The most coveted audience out there right now are the mobile users. They are already more than 60% of the search engine traffic and consumers are, more and more, becoming locked on to their tablets and, of course, their phones. Most companies, be they service or retail, seem to be making an initial contact with the mobile audience but most, with only a few exceptions, are able to keep them engaged enough to come back.
Most mobile marketing these days is a complete disaster. So, what’s going wrong?
- Mobile apps have become so popular that many experts are predicting that, in just a few years or so, online communication will just be apps on a tablet or phone. Apps are huge. Especially with everyone between the ages of 16-49. If your business doesn’t have one, you’re already way behind your rivals.
- Many of the major brands out there are using app technology as their entire focus for generating revenue and their marketing teams are learning how to make the best of them. The key to mobile success is the personal touch. The 16-49 age group wants to you care about them personally. It is a reflection of the intense focus these last couple of generations have put on the importance of themselves and their needs. The challenge, right now, is to do that because just about every company out there has been failing at it.
- Research is opening eyes. For instance, only 25% of all apps downloaded only get used once and 75% of all apps get dropped by users within the first 90 days.
- Over half of all app users don’t really trust the companies producing them. That has been a huge roadblock that few companies have been able to overcome.
- Mobile marketing that is showing some success is concentrating now on app views and downloads. But, you may win the download battle and end up losing the engagement battle as most seem to be doing.
- Push notifications, when used correctly, and used in a personal manner, can be highly effective for keeping customers engaged with your app and your brand. However, users are extremely wary of push notifications and more than half of mobile users find them annoying and intrusive. Make them less annoying and intrusive, and they will return time and again.
- Most companies, according to the latest research, are only shifting what they are already doing online to their mobile applications. In fact, about 44% of companies continue to plod along as they always have and are starting to see some real attrition and a decline in revenue because of it.
- Those companies that are telling themselves, and their staffs, that everything is “good enough” are soon to get run down by their competitors who are trying to quickly adapt to the mobile challenge. What you think is good enough really isn’t and if your looking for a reason for a decline in traffic and revenue, you may have to look no further than your current mobile marketing strategies.
-Written by Kevin Sawyer
