What is a “Mobile First” mentality?

This 2 minute video should help clearly define what mobile first really means to you and your business.

 

 

Advertisements

Mobile Outlook for Business in 2016

Mobile Research For Your 2016 Marketing Plans

I’ve got one word for your 2016 marketing:Mobile.

Ignore mobile at your peril.

Mobile isn’t about you, your product or your brand.

Mobile is about reaching your prospects, customers and audience where, when and how they want to interact with you. This isn’t a new message, I’ve been trying to tell you this for 5 years now…. 

Mobile marketing success requires contextual relevance. Specifically your audience expects to get easy-to-find, useful-to-current-need-and-location content fast. They want instant information gratification.

2016 Mobile Marketing Trends

1. 2016 Mobile usage

Mobile, specifically smartphones, is our constant companion. It’s where your audience spends its time.

• 73% of people always have their mobile device with them (October 2015 Facebook research).
• People pick up their mobile devices 150 to 200 times a day. Result: Almost 30 billion US mobile moments per day total. (Forrester)
• Mobile sessions average 1 minute 10 seconds or 177 minutes per day.(2014 Google data)

Before you integrate this research into your 2016 mobile marketing strategy, let’s put that into global perspective:

• 4.8 billion people globally will use mobile phones in 2016 (Forrester Research).
• 75% of Internet users went online via a mobile device at the end of 2015. In 2016, mobile devices aren’t only the most popular or commonly owned device, but also they’re starting to overtake all other devices in terms of time spent online (GlobalWebIndex).

US adults engage in a variety of mobile activities including video, radio (including Pandora) and social media (including Facebook).

                        US Adult time spent on mobile

16 to 24 year olds spend an average of 3.25+ hours per day online on a mobile. Younger demographic mobile usage has grown at a faster rate than older ones.

 

Online mobile usage is growing fastest in areas where there’s lower Internet penetration, namely Latin America and the Middle East/Africa.

BUT, India breaks the mobile mold.

• 85% of India’s digital population access the Internet via mobile, an increase of 30 percent since 2Q2012. During this period, Internet access via PCs/laptops remained stable.
• Average mobile time doubled to 3 hour per day in 3Q2015 from 1.5 hours per day in 2Q2012.
• 40% of mobile web users share their handset with someone else. This trend differs from any other market (GlobalWebIndex).
• 11% of India’s Internet users live in rural areas yet represent 70% of India’s population.
• No brand dominates the Indian mobile market. Samsung (40%) has the largest market share.

Bottom line: We’re approaching a Mobile Tipping Point when mobile usage exceeds that of all other devices combined. Global Web Index predicts this will happen in 2018.

Your mobile connected and savvy customer (B2B or B2C) demands a quality mobile customer experience.

• Roughly 50% of US consumers expect to find the information they want or need based on their context on their mobile device.
• Only 14% of companies Forrester surveyed use mobile to transform their customer experiences. Examples include Apple Pay, Starbuck order-ahead, mobile boarding passes.

Make marketing mobile first to reach your maximum potential audience.

• Only 25% of companies will fully integrate mobile into their overall business strategies to transform their customer experience (Forrester Research).

Actionable 2016 mobile marketing tactics:

1. Focus on people, your target audience in particular. Reach them when and where they’re ready to engage with you. Concentrate your marketing on your audience not devices or channels. You need a seamless process. Be prepared to track and attribute customer interactions cross channels.
2. Understand your customer’s buying process. With a variety of devices and channels available, most prospects no longer go from initial connection to purchase. Research and shopping often occurs across devices or channels.
3. Plan for thumb action. Appreciate how your various potential audiences will use their mobile device to find, research and purchase your product.

 

2. 2016 Mobile marketing

Be present on mobile so people can find you when and where they’re ready to engage with you.

• Have mobile websites (65%) and mobile apps (65%), the top B2B marketing mobile tactics.

• Anticipate your prospects’ mobile needs and provide appropriate information.
• 29% of visitors immediately switch to another site if they don’t get what they need. Every second counts!!!

• Reduce steps. Mobile owners may use voice search or have trouble with a small screen. Also, offer other options such as phone.
• Make calls-to-action easy-to-see and respond to. Think fat fingers.

Actionable 2016 mobile marketing tactics:

• Talk to your prospects and customers to understand how and when they want your information on a smartphone device. Don’t guess–ask!!!
• Think mobile first. Include mobile in your overall marketing plans.
• Give customers a reason to buy in your store. Offer them a special deal or other incentive.

