7 mobile marketing tactics

Mobile usage continues to grow rapidly, presenting major opportunities for marketers to engage and convert customers on the go. An effective mobile marketing strategy is essential for driving revenue growth.

In this article, we outline what mobile marketing is and why it’s important for your business in today’s technology-driven world. We then break down the seven different ways you can tap into revenue opportunities through mobile marketing.

These are:

So, let’s get started.

What is mobile marketing?

Mobile devices like smartphones and tablets have become central to our lives. We take them everywhere and are constantly checking them on the go. Smart marketers have tapped into this by designing advertising and engagement strategies specifically for our mobile screens.

The key goal of "mobile marketing" is to connect with customers when they've got their phones in hand - like when you're commuting, waiting in line, or chilling at home. Brands can reach you through texts, mobile apps, location-based notifications, social media, and more.

On mobile, marketers think about optimizing for our thumb-scrolling and the vertical, small screens. You'll see short snackable content, eye-catching visuals, and clear calls-to-action that prompt you to engage further. And those annoying auto-play video ads? Also designed just for mobiles.

Marketers get insights from data tracking our mobile habits. So you might get a personalized offer for a hair product you've been googling while standing outside the salon. Or a discount code for your frequent coffee shop when you're nearby.

Mobile fits into a broader marketing mix that also uses desktop, print, digital, and other channels. But mobile is essential, as many of us now engage predominantly through our smartphones. Just look at how much time we spend scrolling each day!

Why mobile marketing is important

There are many reasons why mobile marketing is important. Let’s take a look at some of them, shall we?

Massive mobile usage

Mobile device usage has exploded globally - there are now 4.32 billion smartphone users worldwide. With consumers constantly connected via mobile, it has become imperative for brands to have a mobile marketing strategy to reach key audiences effectively.

This is particularly true when in some areas of the world, particularly in more developing countries, mobiles are the only source of internet access. For example, Africa has the highest proportion of internet traffic from mobile devices at 69.13%.

Constant connectivity

We’ve become highly attached to our smartphones and tablets, keeping them by our side morning to night. Mobile devices go with us wherever we go - at home, work, stores, events, and everywhere in between.

This 24/7 accessibility to consumers allows brands to engage users seamlessly throughout their day via mobile. Marketing campaigns can be delivered at the ideal contextual moment on the go.

Targeting and personalization

Mobile provides marketers with data like location, browsing history, and app usage that enables highly targeted, personalized messaging. Consumer context and real-time behavior can inform relevant offers or content. For example, apps can leverage location data to send discounts when a user is near a store.

Optimized mobile experience

While mobile has constraints like small screens and vertical orientations, it also has some great opportunities like swipe navigation. Creative is optimized for on-the-go usage:

Short, bite-sized content,
Visually compelling images/video, and
Clear calls-to-action.

These are all streamlined for mobile consumption.

Direct communication

Push notifications, in-app messaging, and other mobile formats allow for direct communication without the noise of other digital channels. Brands can reach consumers conveniently and receive quick feedback or engagement through mobile. It’s quick and effective - what more could you want?

Omnichannel integration

An effective mobile strategy incorporates seamlessly with broader efforts like email, social media, and digital ads to create an omnichannel brand experience. Mobile engages users on the go, while other channels connect in different settings.

Essentially, tying all of your marketing efforts together makes it easier for you as a business to keep on top of your strategies and ensure that you’re hitting the right audiences at the right time, and in the right place.

Emerging capabilities

New advances in mobile like augmented reality (AR), expanded features, and 5G networks open up new creative options for brands. For example, leveraging a phone's camera for an augmented reality brand interaction. Plus, things like fast 5G allow for more robust apps and experiences - so you can go bigger and better every time.

7 mobile marketing tactics

Mobile website optimization

Having a website that’s optimized for mobile devices is essential for any marketing strategy today. Mobile traffic now accounts for over half (55%) of all website visitors, so ensuring your site is responsive on different devices and screen sizes is critical.

To get the most out of your mobile website, make sure you’re doing the right things, like:

Using mobile-friendly templates with easy navigation, clickable elements, and fast load times.
Allowing autofill for forms to reduce friction and enable Apple/Google Pay for faster checkout.
Including click-to-call features and a store location finder to facilitate customer contacts.

