What Is Mobile Marketing & Its Types

What is Mobile Marketing?

Mobile marketing refers to all or any promotional or marketing campaigns aimed at reaching out to potential customers via smartphones, tablets, or feature phones. This marketing approach enables you to connect with your target audience via personalized messages, push notifications, e-mailers, social media posts, and so on. 

According to recent data, around 55.7% of the total Web traffic comes from smartphones. Given this data, excluding mobile marketing strategy from the larger marketing strategy would be a mistake.

A well thought out mobile marketing strategy should complement search engine optimization (SEO). It should be designed after analyzing customer behavior, the terms they search for on the Internet, the factors that influence their purchasing decisions, and so on. For example, if you are sending an email or SMS to prospects, you must know their needs. If the content fails to address the customers’ pain points, they will not click the embedded links that will bring them to your site.

Mobile marketing requires a more comprehensive approach. The content drafted should be more personalized as compared to publishing content on the Web. 

Mobile marketing not only helps drive traffic, but also helps retain existing customers while acquiring new ones. It also increases customer engagement across platforms. It is also critical for increasing brand awareness and credibility. However, make sure that your mobile marketing strategy is not overly aggressive. You want to attract more customers, not irritate them.

How Mobile Marketing Works

Mobile marketing is a complex form of marketing, with various factors involved. It can include sending SMS texts for promoting your products/services or sending push notifications through apps. It can include ads on mobile apps or even scanning QR codes for offers or services. There is also proximity mobile marketing, which works by alerting the mobile users of a service provider’s vicinity based on the user’s location.

The key to understanding how mobile marketing works is knowing that mobile advertising does not target the demographics as much as it does consumer behaviour. While demography plays a role, user behaviour is what propels mobile advertising.

Another element that factors into mobile marketing is “snacking”, which can be defined as short bursts of periods that mobile users are on their mobile devices to check media or messaging. Mobile marketers often create content that is easily consumable and gratifying to score points from the users.

Even a factor like the screen size of a device matters in mobile marketing. For instance, marketing targeted towards tablet users is more interactive and features rich media, while marketing targeted towards smartphone users is more informative and features less fluff.

Importance of Mobile Marketing in 2022

In 2021, it is a simple fact that people prefer to spend their time online on a mobile device rather than a desktop. The convenience and accessibility offered by a smartphone is unparalleled amongst the masses worldwide. As of February 2021, the market share for mobiles is at a staggering 55% as compared to desktop devices at 42%. 

It has become increasingly clear that users prefer having access to anything on the internet on their mobile devices. This means that businesses across the globe have to adapt to this, and most importantly, make their marketing flexible.

Having a mobile marketing strategy in 2021 is the prime objective of many brands worldwide, and this is exactly because of the aforementioned points.

eCommerce is where things get interesting. A recent study found that users preferred to research products or services on their mobile devices to make up their minds, but more users preferred to make the final purchases on their desktops. This makes clear the importance of mobile marketing, as it can be concluded that mobile marketing is a catalyst for organic traffic growth and conversion.

Mobile Marketing vs Traditional Marketing

Mobile marketing takes a more advanced route compared to traditional marketing. This is because the added benefit of users carrying a mobile device with them almost at all times changes the outlook of marketing efforts.

This has resulted in location-based services collecting consumer data and creating their mobile marketing strategies around this data. They can offer targeted coupons, offers, etc., based on the proximity of a customer to their physical stores.

Mobile marketing can also be targeted towards a very specific niche of customers or even individual users. Personalized ads based on user data are very common nowadays and quite effective too. For instance, you can receive personalized offers or coupons from a food ordering app on your mobile based on your previous purchases.

Types of Mobile Marketing Strategies

• App-based

This type of phone marketing is targeted towards apps. Over 80% of mobile device users spend their time on various apps. You can make mobile advertising strategies centered towards displaying ads on various apps using services like AdMob from Google.

• In-game

As the name suggests, this type of mobile marketing is targeted towards the millions of mobile games out there. Ads displayed within mobile games can appear as pop-ups, banner ads, or even full-screen ads depending on what the game developer offers. These ads usually appear during the loading screens or when the user moves from one round to the next.

• QR Code

QR codes have a role to play in mobile marketing as well. Users get taken to specific pages when they scan a QR code, which is often associated with gamification and offers a certain mystery to them. QR codes are a great way to take the users to the most impactful landing pages offering the best conversion content on your website.

• Location-based

Location-based mobile marketing targets users who are within the proximity of the services being promoted. Based on the user’s location, ads appear on their device which aim to bring them to visit a business. For instance, a local car dealership might make location-based mobile advertisements for people who are within a 5-mile radius. 

• Mobile Search Ads

These are the simplest forms of mobile advertising. These ads appear to the users based on their mobile searches and history. Mobile search ads often come with built-in extensions, which can offer features like “click to call/contact” or Google Maps for location.

• SMS

While considered an old technique, this form of mobile marketing still prevails. SMS marketing involves acquiring users’ phone numbers, and sending them offers in the form of text or personalized texts.