3. 2016 Mobile apps

Marketers must make their app critical to their audience’s regular activities or tap into larger third party providers (like Google or Facebook) where their audience already spends their time.

• 84% of US consumer mobile time per month is in 5 or less apps. Of this, retailers, banks and travel apps collectively receive less than 10-15% of mobile moments measured in minutes (Forrester Research).

Actionable 2016 mobile marketing tactics:

• Plan for placement on third-party mobile apps. This may require budget just like advertising or content placement. Even if you have your own mobile app, you’ll probably still need the additional reach.

4. 2016 Mobile email

Email can be a filler activity. Translation: Employees read email and other content during their daily commute or other non-work hours.

53.5% was the mobile open share for 3Q2015 US marketing emails. Specifically, email click-to-open rates for 3Q2015 US marketing emails (Yesmail) were:

• 2015 mobile click-to-open rates were 13.7% up 1.6 percentage points from 3Q2014.
• 2015 desktop click-to-open rates were 18.0%, down 3.8 percentage points from 3Q2014.

Email opens by device – 2015 Chart

Similarly, 48% of all emails were opened on computers, 40% were opened on mobile phones and e-readers, and 12% were opened on tablets according to 2Q2015 Experian data.

Customers check your email based on use:

• Business emails were opened most on computers.
• Multi-channel retailers were opened most on smartphones.
• Travel emails were opened most on tablets.

Actionable 2016 mobile marketing tactics:

• Check email readability and rendering on mobile devices. Often this depends on your email provider. Unlike other aspects of your 2016 mobile marketing, this service shouldn’t require additional work on your part.

5. 2016 Mobile search

Mobile search supports and improves your other marketing goals.

• 46% improvement in unaided brand awareness through mobile search.
• 51% of people find new companies via mobile search (Google).

• 53% of smartphone owners feel more favorable to businesses providing instructional videos. Don’t forget that you can use YouTube to help you.

Location matters for mobile

Location data matters. It has an impact on your marketing and results.

Voice mobile search

Voice mobile search continues to gain traction as smartphones improve and owners get used to it. Only 13% of users have NEVER used this function. 

Mobile Voice Search – Graphic

Actionable 2016 mobile marketing tactics:

• Include a separate budget for mobile search. Make sure your phone number, address and email appear in results.
• Claim your location on maps. 
• Be visible on search alternatives like Yelp and TripAdvisor. 

6. 2016 Mobile commerce (or Mcommerce)

Mcommerce defined

Mobile commerce is the process of making a purchase transaction using a handheld device. More broadly mcommerce includes pre-purchase research through post-purchase support. You must streamline your buying process as much as possible to reduce steps and time. 

Mobile commerce transactions are expected to reach $115 billion in 2015 and $142 billion in 2016. Mobile commerce accounts for 35% of ecommerce. By 2020, mcommerce will account for 49% of ecommerce ($252 billion) due to its 17% compound annual growth rate. (Forrester).

• 82% of people consult their phone regarding a purchase they’re about to make in a store. (Google)

Most mobile sales follow into 3 categories:

• Apparel
• Consumer electronics
• Media 

In 2014, retailers spent $1.2 million on smartphone investments and $550,000 on tablet investments (Forrester). Invest your marketing budget in:

• Making checkout easier. Consider the phone speed.
• Optimizing emails for smartphones
• Increasing product reviews.
• Getting prospects to visit your retail location.

As a marketer be prepared to respond to each step of the mobile purchase journey.  Location matters.

• Make online purchase.
• Make in-store purchase.
• Get customer service or make appointment.
• Get directions to physical location.
• Tell others.

 Shifting mobile purchase behavior

The number of people making mobile purchase transactions steadily increased to 30% in 4Q2015 (24% on a phone and 6% on a tablet) (Facebook IQ).The frequency of mobile purchases increased 35%.

• Translation: More people bought on a smartphone and they purchased more often.

 Cross-channel shopping

Cross-channel shoppers used computers over smartphones or tablets to purchase for these reasons (Facebook):

• 54% of respondents thought bigger screens were easier to use for transactions.
• 54% of respondents liked seeing all available products on a larger screen.
• 26% of respondents found getting sufficient purchase information and product/retailer comparison difficult on a small screen.
• 26% of respondents had trouble entering their data on a smartphone.

Younger demographics are more likely to purchase via smartphones. Also, in regions like the Middle East where there’s better cellular than Internet service, mcommerce is used more often.

Customers use both computers and smartphones to research products but they’re more comfortable purchasing via a computer. This is particularly true of expensive, high-consideration products like cars and insurance.

