It’s time to dramatically change how you’re doing marketing. Smartphone use has created a lasting change in consumer behavior that’s driving or influencing many purchases. In this piece, I’ll cover user trends in smartphones, 6 tips for creating mobile landing pages that convert, and how users are using their smart phones.
The fourth quarter of 2011 marked the first time that manufacturers shipped more smartphones than PCs. Bloomberg reported recently that there are now over 1 billion smartphones in use globally. That number is expected to double by 2015. Customers have shifted preferred media platforms again. Marketers had to adjust in the late 90’s and early 2000’s as their customers migrated from print media and TV to online media and video streaming. As mobile web usage encroaches on traditional web browsing, it’s time for marketers to refine their marketing practices again.
What Smartphone Users are Doing With Their Devices
While it’s not known how long it will take for web usage via mobile browsers to surpass internet usage via PCs; some analysts estimate that change to take place in 2015. Already the effects of mobile shopping and mobile advertising are being seen. According to Google, nearly half of mobile apparel shoppers discover new brands via their smartphones. When mobile apparel shoppers were asked what they used their phone for, they gave 5 main answers:
Online marketers should build landing pages which are optimized for traditional web platforms and landing pages optimized for mobile platforms. These will be significantly different, not just in terms of the pixel width of your page, but the context of use changes how people interact with landing pages. The context of use varies widely depending on the device they’re using and where users are using their device.
The 4 Main Places Where Consumers are Using Their Devices:
In order to maximize your effectiveness at marketing via mobile devices, I’ve compiled a few of the best tips for building good mobile landing pages.
6 Ways to Maximize Conversions on Mobile Landing Pages
1. Minimize Your AdCopy
Try to communicate your value proposition in just 2 sentences or less. Text heavy landing pages will nearly always hurt conversions. Using excess text hurts conversions even more when the page visitor is accessing the landing page on a 4-inch screen. Limit your product description on the top portion of your page to 2 sentences.
2. Make it visually evocative in way that’s relevant to your brand
For that reason, mobile landing pages should generally focus on what’s eye catching and visually communicates value even more than on traditional landing pages. In addition to showcasing the product or service that you offer, pictures increase trust. A study by psychologists at the University of Wellington found that photos increase trust even when the photo was uninformative.
3. Include Relevant Video
Video content is a great way to communicate brand and product value. Video, when possible, is even better than photos. Viewers are 64-85% more likely to buy after watching a product video. There will be budgetary restraints for many small businesses and the marketer will want to weigh the cost of production against expected increases in sales.
4. Add a Phone Number
Including a phone number isn’t relevant or feasible for every marketer. However, consider the ability of your advertising medium. They’re seeing your advertisement on their phone. If your business can take orders over the phone, you might want to consider adding this to your mobile page. Upon clicking on a phone number, most smartphones will load the number into their phone’s dialer. Placing a call can be just two clicks away. This makes the path from seeing a product to talking with a salesperson can be very short. Beat that, traditional web browser.
5. Place Additional Benefits Below your Call to Action
Value should already have been built by the time the user’s eyes come across the Call-To-Action. Most page visitors will have already made a purchasing decision and won’t even scroll down to the bottom of your page. However, all users are different. Some users require or want more details. According to the same Google Study on mobile shopping use, a significant number of mobile shoppers are using their smartphone for product research even as they’re shopping. Add additional product information below for your more savvy shoppers who are engaged in comparative shopping and for whom the product specs will be more significant.
6. Make Your Mobile & Desktop Landing Page Domain Names Similar
Most shoppers will only do research on their mobile phone. They’ll go on to complete the purchase on their PC. For this reason, marketers need to make their pages as easy to find as possible. You can make it easier for customers by branding your product so a search on your branded name or branded product places you at the top of the user’s search results. Another means of getting your users to land on your desired desktop version is to make the domains as similar as possible. If you’re not using embedded script to redirect the user based on their browser type or using CSS to display how it displays on different screen types, the convention is to drop an m. or mobi. subdomain at the beginning of your domain. Example: m.yourlandingpage.com
How to Advertise Your Mobile Landing Page
Both Google and Bing allow marketers to target their ads specifically to the device that the person performing the search is using; PC, mobile, or tablet. This allows marketers to deliver the relevant landing page to the customer depending on the device that they’re using. Bing even goes a step further in allowing advertisers to even target their ads to what type of handset (iPhone, Galaxy, etc) their ad appears on. This saves the marketer money who’s advertising apps that are only compatible for droids or iphones.
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