Current Marketing Trends: Mobile Websites a Must for Businesses

John Vachalek - 12.12.2011 11:00 AM

All marketing trends occur as a result of consumer behavior. Businesses must anticipate the consumer needs and react by meeting these needs (demands). This is certainly true when it comes to the consumer’s demand to access information via mobile devices. This is not a future trend. This is the here and now.

Last quarter, for the first time, over 55% of all phones sold were smart phones. From January through October 2011 there were 1.2 million non-iPad tablets sold and Apple is on pace to sell nearly 40 million iPads in the 2011 calendar year (a 342% increase over last year).
 
The consumers have spoken and we are now seeing phone and tablet use virtually any place where people have a few minutes. These devices are being used to email, participate in social media, text, surf the Web, get directions, check weather forecasts and read reviews.
 
As more and more people choose these tools over desktops and laptops, it is ever more critical that your information display well on these devices.
 
In order to create the right plan for your information, you must address the nature of the information that people want from you. 
 
If you are bank, the task is relatively straight forward (login, check balances, transfer money, etc…). As well, if you are a retailer, the transactions are pretty straight forward (search / view products, read reviews, purchase, and check order status). But, what if you are a service company? Do you need to consider mobile? The answer is emphatically, ‘Yes!’
 
As consumers focus their search and information consumption on mobile devices (phones and tablets), all businesses must:
1)   Make sure your business shows up well in local search results and that the local geographic information is correct (Google Maps).
2)   Make sure your business shows up correctly in local search tools (foursquare, Yelp, Google Places).
3)   Make sure your Website looks good on mobile devices (phones & tablets).
 
There are several ways to convey your information effectively via a mobile device.
 
Mobile Apps
If your business is transaction-heavy and you have a lot of customers who want to complete transactions with you on a regular (daily or weekly) basis, then you may want to consider creating a mobile app. However, if you are not high-traffic and high-transaction, an app may not be the right approach for you.
 
Mobile Websites
Most businesses are able to convey their information sufficiently via a mobile Website. This is a revised version of your current Website content, which has been reconfigured to display your information optimally on mobile devices.
 
A sniffer is used to determine the visitor’s operating system or screen resolution in order to determine which version of your Website should be delivered to the device.
 
Your content should be reconfigured for this mobile version to ensure the best possible user experience on their mobile device. 
 
Some of the questions you should ask when planning your mobile Website are: Who is my target audience? What information would they want from me? How can I best display this information via this medium to create the best possible user experience?
 
 
How to use this Information
·        Begin checking your online presence using a smart phone and tablet.
·        Conduct searches using the tools on these devices and see if your listings show up towards the top.
·        Look at the layout of your Website on these different devices and ask yourself if there are ways that you could create a better, more useful, user experience on these devices.
·        Make sure you are working to create an effective mobile presence for your company in 2012
 
Please use the comments area below to share your mobile Website address with the readers of this blog! Tell us about the strategy you used to create this presence.


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