For less important purchases, customers use their smartphone to research products and make choices while purchasing on a computer or at retail.

GlobalWebIndex points out that some mcommerce requires smartphone owners to have a payment app installed and to be willing to use it to make purchases. Current services include Google Wallet, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay.

This research didn’t include the growing use of products like Square where the seller handles the purchase process. For example, my hairdresser uses Square to handle transactions and I get an email to track my purchases.

It’s still early in the mobile payment adoption process. Therefore people are more likely to use their mobile device to make small regular or impulse purchases rather than expensive, high consideration purchases.

Multi-screen attribution matters.

• 40% of businesses use first or last touch attribution. Remember you have customers, regardless of which device they use. (Google)
• 90% of people use multiple devices for purchase related activities.(Google)
• 40% of people who research purchase via a smartphone buy via a computer. (Google)

Cross device data increases mobile conversions across categories. (Google)But understand that this is a major hurdle for many businesses.

Actionable 2016 mobile marketing tactics:

• Incorporate ways to track mobile research and purchase into your marketing. 

7. Wearables

The Internet of Things (aka IoT) has been on the radar for several years. It includes wearables, your home, your television and your car. To increase adoption, people must see its value to their lives.

Given the extreme speed of smartphone growth, wearables have lost some of their edge. People view these products as accessories, not for core enduser experiences. Many use targeted smartphone apps to accomplish the same functionality as a wearable.

• 5 million US adults 18+ used wearables, including smartwatches and fitness trackers in 2015, up 57.7% over 2014. People wear these accessories or clothing at least once per month embedded with Internet-connected electronics and exchange data with a manufacturer or other connected device.
• 7 million US adults are expected to own wearables by 2018 (eMarketer). Older Americans are expected to drive wearable growth when wearable health monitoring devices are available. Wearables will become a fashion statement as price decrease.
• 74% of respondents plan to purchase a wearable device within the next year. Fitness is the key reason: 30% will purchase a fitness app and 27% will purchase afitness wearable. Smartwatches tend to be owned by younger, more affluent demographics. The challenge is still increased functionality.

The analysis overlooks the issue of tiny screen size for older demographics. Perhaps a smartwatch with voice activation may be better adapted to this market’s needs.

Context is key to 2016 mobile marketing

Where have you heard this before? (Again, for the last 5 years!)

Unlike PCs, your 2016 mobile marketing must be dynamic. It depends on where and what your audience is doing at that specific time and location. Their content matters. You need to deliver the right message at the right time based on your audience’s location and needs.

To tap into the 30 billion US mobile moments per day, Integrate your mobile and desktop marketing plans to respond to your audience on their terms, not yours.

 

 

A special thank you to my colleague Heide Cohen for putting this information together from the Forrester 2016 Mobile And App Marketing Trends Report. Heidi can be found here: 

Heidi Cohen is the President of Riverside Marketing Strategies.
You can find Heidi on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.

Is your call center allowing your customers to communicate via text?…Why not?

Immediately reduce your call center cost by 25% and increase customer satisfaction by 65%

According to a recent Forrester and Oracle report, the cost of the average phone call is increasing each year, up to $6 – 20 per call in 2012. While automated IVR solutions can significantly lower that cost, 93% of them actually decrease customer satisfaction. Thus it is no surprise that many businesses are forsaking the billion-dollar “phone only” strategy and looking to other channels to help solve customer service needs. Forester reports that the last three years has seen a 12% rise in web self-service, a 24% rise in web chat usage and a 25% increase in community-driven customer support. Pivot strategies are becoming the key to seeing ROI from customer service investments, as many organizations have begun guiding customers to different channels based on the complexity and urgency of their needs.

With so many channels gaining ground in the customer service field, it is surprising how often text messaging is overlooked. According to Pew Research, text messaging is the most common function currently performed on phones, outranking even voice calls. Another study shows that young adults not only prefer text messaging over voice, they would also prefer to text message companies to resolve simple customer service issues. Despite this, many companies are slow to see the solution “texting a company” can offer.

Here’s a common scenario: a customer needs to reset her password or check on her account, but she’s in line at a crowded restaurant or walking along a busy street. The robot IVR can’t understand her verbal commands with all the background noise, and she doesn’t want to search for and download an app just for this rare situation. With text messaging, voice recognition and app dependency becomes unnecessary, allowing the customer to easily resolve her issue either via automation or by connecting her texts to a web chat session with a live agent.

