Marketing To Mobile Users
Ok, put down your phone for a moment and let鈥檚 talk about marketing to mobile users.聽Well, if you鈥檙e reading this on your phone, don鈥檛 put it down鈥攌eep on reading!
It鈥檚 easy to fall into the trap of going through the motions and not actually assessing why you鈥檙e doing something. Take marketing to mobile users鈥攖he thought is by making your website and emails responsive (arranging the content to fit the screen of the user), you鈥檝e done what you need to do. Fin! End scene.聽But why are we doing that, and what more can we do to enhance the experience?聽Take a look at the context of your brand and how the user will interact. Then, make all your design and content decisions based on that.
First, some statistics:
The mobile usage trend has been ramping up for years, and now, mobile devices have聽passed desktop as the go-to way to browse the web.
70% of all emails are聽first聽opened on mobile
50% of emails are聽only聽opened on mobile
Our smartphones are touched 130+ times per day
And what are we doing while on our phone?
- Using only 1 hand
- Walking / running / skipping
- Multitasking
- Distracted by anything and everything around us (look, squirrel!)
- Ordering lunch and/or eating it
- Using it outside
- Watching TV
- Talking聽to others
- In a meeting (tsk, tsk)
- In the bathroom (you know you鈥檝e done it)
This is exactly why we need to be responsive to the context of the mobile user. Should the content be responsive? By George, yes! Make it as easy as possible for the person doing some (or all) of the above while reading your email or browsing your website. Taking it one step further, think about the actions you want the person to take while on their phone, doing some or all of the above tasks while reading your content. Let鈥檚 do some tests.
First, try the Ticking Clock Test: Open an email on your phone and spend only 10 seconds viewing it. Now close it. What did you learn? What next action do they want you to take?
There is, on average, a maximum time of 15 seconds that someone will spend reading your email on their phone. Now add in the background noise of traffic because they are outside. And it just started to sprinkle. What do you want them to take away? Where do you want them to go next? Rather than putting your entire message in the email, give a quick tease and then a very clear call to action (CTA). If you want them to call, make the phone number large, at the top and clickable. If your goal is for them to click through and read more, make that the largest graphic and place it up near the top. Anything extraneous that you feel must聽be in the email, put in below the really pertinent content, just in case they have time and order another iced tea at lunch.
Next, try the聽Magic Trick Test: Go to your favorite responsive website (can be your own) on your phone. Take a look at what is being shown. Is there anything there that you, as a mobile user, wouldn鈥檛 mind if it disappeared?
Your website is responsive (great job!), but is it only showing the relative content to the user? This is where we bring up the context again鈥攜ou聽should aim for the minimal amount of content as the screen size decreases. Instead of just reorganizing the content that is there, take a deeper look at what needs to be there. Does the mobile user need the full navigation that鈥檚 on your site? Probably not. Keep the top 3-5 links that are important for them, hiding the rest. Do you need the full image slider? If so, make sure the photos can be swiped rather than trying to use teeny tiny arrows to go from photo to photo (see next test). Does your website take forever to load on your phone? Follow some best practices on sizing your images so your user won鈥檛 get bored and move on to something else. And sure, context matters even more if your website happens to be a location-based service such as food or travel: maximize time for those on-the-go users and provide quick links to the phone number and location via map link or current location feature.
Finally, try the聽Fat Finger Test: Go to your favorite (hopefully responsive) website on your phone. Using only your thumb to simulate a large finger, attempt to navigate the site. Successful?
Is there a form you would like your user to fill out? Make it have fewer fields and be easy to navigate鈥攜ou don鈥檛 want your user trying to use their human-sized fingers to click on mouse-sized radio buttons. Are your CTA buttons too small? Is your navigation easy to locate as well as, well, navigate? Does it take more than 2 clicks to get the user to where you ideally want them to go? 57% of users say they won鈥檛 recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site.聽Make sure you鈥檙e not turning away business just because they can鈥檛 operate and/or navigate your site from their mobile phone. Their success = your success.
Here鈥檚 the main takeaway: It鈥檚 a fast-paced, heads-down world where attention spans are getting shorter and mobile usage is growing. Ignoring the mobile user is not聽an option for brands that want to flourish. User experience is key!
Want to take your mobile marketing strategy to the next level? Dana can help. Reach out to Lynn Kaniper at
lkaniper@danacommunications.com聽or 609.466.9187 ext. 117.