Mobile Marketing 101: Conquering the Mobile Frontier

Optimization for the mobile web adds the element of friendly multi-device searchability to your website and it enhances user experience. In other words, people using mobile devices spend more time on your website and who knows, they might purchase your products and/or services!

Hello nice people! I hope you are doing fine and you are not on the edge of frustration because you are dealing with customers from hell. If you, indeed, are caught between the hammer of handling a very fussy client and the anvil of your own vexation with the current situation, do not throw in the towel, yet! First, go back to my article on problematic individuals and figure out whether it can help you come up with some sort of a solution. If it does not, at least you might learn a tip or two when it comes to confronting similar situations.

In any case, let’s just leave all that negativity behind and discuss something a bit more pleasant that can actually help you a lot with your business endeavors. As I explicitly promised last time, today, I will be discussing the notion of mobile marketing. Yet, before I plunge into the deep, turbulent maelstrom of mobile communications, I have to draw the line regarding the scope of this article. I will not get into the genuine mobile marketing that involves marketing for applications specifically created for the various mobile devices. Instead, I will offer you an alternative, much cheaper, but extremely important option, which each and every business should implement. If you still do not know what I mean, I will not beat around the bush any more and I will enter the dynamic territory of mobile webs while pinpointing the role of websites as an integral part of this very complex structure. Is it important? Well, read on to find out for yourselves.

It will not come as any surprise to you if I tell you that the web has changes beyond belief. Over the last couple of years, it has become extremely dynamic and much more complex. Not only are we moving from the “Web 2.0” to the so called “semantic web”, but we are also experiencing the “mobile” effect on a daily basis. To quote the CTO of Rock & Code, Javier Cicchelli, there were times when Apple and Blackberry were just fruits. Android was nothing more but a science fiction concept. Well, not any more. Nowadays, those are the names that rule the mobile game. In fact, these devices virtually govern our lifestyle and they have left their indelible mark on how we search for information. We no longer need a computer to find the relevant data we are looking for. All we need is a phone or a tablet that has an internet connection and we are ready to roll. Hence, while we are on the train in the morning, we can look up the places where we could go and spend the evening! We can check for restaurants, we can find information about night clubs, etc. The same goes for services and products we might be interested in purchasing or using. I, for one, used my phone to find the location and the phone number of a locksmith when I locked my keys inside my apartment. Examples are countless. The bottom line is that out of convenience and/or necessity, people resort to using mobile devices to find what they are looking for online. The mobile revolution has come and we are currently trying to adapt to it and even go beyond it. Funny, right?

Yet, this is just one piece of the complex jigsaw puzzle, which businesses have to figure out and put together to succeed. Whereas, not just each and every business can afford to be and/or has any rationale to go to the various application mobile stores, each and every company can perfectly claim its place under the mobile web sun by optimizing its website for mobile devices. In fact, this is no longer optional. It is simply mandatory.

In my experience, I have noticed that people do not like changes. Either they do not understand them or they prefer to live in the past, harboring the hope that future alterations will pass them by and leave them unaffected. Indeed, lots of companies had and still have issues making the transition to the Web 2.0. Logically, the majority of companies are still struggling to adapt their websites to the correspondent web mobile guidelines. This, unfortunately, has proven to be a huge mistake, which affects both the credibility and the relevance of the businesses that refuse to go mobile for one reason or another. In fact, as I already pointed out, people have changed the way they search for relevant information. Hence, if somebody on the way to work starts looking for, let’s say, marketing services using his or her phone or tablet, and he or she comes across your website, which is completely unoptimized for the web, do not be surprised if the person clicks away and he or she moves to greener, more mobile-friendly websites. Hence, a little and not so expensive detail, such as mobile optimization for the web, can really play a nasty trick on you. No matter how good you are in what you do, a compromised website for the mobile web could really backfire and deprive you of valuable prospects and hence, eventual clients. Indeed, if your website does not look good on mobile devices, what are the odds that you are up to date with the most recent developments in your industry? Unfortunately, people draw conclusions about your business on the basis of your online performance and your looks on the web. Therefore, you do not need to be Spiderman and cast webs all over the place. The only web you need to cast is your personal web around the mobile web and ensure your site is good to go on mobile devices. Otherwise, you could be digging your own grave and you might be disregarding things that are easy to solve and relatively not so expensive to implement.

At the end of the day, the choice is yours and it is up to you to decide whether you want to look up-to-date or you want to look obsolete. Beware though! Prospects take no excuses! Consequently, do the right thing and optimize your site for mobile devices. It is an investment that is all worth it!

Thanks a lot for taking the time to read this article! I hope it helps you with your business endeavors! In any case, stay tuned to the feed that rocks, check out the Stuff We Say, follow us on Twitter, join us on Facebook, and hold the marketing line like no other! I hope I can help you with the latter as I have something else in mind next time around. In case you are curious, I intend to discuss how your mobile applications can take over the App Store and the Google Play space.

Yet, this can wait till next week! In the mean time, have fun and rock on!