How To Empower Your Mobile Strategy And Increase Leads

While mobile is becoming a ubiquitous part of our everyday life and more time is spent on smartphones, many sites still offer a poor, difficult, and unexciting browsing experience.

As a matter of fact, many sites are not properly optimized for mobile. There are discouraging barriers that make navigation seem like a tedious task: slow loading of contents, invisible buttons, tiny fonts requiring users to zoom in, or images that are not loading properly. The web page is therefore, likely to be abandoned, resulting in a loss of potential client or income. It is no surprise that the “add-to-cart” rate for smartphone visits is 30% lower than that of desktop.

Why Mobile Conversion Rates are Lower

There are many reasons for the poor conversion rates on mobile. According to a recent research by PayPal:

• 34% of users say that the screen size is too small to allow an easy visualization and navigation

• 18% blame it instead on the lack of site optimization, poor content layout and difficulty in finding information.

Many mobile websites forget that smartphone users are used to the customizable nature of their gadgets. That’s why mobile sites should offer them exactly what they expect: a personalized experience. In fact, 74% of online users get frustrated with sites when content is irrelevant to their interests. Personalized content is one of the most important factors to continue using a site for 15% of users. Therefore, a navigation path that moves users’ emotions and is aligned to their desires must be set up. Ideally, it should create a narrative around the product and make users dream. Adidas Design Studio came to this realization which is reflected in their website. It now offers a multimedia experience to users, highlighting values more than products, telling an emotional story.

Most mobile sites only show a brief description of the item, the price, and the purchase procedure. Take a look at Macy’s website: no inspirations, just items. This forces users to choose quickly, without giving them an opportunity to explore and make comparisons.

Another reason is that messages are often not appropriate. They are too generic, lengthy or unreadable on smaller mobile screens. Messages are addressed to an indistinct crowd, regardless of the language spoken by the target. According to studies, people are much more inclined to read website with engaging and personalized contents.

However no panic: here 6 effective ways to increase leads on mobile.

#1 First and Foremost: Think Mobile for your Clients

So how do we increase conversion rates? The answer is complex and varies from one site to another, but there is a first basic strategy that is common to all: having a website designed for mobile devices. The benefit is shown by cases such as Time Warner Cable. The company recently designed a mobile site and obtained great results by optimizing call and mobile orders with a short and appropriate homepage message like “Order in 3 clicks. No Call Needed. Expedited set up.” Filling in a form can be a painful procedure for many users and that’s why they don’t convert on mobile. With this in mind, the company’s mobile conversions grew to 10% in only three months, with a 3x conversion rate over PC search results.

This case-study proves why a responsive site is not enough. It is essential to consider the perspective of those who browse on smartphones. Think about the possible navigation dynamics and design your site accordingly so that you can meet and exceed users’ expectations.

This point of view is often neglected because the creation of a mobile site is entrusted to web design professionals outside the company. When designing a web page, they think from a programmer’s standpoint while the psychology, behaviors, and habits of the clients of a specific brand are not taken into account. For this reason, a web marketer’s intervention is important to determine the best content and navigation paths for the users of the mobile site. To optimize resources, there are online systems that allow web marketers to create fully functioning web pages and apps on their own. They are specifically designed for marketers who do not have web design skills but want to offer to their company an efficient instrument to unlock the potentials of mobile.

HOW TO MAKE IT

1. Find the tool: choose one of the online systems to make app and mobile sites, most of them allow a free trial.

2. Start to create: follow the instructions to build the structure. These kinds of systems are usually easy and intuitive so it can only take you a couple of hours.

3. Customize the content: keep in mind your clients’ expectations when you upload images, videos and write texts.

4. Make the site engaging: think about a short but engaging message to welcome your clients on the mobile site. Follow the instructions to add a call-to-action button for higher conversion rates.

#2 The Power of Segmentation

Web marketers must analyze user behavior to create a good, pleasant and engaging mobile site, for two main reasons:

- Knowing better who visits your website is important to pinpoint the main problems and possible solutions to increase traffic and conversions. Some user segments may have higher conversion rates compared to others. There could be more frequent users than those who access the site only once. Certain products may be particularly sought after but still generate very few sales.

- Monitoring all habits or behaviors will help you detect the site’s weaknesses, fix them and improve usability. A research on 93,000 call-to-action found that the ones targeted to the user had a 42% higher view-to-submission rate than call-to-action that were the same for all visitors.

Tracking user behavior online is a thousand times more immediate compared to offline channels. We can know who visited the site, when, where and how many times. But it is also more complex due to the large number of data to manage. Luckily, there are several tools which collect and analyze them. Below are the steps to get started.

HOW TO DO IT

1. Start using the feature of Google analytics: it allows to segment the target by grouping users based on their common characteristic and then highlighting their behaviors, according to different parameters.

2. Choose the parameters: they depend on your business and strategy; the 3 most important data points to keep an eye on, as ranked by Dave Chaffey on Smartinsights, are the traffic source, visitor type, and geographic location.

3. Create segmented actions: place calls-to-action targeted to the user on the website; customize landing page with different styles and messages; personalize your emails with content, promo and offers relevant to the target audience.