• Mobile Image Ads

Mobile image advertising is also a very effective type of mobile marketing. These are creative visuals created for a specific goal, which engage the users and encourage them to make a simple action. These actions can include subscribing, following, contacting, etc.

Important Factors of Mobile Marketing

• Mobile-friendly Website

As previously stated, mobile eCommerce is on a rampant rise. Ensure your website is mobile-friendly in all manners before building a marketing campaign. This means that all the menus, internal pages, images, etc., should be well aligned with fitting in fluently within mobile devices. 

• Mobile-friendly Apps

Many businesses make the mistake of not refining their hybrid apps on any platform. Make sure that your apps are as mobile-friendly as possible, for a seamless user experience. This will increase your chances of capturing a user’s attention from the get-go.

• Mobile-friendly Ads and Landing Pages

Ads often redirect users to a specific page when they click on it. What would you want the visitors to see? Something interesting and easily consumable, right? Optimize your landing pages for mobile devices, and ensure that the ads are also optimized. You don’t want your ads to look odd on a mobile device as that can negatively impact the clicks on your ads.

• Mobile-friendly Marketing

Making everything mobile-friendly is the ultimate objective of a mobile marketing strategy. This also includes the content of the ads themselves, which is often overlooked by many brands.

Planning & Implementation of mobile marketing

• Understand Your Audience

Mobile advertising assesses consumer behaviour more than the demographic. This means that you need to have a very clear understanding of your target audience. Their likes, dislikes, how they like to consume content online, what makes them tick for converting, and what can retain them. All of these factors inform how well your mobile marketing strategy will come out to be.

• Define Goals

You cannot offer empty promises to users. Having a goal set in mind for your strategy will only help you in presenting it in a more nuanced and effective way to the audience. Make sure that your strategy is centered around achieving a certain goal, and your marketing strategy will come out refined.

• Build KPI’s

KPIs, or Key Performance Indicator, are metrics that you can assess for how well your marketing campaigns are performing. Determining which KPIs will be more realistic and measurable for your mobile marketing strategy is imperative for its success. KPIs can include engagement, acquisition, customer experience, conversions, and more.

• Monitor mobile metrics

Tools like Google Analytics are a great way to monitor the usage of your site from mobile devices. Key metrics like audience conversion and user experience can help you in determining whether you need to optimize your landing pages for mobile devices or not. Dashboard tools in Google Analytics can help you find various insights about users like the quality of traffic, bounce rates, page views, and much more.

Why Do You Need a Mobile Marketing Strategy?

Mobile searches over the last 10 years have grown by over 200% each year. In today’s day when almost everyone has a smartphone, mobile marketing has become a crucial element of any business’s online marketing strategy.

Reaching your target consumers has really become all about how to access them most effectively, and mobile marketing is the way for it. A recent report highlighted that over 40% of the time spent by users on the internet was on mobile devices. This alone is an indicator of how important mobile marketing strategy is to reach your target demographic.

Mobile Marketing can Help Solve Some Problems

When it comes to online advertising, mobile marketing is the most accessible and convenient way for businesses to reach their audience. While companies might face certain roadblocks when it comes to building SEO and marketing strategies in general, mobile marketing can be the glue that sticks the landing for them.

One of the most appealing problem-solving characteristics of mobile marketing is that it does not require you to have high-level knowledge about tools and technology to get started. So, it solves the problem of starting things off, from the get-go. 

Another problem mobile marketing solves for businesses is helping them reach customers in real-time, no matter where they are. They don’t need to be hearing a particular channel on the radio or watching TV to be reached. Whenever they open an app with ads or go browsing on their phone, your ads can reach them.

Additionally, mobile marketing is also one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing. There are a colossal number of options you can choose with any type of budget allotment, and you will find the cost-effective tools to create a strategy. This particularly is a huge benefit for small and medium businesses.

How to Start a Mobile Marketing Business?

• Set up a website

The first step to start a mobile marketing business is to build a website that can be adjusted across any mobile device and respond to them seamlessly. Using plugins from platforms like WordPress and GoDaddy is the easiest way to do this.

Correct viewing on smartphones can also be achieved through plug-and-play platforms, which create a completely fresh version of your website for mobile devices. You can also get your developers to add a code to your website which adjusts the viewing experience of the users based on the screen size of the device they’re using.

• Set up your business on a location-based platform

To expand your reach to a much wider audience, you can use location-based platforms to set up your business. Some of the platforms you can use are Gowalla, FourSquare, and Facebook. This can help your mobile advertising campaigns to reach a much wider audience and increase your conversions significantly.

• Deep Dive

To reach your audience with full intended effect, immersion into your mobile marketing campaigns is an absolute necessity. Approach the ads and campaigns you create from the perspective of the users. Start exploring various options like payment portals, location-based platforms, check-in & check-out features, voice search compatibility, and other plugins which can improve the user experience while engaging with your ads.

• Start a mobile ad campaign

To increase the viewership of your website, start a smartly designed mobile advertising campaign. For instance, if you run an online bakery shop and someone in the close vicinity searches for “best bakery shop near me”, your result should pop up first on the SERP.

