Reading Time: 3 minutesFor a lot of businesses, there can still be a big discrepancy between having a high-functioning website and one that translates smoothly to mobile. Also unfortunately, such instances are usually the exception rather than the norm. Companies are probably tired of hearing about how mobile is the future, but there’s just no point in stopping up your ears and hoping it goes away. Mobile is here to stay, and if anything, it’s growing by leaps and bounds.
Take out the earplugs and take a look at these statistics to convince you.
-75% of Americans admit to bringing their phone to the bathroom.
-40% of shoppers consult 3 or more channels (often while shopping) before making a purchase.
-4 out of 5 consumers use smartphones to shop.
-By 2014 mobile is predicted to overtake desktop Internet usage.
-As of 2012, 116 million Americans owned smartphones.
-70% of mobile searches lead to online action within an hour.
-78% of retailers plan to invest in mobile this year.
From the one about three-quarters of Americans bringing their phones into the bathroom (no
judgement) to the staggering amount of people who use their smartphones for shopping (most
of them) mobile’s widespread and still expanding use is hard to dispute. It would be a missed
opportunity to let pass you by, which is why most companies have jumped all over mobile like
white on rice.
Differences To Take Into Account
While websites are usually more informational and broad, mobile serves a different purpose.
Mobile is on-the-go and it’s about action, a by-product of our increasingly busy lives. After all,
if a customer had the time to sit down and browse at their leisure,they probably would do it.
Mobile is not the time for aimless browsing, customers usually exactly know what they want to
do and are looking to accomplish that specific task in the shortest amount of time.
Effective Strategy for Mobile
After all, if you have an app for your business, it’s probably taking up space on their phone, and
let’s face it, smartphones aren’t that big. You’ve got to use that valuable real estate you have
to the fullest extent by providing real value with your app, not just another way to access your
site. Make it clear to a customer that when they use your mobile brand that there are tiers of
advantages which can be put to use in their everyday life, which encourages them to become
more integrated and a part of your brand.
These tiers of advantages can include special incentives, like exclusive first dibs on important
news, access to a sale, or upgrades. Incentives could also include the ability to customize
their experience to their own specific needs, which will make your customer feel much more in
charge.
Remember, you always want your customer’s experience to be as easy as humanly possible,
which when it comes to mobile, means giving them the content they want in the way they want
to view it, which brings us to my next point, the importance of responsive website design.
Responsive Web Design
For those who don’t know (no shame), responsive website design means you’ve got content
and a layout that adjusts to whatever device your customer is using. While some business
prefer to use separate sites, if you have a separate site for your smartphone, tablet, blackberry,
desktop, laptop, e-reader, things are going to get wildly out of hand, and fast. A responsive
design which adjusts for all devices makes much more sense and is a more elegant solution.
How does responsive web design play into mobile? Well, data shows that device jumping is
all the rage these days, with users starting on their smartphones and then switching the task
to a tablet or a laptop to finish the job, and maybe picking it up again on their smartphone. In
essence, a business no longer has any control of how or where someone uses their site, which
means it’s got to perform in whatever situation it’s put into. Like a Boy Scout, it should always
“be prepared.”
Additionally, mobile still has lower conversion rates than most other devices, probably because
it can be hard to find the time and space to complete a task such as ordering a new album or
buying tickets to a show. But having a great mobile site can be a way to up your conversion
rates by getting your customer to “device jump” and continue the task elsewhere. If you can
make the user’s experience flow smoothly across all platforms always, and make your service/
site/app enticing enough where customers want to take it to “the next level” (aka another device)
then your conversion rates are going to go right up and you’re golden.
