customer when comparing you to a competitor?
This is not an everybody-is-doing-it, fad kind of deal. This is a shift in the way the world is communicating. If your website and marketing are not adapting with an integrated mobile strategy it’s a reflection that your business probably can’t adapt to real-time, customer-centric way of doing business.