Location-based targeting

Location-based targeting allows you to engage customers near your physical stores and locations. Geo-fencing enables sending timely notifications and offers to customers when they are close or enter your locations. This can encourage store visits and walk-ins.

You can also geo-target ads to only show to customers within a certain radius. Tracking location analytics gives useful insights into customer behaviors and movements. Use this data to optimize your location-based strategies for maximum results.

Push notifications

Personalized push notifications are a powerful mobile marketing tool. If possible, make sure to segment your customers based on their interests and behaviors to provide relevant, timely notifications.

With push notifications, you can encourage engagement by promoting:

Sales and offers,
New product arrivals,
Events,
Content, and blog updates

Make sure that you allow users to opt in or opt out of specific notification categories. Behavior-based triggers will then notify your customers of relevant messages based on actions they've taken.

Click-to-call ads

Click-to-call ads make it easy for mobile users to contact your sales teams instantly. With these ads, you can include a clickable phone number that enables customers to call directly from their devices. Then, you are able to track these calls and conversions from the ads to optimize them.

This provides quick access compared to filling out forms, shortening the buying journey and making for an improved user experience (UX). After this, make sure to follow up calls with SMS or emails reminding customers of key offers or information so that they’re consistently thinking about your campaign and your business.

The more they think about your marketing, the higher the chance is that they’ll come to you for a purchase, or share with their friends and family who are looking for a product or service like yours.

QR codes

QR codes bridge the gap between offline and online, providing a rich connection point. A clever way of leveraging QR codes and ensuring that people use them is by strategically placing these scannable codes in stores, ads, direct mailers, etc. that link to tailored landing pages, deals, or product info when scanned.

This makes for a quicker, more efficient way for your customers to get the information they need, rather than having to wait for an employee to inform them, or fill out any long-winded applications.

You can then modify the design to match your brand aesthetics, increasing your brand style and increasing the likelihood that your customers will recognize your brand whenever it’s around. This increases their connection with your business, whether they realize it or not.

You can also use QR codes on business cards or product packaging to engage customers.

Once you’ve shared all these codes, you’re able to track scan analytics to see which codes get the most traction and continue to refine and implement your mobile marketing strategy from there.

Mobile apps

A branded mobile app provides a direct channel to engage your customers. Apps allow things like:

Account management,
Notifications,
Social sharing,
Exclusive offers, and
In-app service options.

With apps, you can also integrate payment processing and shopping carts for e-commerce, improving the UX so they don’t have to keep filling out their details each time.

One thing to note is that you must develop native apps tailored for both Android and iOS platforms so that your app is accessible to as many people within your target audience as possible. Otherwise, you’re only garnering interest from part of the population.

In order to maximize the adoption of your app, make sure that you’re promoting app downloads through the website and other channels as well. This ensures that you’re hitting all segments of your target audience, and also ties all of your marketing efforts together through consistent messaging via all channels.

Mobile commerce

We’ve already briefly touched on how you can use mobile apps to increase the use of your e-commerce services (i.e. integrating payment processing and shopping carts for speedy checkout).

However, there are many other ways to optimize the mobile shopping journey, leading to better commerce results.

Overall, you want to make sure that the user experience is as streamlined as possible. Make it easy for customers to browse, purchase, and checkout via mobile. For example:

Ensure that your mobile site provides easy browsing, one-page checkouts, and guest options.
Use Apple Pay, Google Pay, and mobile wallets to provide fast and frictionless payments.
Offer free, fast shipping and easy returns to incentivize mobile purchases.

These will all make the purchasing experience a lot kinder for your customer, increasing the probability of their return to your business. As cliche as it sounds, a happy customer is a loyal customer - and this is exactly what you want when looking to tap into improving your revenue.

Key takeaways

These seven mobile marketing strategies are a great way to improve your customer interactions and experience with your business, effectively increasing the likelihood that they’ll return to your business and tell their peers all about it.

All in all, it just makes sense to incorporate an effective mobile marketing plan into your business. Mobile provides extensive opportunities to interact with customers and drive revenue - so why not grab at it while you can?

Got any thoughts on mobile marketing? Let us know in the Revenue Marketing Alliance community!

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7 mobile marketing tactics: Tapping into revenue opportunities on the go