Localize Your Brand’s Mobile Strategy
Mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives and play a significant role in consumer behavior. But just as some businesses were slow to harness the power of the internet and ecommerce, a similar delayed realization is happening with local-mobile discovery and the mobile path to purchase. Ask yourself as a brand manager, are all the local distributors that sell your products and services set up to take advantage of the 2 Trillion dollars that is spent in the “discover online, buy offline” phenomenon?
Another way to look evaluate the sheer volume of opportunity comes from a recent study by Neustar/Localeze earlier this year; 78% of phone searches generate a purchase and 73% of those are made in store.
A brand that understands client behavior by knowing exactly what they are looking for, how and when they are looking it, and what is leading them to the local businesses that sell branded products and services to consumers is essential for taking advantage of a mobile path to purchase.
Mobile Search Reality Check
Believe it or not, making phone calls are not the #1 activity for mobile devices, its actually engaging in search. Localized business searches are a significant part of those activities and of those, 69% of users are searching for businesses within five miles of their current location.
But as important as a good mobile website is, “52% of users said that a bad mobile experience made them less likely to engage with a company,” according to a recent Google Insights study. Here are a few things to keep in mind when crafting mobile marketing tactics for your brand, so you don’t fall into the “bad experience” category.
Providing Locally Customizable Mobile Solutions
- Provide Website Templates: Make sure all your local partners understand the importance of having a mobile-friendly website for their business. If they don’t already have one, you can provide them with customizable mobile website templates as part of your brand strategy.
- Define Your Calls-To-Action: Build your website or ad templates to put the value proposition front and center whether on your mobile site, in a mobile search display ad, or in a site link. Drive them to the local retailers, a lead capture form, click-to-call, just don’t block a path to conversion.
- Create Great Offers: Consider messaging based on the differentiators of your brand’s product or service. Whether it’s a cleaning company that offers same-day service, a healthcare provider that can book appointments online or a jewelry store that can show real-time in-store inventory, that valuable data could be what drives a consumer into a local store.
And always keep an eye on your competition — check out their local-mobile presence to see where they stand. If you can’t find them, that’s great, then you’d better get moving to stay out in front. If they are already beating you, well, you better get moving to catch up!