For the first time ever, researchers at Adobe predict that more than half of holiday website visits this season will come from mobile phones and tablets, surpassing desktop computers. Consumers today expect to find answers to their questions at a moment’s notice. They’re using their smartphones to search for things like gift ideas, holiday deals, store locations and phone numbers anytime, anywhere.
But that doesn’t mean shoppers are always interested in seeing your holiday ads. Smart business owners know they need to deliver the right ads at the right time. And if your ads aren’t timely and relevant, your messages will be ignored. While a variety of channels should always be part of your marketing mix, advertising through mobile media is one of the best ways to reach shoppers during moments when they want to see your ads. When shoppers perform searches on mobile, they are:
- 57 percent more likely to visit a store
- 40 percent more likely to call a business
- 51 percent more likely to make a purchase
So how can your business reach consumers at the right moment this holiday season? Here are a few best practices put together by the digital marketing experts at FMDi.
1. Be mobile-friendly
Every day, holiday shoppers are turning to their cell phones to find information about items on their holiday shopping list. As more shoppers migrate to a mobile platform, the expectation of the user experience continues to grow. If your website is slow to load or doesn’t adjust to fit your shopper’s device screen, you could easily lose a potential sale. To keep up with shopper expectations, many businesses are moving to websites that have responsive design.
Responsive design works by adjusting to fit any user’s screen size, platform and phone orientation, seamlessly creating an easy-to-use interface. According to a study by IAQUIRE and SurveyMonkey, 40% of users will leave your site for another result if your website isn’t mobile-friendly. If your business hasn’t made the move to responsive design, making this simple change could help you bring in business you didn’t know you were missing this holiday season.
2. Know when you’re needed
Think about how and when your customers use digital tools and devices during their holiday shopping. Are they wandering the mall scouting out the best Black Friday deals or are they researching holiday travel plans well in advance? If you’re working on your business’s holiday marketing plan, it can be helpful to map out the different paths and decision processes of your customers, then plan how you can use digital marketing to meet their needs in those specific moments.
3. Understand the power of search engines
What if I told you that your business’s holiday ads could appear at the top of the most popular websites in the world and you only had to pay for these ads if users clicked on them? This type of advertising might sound too good to be true, but it’s actually a very effective and affordable way for small businesses to promote their holiday gifts on Google. Pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns are designed to market your business to shoppers who are using search engines to find products or services that you sell, especially during the holidays when competition among retailers is fierce. If you aren’t sure whether or not PPC is right for your business, contact our team of experts at FMDi for help. We can provide you with more information about how PPC works and give recommendations that fit into your business’s marketing budget.
4. Explore geo-targeting
Most mobile devices today are location-enabled, providing business owners with a huge opportunity to target holiday shoppers by their location at any given moment. How could this help your business? Consider this: You’re the owner of a retail shop in the mall and you want to attract holiday shoppers with a 50% off sale. Wouldn’t it be nice to send your 50% off ad to every single shopper using their cell phone in the mall? With geo-targeting, you can do exactly that. Whether your goal is to reach holiday shoppers near your business or shoppers anywhere else on the map, geo-targeting makes it possible for you to very specifically target your ads by location. Another geo-targeting strategy that you can employ is targeting your competition’s location. This tactic works especially well for businesses that sell more niche products.
If you haven’t moved into the world of mobile marketing, now is the time to strike. Contact us today for a free consultation and tell us more about your Delaware, Maryland or Southern New Jersey business.
