Earlier this week the mobile phone celebrated its 40^th birthday. As a modern dog who spends pawlenty of time on his iBone, I wanted to look at how the mobile phone has changed marketing and website design.

At the end of 2012, Portio Research found that there were 83 million mobile subscribers in theUK, 36 million of which were smartphones.

Thanks to smartphones, humans (and dogs) can get on the internet. Read product reviews and buy regardless of where they are. For example, if you’re out walking your four-legged friend and they lose a ball. You could order them a new one right there and then.

As a result, marketing, advertising and even website design has had to adapt and change as the popularity of smartphones grows.

 

Social Media is furry very im-paw-tent

Last week research was released which found that smartphone users with a Facebook account check their Facebook 13.8 times a day on average. If that’s not proof of how important phones and social media are to humans, then I don’t know what is.

For businesses who use Facebook, that’s 13.8 additional chances for them to target and engage their ‘fans’. That’s before we’ve even though about the likes of Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram or Tumblr.

In short, businesses no longer have to rely on their audience being at their computer to try and engage with them through social media.

How businesses use social media varies greatly. Some will use it to create and drive interest in them. Some will use it to engage with their customers or try to drive them back to their website. Some go the whole hog and use Facebook commerce apps to sell their products directly through Facebook.

From a consumers point of view, social media is useful for finding out customers thoughts on a product or service before they spend their hard earned money.

Consumers also find social media, Twitter especially, is one of the best and fastest ways to resolve an issue. As a company wants to be seen to be active in helping its customers resolve a problem. As a result some companies have Twitter accounts dedicated to customer support.

Both of these allow businesses to get a feeling for how people are feeling about them and their products. To flag up whether there are any issues they need to resolve. Or if there is anything they need to do to improve the publics perception of them.

While some of the above would be possible without smartphones. With people spending so much of their time on their phone there are now more opportunities for businesses to generate leads and get conversions and to create loyal customers.

 

QR Code

QR codes were originally used in the automotive industry, but again thanks to the capabilities of smartphones they’re now frequently used in advertising campaigns or on business cards.

QR codes can be used for a number of things, such as to encourage people to;

• Sign up to a mailing list
• Pre-order or buy a product
• Enter a competition
• Find out more about a product

 

SMS Marketing

Of course, without the mobile phone SMS marketing wouldn’t be possible at all. Some businesses use text messaging to get in touch with their customers. To remind them about their business, alert them to offers and competitions or ask them to fill out a survey.

In fact, every Friday Mum and Dad receive text messages from Domino’s Pizza trying to tempt us into ordering a big tasty pizza.

 

Email Marketing

During the second half of 2012, 28.98% of emails were opened on mobile devices. Meaning that marketers are now having to take mobile into account when designing their emails.

In some cases where the majority of email opens come from mobile phones. A business may decide which day and what time to send an email based on a peak time for mobile phone use.

 

Mobile Optimised Websites

It isn’t just marketing that’s had to adapt due to the popularity of mobile devices. Website design has also changed over the years.

Ideally businesses should now have a mobile friendly version of their website. This means that people who view their website from their mobile will be able to use it easily without having to scroll or zoom in too much.

Mobile friendly websites are especially important for ecommerce websites as if it’s difficult to navigate or search for a product the user wants, they will just use a user friendly competitor instead.

As well as creating mobile friendly websites, some retailers have also created phone apps. Big brands such as eBay, ASDA, Forever 21, Topshop, Amazon and ASOS have mobile apps that allow users to browse and buy products.

Getting users to download your app means they’ll constantly be reminded about your company, increasing the likliehood that they will use your app instead of browsing the internet and using a competitor. It also means you’re likely to create loyal customers as they’ll use your app out of convenience.

Thanks to the mobile phone businesses have more opportunities to market and sell to their target audience and consumers have products at their fingertips wherever they are.

 

Must dash, I have a iBone chess match scheduled with Chops. We are intelligent you know.

Paws and Licks,

George.

 

Contact Us

If you’re a small business based in Burntwood, Lichfield, Staffordshire or the West Midlands and need help with your marketing or website design, get in touch with my humans who can add real benefit to your business. Fill out the contact form on their website or pick up the dog and bone and give them a call on 01543 387 047. 

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