For the first time in history, mobile devices now officially outnumber people. This milestone highlights one crucial fact for entrepreneurs: as the number of mobile devices rises, so do their importance.
Eighty-five percent of consumers believe their mobile devices are essential to daily life. Clearly, the mobile interface is vital for consumers, and the savvy businesses that hope to connect with them increasingly choose to do so via smartphones and tablets. In the current climate, companies are now able to interact with customers anywhere, any time, and start a meaningful dialog with them.Rather than throw a bunch of advertising messages out and hope customers see them and the ultimately act on them, you now have the opportunity, via their mobile devices, to directly engage the precise information needed to influence a buying decision. That alone should read as a convincing reason to develop a comprehensive mobile first strategy right away.
In the public sector, apps are an opportunity to do more with less and can become an effective part of redefined budgets for public sector organisations. Apps possess a huge potential for boosting collaboration, information sharing and generally improving the services delivered by the public sector.
With all that in mind, let’s look at a few components that would help all organisations embrace a broader view of what a mobile first strategy really looks like:
You probably have a mobile website and a main website for your organization. But chances are they don’t look good on all the various size smart phone and tablet screens because they aren’t adaptive. Therefore, make your site adaptive so it automatically adjusts to the size screen the user has.
People are increasingly making decisions using their phones and tablets more so than on their laptops. The smart phone and tablet trend will only continue to grow, so think mobile first when you redo your website, not desktop or laptop.
Focus on delivering a customer experience that enables users to interact with your brand in new and exciting ways. The majority of users expect their apps to load within two seconds, and 85 percent of users prefer an app to a mobile website. You’ve probably experienced the frustrations of viewing a mobile website with a distorted layout and difficult navigation. So develop your app with the goal of alleviating these frustrations and providing users with a painless experience.
Align your mobile experience with your webpage experience so users can switch between devices. Only 16 percent of users will try a bug-riddled app more than twice, so the transition should be smooth.
If you handle customer data, information security is crucial. Implement data encryption, and address customer privacy when you consult with cloud vendors. With an increase in bring-your-own-device practices, the array of devices and platforms makes you vulnerable, so do everything you can to secure confidential data and give your customers the peace of mind they deserve.
In person payments are definitely a thing of the past. Credit cards are easy, but e-wallets are easier. Currently, Google has a mobile wallet that works with Citi MasterCard, and in the future it will work with other credit cards. It is secure and enables you to make payments with your smart phone. In the near future, we will move very quickly from a leather wallet to a smart phone wallet. One example of an enabling technology is NFC (near-field communications chips), which is being built into smart phones to enable contactless payments. They allow for secure and easy payment, so be ready for it.
Customers do not want to leave the comfort of their own home just to go to your company in person and process a transaction or receive a service. Whether it be a public service or retail product, make sure that customers have access to as many e-services as possible via your mobile app or mobile-friendly website. Customer should be able to apply, cancel, pay, get a refund, and shop wherever they are, straight from their smartphones or tablets.
When and how users view your content on mobile affects a number of decisions — everything from the length of your videos to where you place certain content. Tracking behavioural patterns and page flow among mobile users informs your decisions for many of these adjustments.
Consumers behave differently on smartphones and tablets, because they have distinctive functionalities and capabilities. Marketers need to analyse behaviour and experiences across the entire spectrum to understand the best move for web or app design.
Apps are not just for consumers. They can make employees more productive too! Rather than have customer service reps stuck to a computer at a counter, you can give them a tablet with key apps that enable them to help customers on the floor in real time. With these apps, they can see if products or services are available, provide information, process simple requests, and do almost everything that’s usually done at the customer service counter. Leading retailers have taken the lead in this area and are using smart phones and tablets as their point of sale (POS) device saving customers time.
A safe and secure ‘Bring Your Own Device’ policy is also great for employees so they can access data and applications using their own devices wherever they are, even on the move!
Make no mistake- it is clear that tablets and smart phones are quickly becoming people’s main personal computer. Therefore, you want to create a mobile first strategy that utilises the power of these devices to your benefit.
The mobile marketing industry has a lot to look forward to in the coming years in terms of innovation, creativity, and increasing mobile commerce. If you haven’t already, you are going to learn to meet consumers where they want to be met and adapt your marketing strategy to their desires.
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