Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

The ascendancy of mobile devices, primarily smart phones and tablets, is hard to deny: the number of UK mobile subscriptions at the end of 2013 was 83.1 million, against a population at the time of around 64 million! This means that many people in the population have at least one mobile subscription; providing an incredibly wide recipient base for mobile marketing efforts.

But the wide number of potential recipients isn’t the sole reason to make more room for mobile in your marketing strategies; there are a number of factors that now make mobile marketing an essential weapon in your overall marketing arsenal. In this article, we’ll take you through some of the most convincing reasons to be giving mobile more attention in your marketing strategy....

There are hundreds of these moments every day—checking the time, texting a spouse, chatting with friends on social media. But then there are the other moments—the I want-to-know moments, I want-to-go moments, I want-to-do moments, and I want-to-buy moments—that really matter.

At Google, we call these “micro-moments,” and they’re game changers for both consumers and brands.They are intent-rich moments when decisions are made and preferences shaped. In these moments, consumers’ expectations are higher than ever....

There are two major changes at play in Google’s recent move to favor mobile:

First, Google will adjust its search results order to favor mobile-friendly sites. Second, apps will be discoverable in mobile search results with deep links driving new app downloads.

For us at Bluebridge, these changes do not come as a surprise—and we are not panicking. With about 60% of online traffic coming from mobile, it is no surprise that Google is making moves to cement mobile as king. Here are the five most important things you need to know to stay ahead of the game—and hopefully alleviate some fears.

Research from RetailMeNot, predicts that more consumers in the United Kingdom will be spending their money through mobile devices in the coming years. According to this research, some $15 billion in mobile commerce retail transactions are expected to be made by the end of this year.

The report notes that this is a significant increase over the $7 billion that was reported last year. Currently, mobile commerce accounts for as much as 30% of all digital retail transactions made throughout the world.

Report shows that digital income revenue is on the rise

A recent report from Gartner suggests that digital income revenue in the United States has reached 22%. This will increase to 50% by 2017. A similar trend has emerged in the United Kingdom, where consumers are placing more value on mobile shopping over more conventional forms of

commerce....

Did you know that there are 7.45 billion unique mobile connections and 7.2 billion people on the planet, and that, 83 percent of 18 - 29 years old say their smartphone plays an integral role in their lives.

No doubt, mobile is increasingly becoming the channel of choice of consumers. Therefore, marketers must create an engaging, timely and cross-channel strategy. To succeed in mobile they need to respect their customer's time and offer them value. Marketers must build trust and loyalty across all channels with their customers in order to create long-term, personal relationships.

The infographic below from Marketo, sheds some more light on why you need a mobile marketing strategy....

More shoppers walking by are going into stores and, once inside, are spending more time there.

Of total foot traffic, about 1 in 10 consumers enter a store, based on the tracking of mobile phones in and around malls and stores.

And once inside the store, shoppers are spending 31 minutes, an increase from 26 minutes in the same month last year, according to the U.S. Retail Benchmark study, the monthly report on the tracking of tens of millions of shopping sessions by Euclid...

Brands with both a physical and digital presence make almost 30% more in revenue. Consumers report a higher level of satisfaction with brands that have both a brick-and-mortar and online store, according to a recent study. Legacy brands who once hailed shopping malls as their “mecca” are now having to close shop, and once-startup, online-only brands, including Warby Parker and Birchbox, are moving in and opening their doors. Department and chain stores, in an effort to remain relevant, are spending upward of $4 billion on ecommerce platforms, redesigns, loyalty programs and in-store technology to keep consumers connected at all times.

There are plenty of ecommerce sites running fully functioning, profitable operations sans a physical footprint. And, there are also plenty of boutiques, even legacy luxury brands, whom avoid the ecommerce industry, focusing instead on offering a local clientele exclusive, one-of-a-kind products.

What is it then that makes multi-channel retailers of all sizes more successful than their solo-channel counterparts? Simple: a consumer-wide shift in shopping habits....

For the third consecutive year, Siteworx found that consumers preferred to shop via a retailer's mobile website instead of downloading a separate app. This past year, 63% of respondents said they liked using a mobile site better, up from 56% a year before.

However, when asked which qualities would encourage them to download an app, those surveyed most frequently said they would do so if it were faster than the retailer's mobile website, beating out perks like loyalty benefits, special offers, and a streamlined checkout process.

What this tells us is that when comes to mobile shopping, time is of the essence, especially since so many people are browsing using relatively slow 3G networks....

Most consumers (85%) globally say that they have used their smartphone in-store, according to the DigitasLBi Connected Commerce study.

This is an increase from 72% just a year ago.

And it’s not only using a smartphone in a store but the rather the impact it’s having.

The majority (55%) of smartphone users say the Internet and smartphones have changed the way they shop in a store.

Perhaps more significantly, 77% of Internet users have been influenced by mobile during the purchase process....

As a marketer or small business owner, the key to any successful marketing campaign is insight into consumer behavior. You’ve heard time and again about the importance of mobile devices in modern business.

Consumers are using mobile platforms more frequently, and they use them to not only communicate with friends and family, but also to interact with your business.

No matter how loud the drumbeat is for mobile marketing, do you actually understand what your target customers are doing on mobile? More importantly, do you know how important (or unimportant) mobile is to their daily life? The answers to these questions are found below, and come courtesy of ExactTarget’s 2014 Mobile Behavior Report....

Following years of speculation about the demise of desktop-based search, Google is officially announcing today that for the first time, more searches come from smartphones and tablets than from laptops and desktops.

Smartphones account for more than half of searches in 10 countries—including the U.S. and Japan—according to Google, which didn't release exact percentages or a full list of countries. But it is playing up mobile at its annual AdWords Performance Summit, being live-streamed this afternoon.

"The purchase funnel is officially dead," proclaimed Jerry Dischler, vp of product management at Google. "What we're seeing are these short bursts of activity that we're calling micro-moments. We see the new challenge for marketers is to be there at those moments anytime, anywhere....

More than $101.37 billion will be spent on ads served in 2016 to mobile phones and tablets worldwide. That’s a 400 percent increase from 2013. From 2016 to 2019, mobile ads will nearly double again, rising to $195.55 billion. That figure will account for 70.1 percent of all digital advertising as well as more than one-quarter of total media ad spending worldwide.

It’s all about the number of consumers adopting mobile devices. As that number soars, marketers are chasing consumers into mobile markets. Next year, eMarketer estimates, there will be more than 2 billion smartphone users worldwide, more than one-quarter of whom will be in China.

What's the new algorithm update about? It will use mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal -- if your website isn't mobile-friendly, you could get dinged in the SERPs when someone is searching Google using a mobile device. 

So if you want to make sure that you're prepared for this change, keep on reading. We'll dive into more details on what the update will entail and give you some tools to help diagnose your site's mobile-readiness....

As marketing has evolved from print media to online and online has become mobile, one thing has become clear. Nothing in the marketing world stays the same for very long, and the intervals between changes are getting shorter.

Savvy marketers understand that just keeping up with all this change is equivalent to lagging behind. An effective mobile marketing strategy means finding ways to stay ahead of the changes. Mobile marketing strategies must be flexible, agile and adaptable rather than standardized and monolithic...

The fact that 42 percent of consumers have never made a purchase using their smartphone has left retailers scratching their heads wondering how to convert an enormous audience of devoted smartphone users from browsers to purchasers.

What can brands do to boost their success with mobile and engage reluctant consumers more successfully? Placeable has identified three essential tactics that retailers must implement to support their overall mobile strategy and stimulate mobile commerce and mobile-influenced sales....