Mobile optimisation and its relationship to social media marketing, local searches, and apps, is becoming increasingly crucial to successful Internet marketing. If a strong online marketing campaign can be thought of as spreading a consistent branded message across different platforms, mobile marketing should be considered as one of the most intimate and potentially long lasting ways of building relationships with consumers. It’s worth, then, looking at the general importance of mobile platforms to overall marketing campaigns, and how mobile solutions can impact on various forms of promotion.
More and more people are using their mobiles, or rather their smartphones, to access the Internet and shop, as well as for using social media platforms. It is estimated that by 2013, more people will be using their phones to browse the Internet than desktops and laptops, a trend that is linked to the growing rate of superfast 4G Internet. With more people logging on to the Internet through their phones, not making the most of the opportunities for marketing and building a strong brand now could prove disastrous over the next few years.
Mobile Optimisation
The primary area that companies should be focused on when marketing through mobiles is the optimisation of existing sites. This means that users can experience sites on their mobiles without experiencing slow loading times, or missing content, as well as not having to wade through a poorly designed site. At the same time, special landing pages for mobiles can be created for linking through Facebook and Twitter, and should focus on providing the simplest possible way to present information and enable easy conversion through a virtual shopfront.
Social Media Marketing
Sites like Facebook and Twitter are crucial to connecting together marketing campaigns and social media. With a large number of people accessing their social media pages online, or communicating with others through business sites like LinkedIn, being able to place adverts and build community pages for brands is crucial. While selling directly through ads can be a problem on smaller screens and resolutions, integrating content and offers into official Facebook pages, and creating easy to use landing pages for offers, has the potential to target specific demographics.
Local Searches
Another key aspect of mobile platforms within Internet marketing is to make the most of local promotions. Users search for local restaurants, shops, and other services on their phones, and also employ their GPS and sat navs to check for businesses while travelling. In this context, it’s important to generate strong search results for a business through Search Engine Optimisation that targets local specific keywords. Similarly, it’s important to create email mailing lists and social media promotions that can offer daily local deals and events.
Apps as Marketing Devices
Apps can similarly play an important role in developing an overall online marketing campaign. Apps can work particularly well as an extension of a main site, and can engage mobile users through gameplay, rather than an aggressive sales pitch. A brand relationship can consequently be developed through loyalty to a platform, and the chance to convert that relationship into subscriptions and one off purchases.
Rob James recommends checking out DCL 4G tariffs for your business communications. Rob uses internet marketing to promote himself, and recommend you optimise your site for mobiles too. He can usually be found blogging about mobile related topics, and loves checking out the latest gadgets.
Featured image on home page courtesy of USDAGov.
