You know you’re supposed to have a mobile friendly website. Just the way you know you’re supposed to be on Facebook. And just like the way you know you’re supposed to pop a few vitamins before bed every night. But let’s be real, you have a website and you can see it on your mobile device, and you drink orange juice every now and then…isn’t that good enough?

Today we’re going to walkthrough what it (really) means to be Mobile Friendly and we’re going to outline a few Mobile Marketing Tactics you can implement today. It’s about to go down…

WHO SHALL BE 2017’S MOBILE KING?

Oh yes, there will be those who will read this and take their mobile marketing to the level of royalty and there will even more who will dismiss the importance of being mobile. For those who do not take this article to heart, be prepared next year will not be good to you. You will lose SEO Rankings, you will be spending more on PPC, your brand will miss out on new business. All becuase you didn’t pop those vitamins. Yeah, this just got real. Let’s get to it.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE A MOBILE FRIENDLY WEBSITE?

There are probably around a few hundred mobile devices out there. The ones that dominate are Android and Apple but trust me there are a lot of different type of devices out there people use. Your goal is to have a website that works on each of these devices. The basic test to see if your website is mobile friendly – open it on your mobile device. If the content fits on the screen, it’s mobile friendly.

If you have to do some type of weird scroll to the left or right, we got some bugs to work out. Simple, right?

WHY SHOULD YOUR WEBSITE BE MOBILE FRIENDLY?

For years search engines like Google have hinted at there goal to put mobile searches before desktop searches. Sites that haven’t been optimized for mobile took a hard hit in their SEO Rankings and the punches just keep coming in.

This past year, Google made it official if you’re not a Mobile Friendly website by 2017 you’re going to be missing out BIG TIME. For the first time ever, mobile searches will go before desktop searches. In simple terms, if you don’t have mobile content out there, your brand will not be showing up to leads.

WHAT ARE SOME ACTIONABLE MOBILE STRATEGIES?

 1. TRY SMS MARKETING

I start my day by checking my phone. I do this before I jump on my MAC, before I shower, before I even eat breakfast I’ve checked my phone about a dozen times. Guess, what… I’m not alone. Almost every mobile device user checks their phone religiously throughout the day. Knowing this, what type of efforts are you taking to capture phone numbers on your website and market to them? Mobile marketing is no longer the future, it is the now. Now is the time to leverage SMS Marketing. Puts some tools in place to start collecting that data.

2.  HAVE CALL EXTENSIONS IN YOUR PPC CAMPAIGN

PPC – Pay-per-click. You see these ads almost every time you do any type of Google search. Google’s entire revenue is based on PPC. You want to know why? Because it works.

Did you know most brands only use about half of the features AdWords has to offer? So what’s up with the other half just hanging out? Well, most brands don’t know all the features Adwords has to offer. To be fair, it’s not a friendly system. It’s complicated. Don’t expect to master it in one week.

If you’re running some AdWords campaigns make sure to use Call Extensions. This is when ads have phone numbers under the ad. Why? Here’s what’s great about this:

• More Real Estate
• Faster ways to communicate
• Simpler way to close deals

3.  DO EVERYTHING FOR MOBILE DEVICES FIRST

Before you create that landing page, design it for mobile first. Before you send out that email marketing campaign, create it for mobile first. Before you mail that flyer, make it mobile optimized.

Everything you do from the ground up should be created for mobile devices first. Create your content for mobile first. Consider this, most mobile devices have a 5 inch screen display – does your content fit in there? It needs too.

4.  USE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

At our agency, www.Treehouse51.com I get asked so many times how brands can be doing more on Facebook. The best thing to do is to convert your social channels into your online customer support channel. This will strengthen your relationship with your audience, keep you active on social channels and show leads you put the community first. It’s a win a win situation.

5.  MENTION YOUR LOCAL LOCATION IN YOUR MOBILE DESIGN

Most consumers do a Google search on their mobile devices before picking up the phone. They aren’t just looking for sites that are mobile friendly but are in their immediate area. Make it easy for them to realize YOU are in their area. Clearly list your location and phone number so leads who find you on their mobile device know you’re the right shop for them.

BONUS TIP: REMARKET EVERYTHING

Are you remarketing?  You need to be. This is when you create a tag on your website, those who visit and don’t convert have an ad stalk them across the web. This tactic is used by giants like AMAZON. Want to know why? IT WORKS.

6.  AUTOMATE YOUR MOBILE MARKETING

At this point there is almost nothing in marketing that can’t be automated. Mobile marketing included.

How great would it be to have a lead come to a landing page, text a code to opt in to an offer, and receive the next steps in an email and / or text message?

Guess what, it’s totally doable. There is software online that does this. The best fit will depend on your budget and needs. But the solutions exists and brands that use these types of tricks have insanely higher conversions than those who don’t.

FINAL THOUGHTS…

It takes about seven touches nowadays to convert a lead into a sale. We know mobile marketing is everything. But are you honestly capitalizing on it? Most brands are not. Most brands just don’t get it. These are the brands that Google will be penalizing come the new year. These are the brands you do NOT want to be.

-Treehouse 51

PS. Want to learn more Mobile Marketing? Check out: What Mobilegeddon Did To Your Brand our agency shares some simple stuff you can do today that will impact your business for tomorrow.