#3 Simulate to Understand: Buyer Personas

Another way to analyze your target in depth and predict their behaviors is through Buyer Personas. They are abstract simulations of your users that include demographic, behavioral and value information, which will then compose a complete profile from every point of view. Buyer Personas serve to better clarify the targets and purchasing processes on mobile. It allows you to define a richer and more engaging user experience for your types of clients. Their effects are measurable: using personas made websites 2-5 times more effective to use by targeted users. Take for example Skytap. They are a provider of cloud automation solution. Skytap launched a targeted content marketing strategy which resulted in an increase of 124% in sales leads and 210% increase in North American site traffic.

HOW TO DO IT

1. Profile your clients: think about people who buy your products and try to define the main categories. If you don’t have enough information, make specific interviews. Here are some tips to structure questions useful for buyer personas.

2. Use a template: create buyer personas from each defined category (here is a free template to get you started). Fill it in with information about gender, age, purpose (why they buy your products), education, buying decisions and habits.

3. Remember to update: personas are theoretical tools, but they are dynamic because they are based on real consumers, whose behaviors evolve continuously especially in their mobile experience. So remember to update them at least once a year.

#4 Personalize your Promotions

Once you’ve got a clear idea of your target audience, thanks to segmentation and buyer personas, you can start developing practical actions. The aim is to increase your leads and bring quality traffic to your website. By designing them specifically for your several types of target, you will improve the experience with the brand, thus increasing conversion rates. Here some practical tips.

HOW TO DO IT

1.Address specific people: now that you know your clients, address them directly. Instead of a generic “you” use an engaging “You, 20-year-old girl in love with pop music”.

2.Talk about typical problems: thanks to buyer personas, you know each target’s needs and fears. When you talk to 50-year-old women about a dietary supplement, don’t use a generic “It helps you lose weight” but “Do you know that vitamin D helps you lose weight but it is lacking in a 50-year-old woman’s diet? Integrate it with our product.”

3.Use the power of placement: segmentation and personas tell you where your clients live, work, have fun or go shopping. Mobile allows you to reach users while they are in a certain area. Engage them with: “Hey, our shop is just a 5-minute walk from you. Here’s a coupon” (read the full case-study).

4.Propose different prices: as shown in buyer personas, your clients have different financial situations. Make specific offers so that each of your targets can afford your products. Instead of a generic “25% off”, try with “25% off just for our 25-year-old clients”.

Now you are ready to rethink two traditional web marketing tools like emails and coupons in a suitable and innovative way.

#5 Refresh your Email Campaigns

Emails continue to be one of the most commonly used means of communication in mobile marketing strategies, in particular by small and medium companies, according to mobilemarketingwatch.

In 2015 the daily traffic of e-mails sent and received by consumers around the world is around 87.9 billion and 65% of consumers made a purchase after receiving a commercial communication via email.

Rethinking them in an innovative manner can make them more effective. Employ the results of target segmentation and analysis and avoid generic communications. In this way, you can create personalized email content for different groups of users. These messages easily capture recipients’ attention even when they read them on their mobile devices while on the road or when they’re doing something else because they seem directly addressed to them.

According to data from MailChimp, segmenting email marketing list by groups with the same zip code or job title leads to higher opening rates (+14%) and clicks (+41%) than non-segmented campaigns.

HOW TO DO IT

1. Choose one of your targets found with segmentation and buyer personas

2.Start the email with the client’s first name: it allows to immediately create a feeling of familiarity and a one-to-one communication.

3.Strike with your content: focus on a specific product or service relevant for the target. Spotify, for example, sends an email to top listeners of a certain singer to promote their new single. The message is written by the artist and creates a feeling of exclusivity.

4.Send at the right time: apply A/B test (most email software have built-in tools for this kind of test) to find the best time your customers prefer to receive emails, then consider different time zones through zip code segmentation.

5.Consider behaviors: set up automated email inspired by real-time customer behavior on your site, to contact people when they haven’t logged in for several days or to remind an abandoned cart. These emails have 152% higher open rate compared to traditional ones.

6.Check the results: verify opening, click and conversion rate. If you created different lists, find which one performed better. Use all data to improve your next email campaign.

#6 Discover the Power of Mobile Coupons

96% of smartphone users who shopped online in 2015 sought a digital coupon before making a purchase, an increase of 26% compared in 2014 (source: eMarketer report). Digital coupons are the evolved version of paper coupons, which can be downloaded directly from the website through smartphones and therefore cannot be lost or counterfeited. Also, in this case, personalizing is important to make them more effective. For example, you can stimulate the loyalty towards the brand by creating discount coupons dedicated exclusively to regular clients who reach a certain purchase amount. You can also send coupons to new customers to entice them to try your products or services, such as HSN.com, a multichannel retailer, offers a 20$ off coupon for first-time shoppers only.

HOW TO DO IT

1. Select one of your targets defined by segmentation and buyer personas.

2. Create a catching promo. The client should perceive it like a one in a million chance. Offer a valuable discount and be specific like “Secret offer just for our top clients. Text 12345 to receive a $40 discount.”

3. Send it in the right place at the right time: 79% of people have their smartphones with them 22 hours a day (source SocialTimes). Choose when (through statistics) and where (through statistics and GPS) it is better to deliver your coupon for the target selected, and then create an instantly redeemable coupon.

4. Check the results to improve conversions for the next campaign.

Personalizing your Mobile Strategy: From Theory to Practice

The easiest and most effective way to create an authentic and a personalized experience is to think about the users’ needs and desires when defining your mobile strategy and by keeping in mind that they are not all the same. It creates a spontaneous desire in users to visit your site, enticing them to stay, explore, buy and even come back. What kind of experience could you offer in your next mobile strategy?