August 8, 2012
Imagine I told you there is an intimate new venue where your potential customers like to hang out. And there was no one else vying for their attention. And you are invited to the party.
This is the current state of affairs in the B2B mobile marketing. Marketers are ignoring the fact that their customers are using smartphones for business. The good news is that you do not have to squander this opportunity. All you have to do is choose to see mobile as a viable B2B marketing channel.
The adoption of devices with mobile Internet capabilities is on a steeper curve than any recent technology. It has been adopted more quickly than the PC, the laptop, the iPod, and faster than the Internet itself. I do not have any data on caveman adoption of the wheel, but I am guessing it is faster than that too.
Marketers should care about the proliferation of the smartphone, because it is generally accepted that advertising follows eyeballs. However, mobile adoption has happened so quickly, B2B marketers have not caught up to their target customers’ consumption habits.
There is a huge gap between time spent consuming media – 10 percent on mobile – and the money spent on marketing – 1 percent on mobile.
According to a recent eMarketer study, 59 percent of B2B decision makers use their smartphone to research products and services when considering purchases.
I like to pose this simple question to marketers, How does your current marketing campaign look on a smartphone?
Mobile marketing offers an opportunity unmatched by any other medium – an audience of engaged decision-makers, and one with little competition.
With that in mind, let us investigate some easy ways that B2B marketers can reach customers on their mobile devices.
Here are three easy ways to make an impact on mobile.
Make your landing pages mobile-friendly. Converting your entire site to mobile is a big project, and you are likely to encounter issues with IT or corporate.
For that reason, focus on specific high value pages that drive sales. For example, if you are promoting a white paper, a percentage of users will be viewing your landing page on their phone.
This is especially true if you are an email marketer, since by the end of the year, more email will be opened on the phone than on the desktop. Your prospects have come this far, make sure you don’t lose them with forms that are impossible to fill out.
Make the form big and simple, and offer them two options: “Email me this whitepaper” or “View whitepaper now.”
With a mobile landing page, you will increase conversions on your campaigns and eliminate waste on your marketing spend.
Make your blog mobile-friendly. When you write a blog post for your company, you are probably sharing it via social networks.
Did you know that 60 percent of twitter users engage via their mobile device?
Facebook and LinkedIn have high mobile traffic numbers too.
That means that if you – or people in your social networks – are sharing your blog post, you want to ensure that people can read it on their phones.
For those with an existing WordPress blog, there is a toolkit that converts your existing site to a theme that is mobile-friendly.
Find partners that value mobile – Some B2B publishers claim to have a mobile site or app, but have refused to commit to it.
When you are buying mobile advertising, compare the sites you are evaluating by clicking around on your phone.
If links are broken, or content is missing, then odds are their users are not engaged. Dedicating budget to mobile advertising can be a smart move, but make sure you are spending in the right places.
Marketers care about reaching their customers at critical decision points while spending their budget efficiently. Decision-makers are already using smartphones for business when they are away from their desks, but B2B mobile ad rates are still relatively low.
Investing in mobile marketing now presents a unique cost-effective opportunity to engage your customers in a new way. Do not miss out.
Ryan Willumson is cofounder/chief operating officer of Industry Dive, Washington, DC. Reach him at ryan@industrydive.com.
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