How to Get Started with Mobile Marketing: 5 Simple Tips

Many businesses haven’t thought about their mobile marketing efforts as a separate part of their overall digital marketing strategy. Rather, they’ve followed broad SEO, social media, and paid search advice and have built their strategy around those pillars.

While there is certainly some crossover between marketing that suits desktop searchers and mobile-focused efforts, mobile is now an important enough channel that marketers must consider it independently. Nearly 60% of all searches now begin on a mobile device.

Maintaining a great mobile marketing strategy is all about the long game. A set-it-and-forget-it approach just won’t do. Instead, it requires you to lay a solid foundation and continue to test and refine your strategy regularly.

If you haven’t started thinking about mobile marketing as its own thing, now’s the time to change that. Here are some tips to get prepared for mobile marketing.

Narrow in on the Right Strategies

There are a lot of mobile marketing strategies out there to consider. From SEO and paid search to geofencing and voice search, mobile provides local businesses with many ways to reach consumers.

Getting a handle on organic tactics, like considering mobile-specific SEO tactics and establishing profiles across social media platforms, is a smart way to get started. This approach requires little upfront investment, and it ensures that you are casting a wider net with your mobile presence.

When it comes to paid tactics, it’s worth doing a bit more research to see what’s the smartest fit for your business. Start by defining your marketing goals.

Are you hoping to attract new business? Do you want to reach out to your existing customers to drive return business? Are you looking to introduce a new product or service or launch a new location for your existing business?

Not all mobile marketing strategies will work for you. For example, if you’re already well-established in your local area, geofencing might not be the right fit. But if you’re new in town and trying to let the locals know you’re here, geofencing could be the key!

Create a Mobile-Friendly Website

No matter what your marketing goals, it’s critical that you have a mobile-friendly site. Your website is the heart of your business’s online presence, whether consumers are searching for you on a mobile device or desktop computer.

Make sure that your page loads as quickly on mobile as it does on desktop. If there are issues with load times, talk to your website partner about what you can do to speed things up.

You also want to make sure that your page is easy to read online. Sometimes things get lost in translation if your site was built on a desktop; what looks great on a large-screen format is impossible to read or a jumbled mess on a tiny phone screen. Make sure that you use responsive design to create a site that adapts to look perfect on any size screen.

Include Mobile Features on Your Site

Think about how to incorporate mobile features into your website. Lots of mobile searchers find you on the go, and if they’re trying to decipher quickly whether or not your business can solve their problem, they might be eager to get in touch! Consider incorporating a click-to-call feature so that those who want to give you a ring and see if you’re currently open or have their desired product or service available immediately can get a fast answer.

It’s also a good idea to think about location awareness. You can create a mobile site that displays different information to different users based on their location. So if you have a handful of brick-and-mortar stores, you can display location, hours, and product availability for the store that’s nearest to the consumer at that time.

Get on Local Listings

Local listings are the internet’s answer to the Yellow Pages of yore. You already know some of these local listings services, like Google My Business, Yelp, and Facebook.

While it’s important that you develop a strong web presence for your business on your own site, ensuring that your business’s name and correct contact information are available on local listings sites is also critical.

Many local listings sites drive their users to access their lists through apps beyond the internet browser. For example, Google Maps is powered by business information it pulls from Google My Business. Yelp encourages mobile users to download their app and conduct their search through its interface, rather than combing the internet at large.

If you’re not present on these popular local listings, you’re missing out on connecting with all of their local users.

Optimize for Voice Search

Picture this: You’re in your car, driving from dropping one kid off at soccer practice to picking the other up at ballet practice when you remember! It’s school spirit day tomorrow, and you agreed to bring in two dozen cupcakes for the class.

You’re in desperate need of a bakery who can fulfill that need”“and fast”“so you turn to an online search. But you’re behind the wheel with a little one in the backseat, so you opt for voice search.

Surveys show that this example reflects real life. Voice searches are three times more likely to be local-based than text searches. People are using voice search when they’re on the go and looking for an immediate solution to their current problem.

The thing about voice search, though, is that it only provides one answer at a time to consumers. If you want your business to be the first answer on Siri or Alexa’s metaphorical lips, check out these tips to help you optimize your content for voice search.

Undertaking a mobile marketing strategy may feel like a daunting task. But if you start by setting smart goals and put together a plan based on what you hope to achieve, you can build a strong mobile-friendly foundation that will allow you to stay ahead of the mobile marketing game for years to come.

If you’re looking for help in laying this groundwork, we should talk.

More from our Mobile Marketing Series

What is Mobile Marketing & Why Should You Care?

5 Stats that will Make You Believe in the Power of Mobile Marketing

Magnificent Mobile Marketing Strategies: 5 You Need to Know

How Local Mobile Marketing Can Help You Capture New Customers

A Comprehensive Guide to a Killer B2B Mobile Marketing Strategy

How to Prepare Your Strategy for the Future of Mobile Marketing

AR and Mobile Marketing: A Match Made in Heaven

Can You Actually Drive Leads with Mobile Marketing?