There’s no denying that Twitter is a fantastic social platform for brands of any size, particularly small or new businesses trying to make a name for themselves. It opens up a world of promotional and networking opportunities, and the best part? It’s free.

However, it’s not enough to simply open a Twitter account and post randomly about what your business has been up to. In fact, Twitter needs strategy and patience to work well, and there are a lot of brands guilty of using it in the wrong way.  In recent years, some businesses have even risked their company’s entire reputation through the mistakes they’ve made on Twitter. (more…)

The notion of creating a marketing strategy solely for mobile is a slightly contentious one. Many argue (like this fantastic article from Moz) the point that, actually, we should no longer be distinguishing between devices.  These days, we all want to target users who are on the go, and using more than one device – therefore, every strategy going forward should be a mobile one.

Or, more accurately, one built with a range of devices in mind, reflecting the modern customer journey. Gone are the days where a shopping experience began and ended on a laptop, so it no longer makes any sense for marketing teams to work in isolated siloes.

But for the time being, value definitely still remains in optimising your strategy for mobile, particularly if you’re new to the digital marketing space and want to make sure your existing tactics are still viable for mobile users. So let’s start with the most obvious question.

Why is Mobile So Important?

Well, last year mobile usage overtook that on desktop when it came to browsing, booking and purchasing online. Mobiles and other devices such as tablets are here to stay, and ignoring them completely will only lead to frustration from your customers, not to mention a decrease in revenue for you.

Let’s take a look at what, according to Search Engine Watch (via Online Publishers Association/Frank N. Magid Associates), consumers are doing on mobile devices:

• 99.5% access content or information
• 63.1% access the internet
• 62.1% access email

Now think back to your current digital marketing strategy. Are you meeting this demand for mobile-friendly content? Are you making it easy for your customers to interact with you on their mobiles? If not, it’s time to figure out why. And fast. Here’s just a few things you might consider along the way.

Understanding Customer Mobile Habits

The extent to which – and how – you’ll need to adapt your overall marketing strategy for mobile will depend entirely on the percentage of your audience regularly using mobile to access and use your website and/or content. Not just the general figures, as we have explored above, but your specific audience.

Decipher this percentage, as well as exactly which device they use (is it mobile or tablet?), what activities they’re doing (are they buying or just perusing?) and how much time they spend on your site (what is the average bounce rate – are they finding what they’re looking for?) and use these results to adjust your strategy. For example, if your product has a fairly high price point and you find that not many mobile users are converting, work on improving the checkout process or making it more secure. You might choose to switch tactics entirely and treat mobile as more of a lead generation tool. Google Analytics and Adobe Omniture are just two tools which can help you obtain these invaluable insights.

Making Your Website Responsive

We’ve discussed responsive web design at length on this blog before, so you may well already be familiar with what it means, but just in case, check out our previous post: Are You Designing Responsively?

In 2015, having a responsive website is no longer something which is going to make you stand out from the crowd. In fact, failing to design responsively will make you the odd one out, and for all the wrong reasons. Designing your site with mobile in mind ensures your busy, on the go customers can have just as pleasant and easy experience on your site as a desktop user: resulting in less bounce, and more conversion.

A lot of companies tack mobile on to the end of their website design, like an afterthought. However, for a truly successful responsive website, it is important to design “from mobile up” – with every design decision you make, look at it from a mobile user’s point of view. This should take traditional and clunky design devices such as carousels, hovers and slow loading pages out of your website design repertoire.

Keep it Short, Sweet and Relevant

So, you’ve got a responsive website and a fairly clear idea of how your customers are behaving on mobile. What next? Well, you need to start marketing.

Most consumers now have their mobile device within reach 24/7, which presents you with an incredible, always-on marketing opportunity. According to The Guardian, “…one of the greatest opportunities for marketers today lies in managing personalisation for mobile devices”.

You may already be personalising your website and advertising, so how does marketing on mobile differ from desktop? Well for starters, you’re working with a more limited amount of space. When it comes to content, deliver a truncated version with only the most relevant information, and keep targeted ads short and to the point. Streamlining your marketing efforts means your customer is less likely to lose interest quickly.

Secondly, when surfing on their mobile your customer is likely to be on the go; whether they’re commuting or just trying to find a destination.  This opens up a number of opportunities for geo-targeting – the delivery of a specific ad based on a browser’s location. Take Starbucks’ lead: they showed ads offering discounted coffees whenever a mobile user passed a branch. Which, considering the ubiquity of Starbucks chains, proved very successful indeed.

In essence, the key to making mobile an integral part of your marketing plan is to embrace the changes it demands, rather than feeling limited by them. Understanding browsing habits, designing responsively and personalising ads based on location are just three ways to ensure you make the most of the “always –on” phenomenon.

Are you ready to be serious about your mobile marketing strategy? Call us on 020 3146 4341 or email info@cleverm.co.uk to discuss your needs to make your website more mobile friendly.

If you want to play ball with the top dogs of marketing, you need to look at their tactics. One method which has become increasingly popular in recent years with companies of all sizes is marketing automation. (more…)

Infographics first became mainstream in content marketing a couple of years ago, and have been increasing in popularity ever since. Countless brands have used infographics to communicate data to their audiences, with successful examples belonging to LinkedIn and Samsung. But if you’re yet to hop on the bandwagon, you may wonder what infographics are, and how they can benefit your marketing plans.

Also known as data visualisation and information design, infographics offer a way of presenting data using compelling imagery, illustration and iconography alongside text. They’re used widely to communicate statistics and relationships between ideas, and are more common than you might think – consider the tube map, for example.

Whilst they are definitely nice to look at, there has been an influx of infographics over the years which have arguably prioritised style over substance. They can also be time-consuming, and are an added expense to your budget. So why should you make the effort to incorporate infographics into your content? Read on for our top 5 reasons to make them an integral component of your marketing strategy. (more…)

With the economy finally on the upturn, businesses are getting busier and confidence is increasing. For many that means the ‘to-do’ list is getting longer and, despite the extra daylight around, there still aren’t enough hours in the day.

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Many of us often wrongly assume that our customers fully understand the length and breadth of our service or product offering. It can then come as quite a shock when they say “Oh I didn’t know you did that.” And it can be particularly galling when they turn to one of your competitors for that provision.

So within the best marketing strategies, there should always be an area set aside for existing customers. The idea here is definitely not to turn customers off by continually bombarding them with sales offer after sales offer.

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For many businesses, their website is a key component of their marketing strategy. It commands a sizeable chunk of their marketing budget and is intended to be a key force in attracting new business enquiries.

Therefore it makes sense to regularly test how visitors are engaging with it – exploring its usability to see what is drawing in visitor attention and what is putting them off. Of course, the Google Analytics data which is freely available to businesses can give a lot of valuable insight, but sometimes it only tells part of the story.

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