You can approach the mobile ads campaign in various ways, such as paid campaigns to run your ads for a certain amount of time. You can also run cost-per-click or cost-per-acquisition ads. All the major social platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, etc., offer various avenues to run mobile marketing campaigns at nominal prices.

• Use QR Codes

QR codes can pack a punch when it comes to containing valuable information and redirect links for the users. These are valuable tools to be placed across various locations that can direct users to a certain landing page that can provide them with coupons, offers, discounts, and much more. This has become one of the most effective ways to convert users and make a business known nowadays.

Best Practices of Mobile Marketing

• Mobile-friendly content

Content optimization for mobile devices has become a necessity for websites with mobile-first indexing. Moreover, since many users prefer to surf the web on their smartphones or tablets, it is imperative that the content they see is mobile-friendly.

• Always consider your audience

It is crucial to keep your target audience in mind while publishing mobile ads. Are they gamers? Then put more effort into getting as many in-game ads as you can. Are they social media users or a young audience? Aim for getting your mobile ads on platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

• Optimize for Local SEO

Nearly one-third of all searches on Google are done with local intent. This should be a clear sign that you need to optimize your ads based on the areas you are targeting. Optimizing your ads for local search intent can bring in more organic traffic with a much better chance of conversions.

• Site navigation

Ensure that your website architecture is intact and easy to understand. Users will often visit websites to consume information, and getting from one page to another should be a seamless experience for them. Site navigation plays a major role in a user’s journey and can impact user experience, which can determine the chances of conversion.

• Encourage social engagement

Engagement is a sure shot way to ensure that your audience is up-to-date and satisfied with your ads. Make sure that social engagement on your website and ads is encouraged through comment sections, sharing options, and feedback portals. 

• Try different strategies

Experimentation is the key to figuring out the best approaches to mobile marketing. Do not hold back on trying new ways to market your content. For instance, test out new plugins, ad extensions, and more with your ads. Some good examples of ad extensions you can try out are Google Offers and Click-to-Call.

• Track your result

Trying out new approaches will only work for you if you track the results they are generating. Keep an eye out on all the different campaigns and ads you are running, and regularly check which ones are generating the best results for you. This way, you can weed out the ineffective ones, and put more investment and effort into the ones that are working for you the best.

Google Mobile Ad Extensions

Using Google Ads can help you in leveraging many intuitive features and extensions that come with it for your mobile ads. These include the following:

• Mobile Sitelinks

This feature makes it very easy for users to directly jump to specific webpages on their mobile device without having to wander around on your website. Sitelinks are a much more convenient way for the users to directly visit the pages they are looking for and save time.

• Click-to-call ad extension

This extension essentially places a “Call” button on your ad after your CTA. This automatically puts your number on the users’ mobile devices which they click on, so they can connect with you instantly. Make sure to only display this button on ads that show up when your business is open and operating to take up the calls.

• Click to download ad extension

This extension is similar to the click-to-call extension. The difference is that clicking on the “Download” button will redirect the user to a landing page with downloadable content. This can include a specific app on Play Store or App Store, or a resources section on a website.

• Local ad extension

This is probably the most important extension you can use from Google. This extension helps your ads in reaching the local searches. Using local ad extensions, you can conveniently display your phone number to the users, or even your location via Google Maps on SERPs or within your ads.

Mobile Marketing – Do it Right!

Now that you have all the necessary insights about creating an effective mobile marketing campaign, it is time to build one. Taking the help of established professionals in the mobile marketing industry like Infidigit can take you a long way in achieving amazing results. Contact us today to learn more.

FAQ’S

1. What is Mobile Marketing?

Mobile marketing is the process of building marketing strategies targeted toward mobile device users. When pulled off right, mobile marketing can be one of the most effective forms of marketing.

2. What Are Some of the Most Popular Mobile Marketing Apps?

Mobile marketing includes using apps that can help you in your journey to better brand awareness and eventual sales. Some of the best mobile marketing apps are WhatsApp Business, Facebook Pages, Twitter for Business, Instagram Business, and YouTube Studio. All of these apps can significantly increase your reach and bring more traffic to your business.

3. How Much Does Mobile Marketing Cost?

The cost of a mobile marketing strategy can vary based on the platform and apps used. Other factors like how long ads are run for, content calendars, and much more can also affect the cost of mobile marketing for eCommerce. However, it is quite affordable compared to other forms of marketing and costs a few dollars to run an ad for a week.

4. What are Mobile Marketing Tools? 

Mobile marketing tools usually are software that can help you with a plethora of features to get started with mobile marketing. It can include conveniences like dashboards to monitor metrics. Some of the best free mobile marketing tools are Branch, CleverTap, AppsFlyer, and Insider.

5. What Does It Cost to Market to Mobile Devices? 

It is quite affordable to market to mobile devices. Using apps like Facebook Pages, Twitter for Business, etc., you can easily advertise to your target audience using filters on the apps for just a few dollars for a few days.

6. Why is mobile marketing important? 

The importance of mobile marketing shines through with its affordability and easy access. It is a very accessible way to market your brand and reach your target audience through their smartphones or tablets. These are the devices that people spend a huge amount of time on, and the variety of options available for mobile marketing makes it one of the best ways to expand your customer base and reach your target audience.

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