Bigger, and more powerful than any other channel for communication and engagement, mobile allows marketers to reach larger audiences in a way that is personal and instant. According to Pew research, around 68% of Americans have smartphones, while 45% have tablet computers. If that information wasn't enough to prove that mobile advertising is growing bigger than ever, how about the fact that smartphone browsing is now the most popular way to access the internet?
In simple terms, mobile devices are overtaking the digital World. That means that any marketer who isn't making use of this fact in his or her strategy could be missing out on the clear majority of selling opportunities that exist today.
So why is mobile marketing growing as fast as it is? What makes this form of digital interaction more important than desktop or laptop browsing, for instance? Well, if you consider the typical journey that your customer takes, you'll find that mobile interaction is probably a large part of the route from "idea" to "sale".
The average consumer spends most of the day attached to their mobile device - and many even take their smartphone with them to bed. According to research, about 90% of customers between the ages of 18-29 sleep with their smartphones. That means that your users are mobile from the moment that they wake up, to the second that they go to sleep.
Mobile has given marketers the opportunity to get closer to their target market than ever before. This connectivity is the perfect example of why mobile marketing measures have grown in recent years, and why their importance will continue to grow in the future. Mobile marketing is all about unlocking the potential of a captive, engaged, and expanding audience.
For many marketing experts, mobile marketing is no longer an element of modern marketing - it's the entire thing. People look at the screens more than ever before, and research shows that the average person spends around 23 days a year on their phone. That's 90 minutes a day - at least.
What's more, the portable and constant nature of mobile interaction means that for the very first time, marketers have the opportunity to reach their consumers on a 24/7 basis. This means that you can be ready to interact with your customer whenever they want you - whether they're looking for customer service, product information, or discounts. Get this constant interaction right, and you can provide the user experience every shopper is searching for.
Shoppers use their mobiles in physical stores too. When customers are browsing through the shelves at the grocery store or stocking up on their favorite products, they'll often search on their phone to find out whether they're getting the best price or deal. That's why many retailers are now looking for new ways to integrate mobile into the in-store experience.
Let's face it - mobile is no longer something that businesses can consider having as part of their marketing strategy - it's a necessity. Google have even updated their algorithms to make sure that they rank sites that are optimized higher than non-optimized sites. This event - known by some as "Mobilegeddon" - sent businesses across the world racing to become more mobile-friendly before they fell victim to lost rankings.
Today, if you're working on boosting your rank, or you simply want to get attention from the right audience, you have to be mobile to thrive. Once, advertisement dollars were tied up in the world of print and TV, but today those days have passed. Now, we're all about online advertising, and as mobile web traffic begins to surpass the traffic that the average desktop receives, it's more important than ever to recognize the growing nature of the mobile world.
If you want to be successful, grow your profits, and increase engagement with a wider audience, then you need to start taking steps to be more mobile-friendly today.