SMS solutions make it easy and cost-effective to address customer issues just like that. The text messaging channel allows for automated interactions, providing some of the same self-service solutions that IVR systems, web sites and mobile apps provide, as well as one-on-one support with a customer support representative. Many solutions also allow for integrations with existing systems, such as hooking live text-to-chat into established agent chat tools or pulling customer data from the company’s records for self-service issues.

Innovative organizations are already seeing the value in “texting” customer support. Companies like Comcast will begin piloting text messaging solutions this year, expecting to see a significant decrease in cost for their customer service sessions. Others have found that adding a menu option to their IVR for switching a voice call to text (“press * to continue this call in SMS”) has improved conversion rates by as much as 25%. Those customers that continue on to a text-to-chat interaction help bring the cost for the company down to $1-4 per session.

Companies looking to improve their service options in the following year need to consider seriously the benefits of adding text messaging as a channel. Customers are asking for it, and solutions are available to integrate it easily into a company’s established infrastructure. Not only do early-adopters differentiate themselves in a saturated market, but they maximize the ROI of their customer service investment. Text messaging is poised to explode as the channel of choice between customers and businesses. Companies shouldn’t overlook it, as their competitors won’t.

Enterprise Mobility Strategies Introduce Measurable Benefits & Tangible Returns

New research from Unisys Corporation shows that enterprises worldwide are realizing measurable business results by implementing formal programs for using mobile strategies and technologies to support their workers and reach customers more effectively.

The study shows a wide gap in success among organizations that have implemented comprehensive mobility strategies and those that have not. “Mobile enterprises”—defined as trendsetters with a mobility strategy and technology roadmap, clear success metrics, and an overall governance plan that integrates mobility—achieve demonstrably better results than organizations that have limited or piecemeal strategies.

“This study clearly shows that success in mobility requires a concerted, holistic approach encompassing strategy, business applications and formal measurement of results in addition to infrastructure engineering,” said Darren McGrath, global director of mobility solutions at Unisys, in a news release. “A fully planned, cohesive approach can make mobility a true business enabler, while an incoherent program creates the risk of a jury-rigged solution with tactical rather than strategic value to the organization.”

Unisys commissioned research organization IDG Connect to conduct the global study, which surveyed nearly 450 business and IT decision makers in 13 countries worldwide.

Superior Measurement Points to Better Results 

Three fifths (61 percent) of study respondents say that their companies have mobile strategies in place. However, there are marked disparities in the way the respondents characterize the maturity of those strategies and policies:

• 21 percent of respondents characterize their company as a trendsetting “mobile enterprise.”
• 40 percent label their organization as “mobile enabled,” with strategies and policies in place but no proactive governance.
• 28 percent call their organization “mobile aware,” with pockets of mobile initiatives and some policies in place but with no overall strategy or governance.
• 11 percent say that their organization is a “mobile void,” lacking any established strategy, policies or governance.

Overall, the respondents indicate that implementing mobility-based programs has benefitted their organizations. Fifty-three (53) percent of respondents say mobility has enabled them to create new customer channels and enhance customer interactions. Slightly more than half (51 percent) of respondents say that mobility has enabled their organizations to redefine business processes by allowing mobile access to information. In addition, 50 percent of respondents say that they have been able to enhance existing products with mobile capabilities.

However, organizations that classify themselves as trend-setting “mobile enterprises” put a higher value on the returns they’ve seen through their investments in mobility strategies and programs:

• 79 percent of mobile enterprises say that their organizations have been able to measure a return on investment (ROI) for mobility vs. only 58 percent of overall respondents.
• 84 percent of mobile enterprises report an increase in productivity over the past year through their mobility programs vs. 70 percent of all responding organizations and 52 percent of the “mobile void.”
• 75 percent of mobile enterprise respondents say that mobility generated new revenue for their organizations in the last year, compared to 30 percent of “mobile aware” and “mobile void” organizations.

The study results point to a number of factors that are driving these higher results for mobile enterprises:

• 65 percent of mobile enterprises say that they use a formal, technology-enabled process to measure return on investment. Just one-third of all worldwide respondents report doing the same.
• Another 32 percent of respondents are using formal but manual processes, while 36 percent are using informal, ad-hoc measurement processes.
• 16 percent are not measuring ROI at all.

“These results demonstrate that success in mobility is a function of careful planning, smart strategies and consistent execution,” said McGrath. “By taking a holistic, disciplined approach to mobility, organizations can increase the productivity of their people, grow revenue, unleash innovation and find new ways to serve their customers.”

Original Post Here