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Mobile-Optimized Sites Drive Sales, Return Visits (eMarketer)
Consumers’ desire for mobile-friendly sites stretched across pretty much all verticals. Use is often closely tied to obtaining information about physical business locations, with the first or second most important task identified by consumers in all industry categories was getting directions to a store or obtaining store hours. Retail customers were no exception to these behaviors:
Unsurprisingly, travelers using the mobile web expressed a desire to get information about the details of their trips:
Same with bank customers:
For businesses, getting a website into mobile shape should be a no-brainer.
Considerations For Leveraging Mobile Loyalty (tnooz)
As an example, loyalty is a big business in travel. Travelers accumulated an estimated value of $48 billion in loyalty points last year, while companies spent around $2 billion in actual cash. And yet, according to the CMO Council, only 13% of marketers believe their program has been "highly effective." Here are some questions that companies should ask themselves when it comes to loyalty:
- Who are these loyal customers?
- Are they the right customers for the brand?
- What motivates them?
- How can we reward the loyalty of customers most likely to bring repeat business?
- What is the monetary value of a loyal customer to our brand?
- And what about loyalty across channels?
- How do we approach loyal customers on mobile, on the web and in-person?
Here are some key lessons:
- If you build it they won’t come
- Downloads don’t mean anything
- Revenue shouldn’t be your #1 priority
- Agility wins
- Mobile is not like the Web
By taking these mobile-centric tips to loyalty, companies can enact a sub-loyalty program for each channel that works together to drive desired behavior within each channel individually in addition to pushing customers across channels for various transactions.
Mobile Users Concerned About Privacy And Cost (Ernst & Young via Warc)
Ernst & Young polled 6,000 web users in 12 countries. Here are some of the statistics:
- 59% of went online using a mobile phone several times a week
- 49% of mobile users are visiting social networks
- Another 25% of people leveraged instant messaging platforms
- Mobile video witnessed an 18% penetration
- Music services had 17% penetration
- Third-party app stores logged 13%
- Some 8% of the panel had used their phone to make payments in physical locations or transferred money in this way
Fears of overspending and a lack of clarity about data plans act as major disincentive for trying new mobile services. Worries linked to privacy and entering credit card details played a similar role.
Beginners Guide To Mobile Payments (American Express OPEN Forum)
Mobile payment technology is providing businesses of all shapes and sizes with new payment-acceptance solutions that capitalize on mobile commerce to attract new business, cultivate loyalty with existing customers and grow revenues. Here are the most popular mobile payment options to help small businesses form a plan to make the most of this emerging technology:
- NFC and Mobile Wallets
- QR Codes and Loyalty Programs
- Mobile Payment Acceptance
The next step is deciding which system works best for you and your customers. To get started, begin by outlining your specific needs and goals. This will help pinpoint which mobile payment option supports your business plan.
How To Get Your Mobile Strategy Ready For Multi-Screen Web (Search Engine Journal)
Nowadays, it’s not mobile vs. desktop any longer. We are now talking about multi-screen user experience, during which the searcher transcends different types of gadgets and different screens to complete one goal. Conclusion: In practice, mobile experience is not opposed to desktop experience, but compliments it. There are a few approaches to design:
- A mobile site
- Responsive web design
- A mobile app
- Local + Social
- Offer-oriented mobile web presence
Not only should businesses create mobile presence for their brand, but also optimize their mobile site / offer for the search engines. There are also great examples of brands that have optimized their mobile strategies.
Survey Of IT Managers Suggests Preference For Microsoft Mobile Platforms (CIO)
Almost half of IT managers (48%) in a survey by ThinkEquity said that they plan to standardize their company's mobile platform on devices running Microsoft operating systems, including smartphone OSes Windows Phone 7.5 and Windows Phone 8 and tablet OS Windows RT. That is up from 44% in a similar survey three months before. Google's Android OS dropped to 8% from 11%, while Apple's iOS grew from 10% to 14%. The survey polled 100 U.S.-based IT managers, including CIOs, technology vice presidents and IT directors, from a variety of industries. More than 75% of the respondents worked for companies with more than 500 employees. A big factor behind Microsoft's strong showing is the "strength and longevity" of its Office productivity suite.
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