It’s is no secret that mobile phones are the dominant force in connected devices. 1 in 4 people who access the internet do so exclusively from a mobile device.

Mobile recently dethroned desktops in search queries for the first time and Google is continually placing an increased emphasis on mobile usability and mobile phone production. Yes the tides are turning, and as time slips by there is a growing demand for businesses to implement a mobile strategy in order to remain relevant.

No matter if your business is brick-and-mortar or purely virtual, mobile is a must. The convenience of these devices has completely altered how people communicate, search, shop, and more. To ensure that your business is not losing out on leads and conversions, here are 7 tips that will help you perfect your mobile game plan:

1. Responsive Design

This one should be a no-brainer after all the hype surrounding Google’s “Mobilegeddon”. Responsive design is an absolute necessity according to the search giant, and users demand such an experience as well.

If a site is difficult to navigate because of scrolling issues, the visitor is sure to find somewhere else to shop, and fast. In fact, 85% of smartphone users believe that a mobile version of a site should be as good, if not better, than its desktop counterpart. Additionally, over Thanksgiving weekend of last year, 52% of traffic to ecommerce sites was derived from mobile devices.

The bottom line here is that if your site does not have a responsive mobile design, you are losing sales. If you haven’t already, implement a responsive design before your site becomes just another internet tombstone for a fallen brand.

2. Keyword Accuracy

The key to mobile keyword accuracy is to think local. When potential customers are searching on handheld devices, they are most likely seeking a local solution. Be sure to include your locale when optimizing keywords for mobile. This is critical to get right since your goal for mobile should be to land in the top three results; mobile users hate scrolling, so there is little left for those that rank 4th and below.

3. Payment Processing

Recently, there has been a boom in the mobile payment arena. Apple introduced Apple Pay, Google brought forth Google Wallet, and many social media platforms are in the process of implementing their own payment portals. Young adults in the US spend an average of $51 per month on purchases made on smartphone devices.

Purchases through mobile platforms will only continue to grow. Ensure that your brand adopts the necessary technology to support mobile payments; it’s imperative to your overall growth and success.

4. Social Media as a Customer Service Center

In a recent Pew Research Report it was revealed that 70% of respondents claimed to access Facebook on a daily basis. 45% of those people stated that they access the social network multiple times a day. This fact combined with the fact that the average smartphone user picks up their device more than 1,500 times a week means that people are constantly checking Facebook and sites like it on their mobile devices.

Because of this, businesses should utilize these social platforms as customer service centers to connect with consumers. People want genuine connections and often times feel more comfortable using Facebook or Twitter than talking to a rep on the phone. Implement this strategy and you are sure to see increased engagement across your social channels.

5. In-Store Notifications

If you run a tangible shop, this is where digital meets the real world. When shopping in a brick-and-mortar store, a whopping 90% of customers will use their smartphones to cross check prices. These massive numbers alone should be enough to get businesses to implement in-store notifications.

In-store notifications will send a consumer a special offer or coupon either when they walk by one of your stores or when they are physically in the building. By taking advantage of this opportunity, a consumer is more likely to make the purchase with your company, or better yet, it might send them off shopping for items that they did not originally come in for. This is a fantastic way to capitalize on a shopper being present in your store.

6. Click to Call CTA

Calls-to-action are one of the more powerful inbound marketing tools. This fact remains true when it comes to the “click to call” CTA. In fact, this feature is so useful that Google uncovered that 61% of mobile users called businesses after performing a local search.

The key to this CTA being successful, however, is all about the size. The button must be large enough for a person’s thumb to tap it with ease. Best practices tell us that this comes out to between 44-57 pixels.

7. Test, Test, and Then Test Again

As always, this step is absolutely critical. Without testing you have no baseline of how well campaigns, content, designs, or your actual website is performing. It is essential that with each step you take and each new implementation that goes into place, you test, contrast, and compare these changes to see if they are actually benefitting your cause.

With the mobile world exploding in popularity among users, it becomes crystal clear to business owners that this arena is where marketing efforts should be focused.. Be sure to take advantage of these tips and tricks and you too can become a mobile marketing master.

Have you implemented any of these strategies, and if so, how has it affected your conversion rate? What other marketing strategies not mentioned here have you had success with on mobile?

Source: Tina Courtney

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