Mobile-First: Optimize your marketing to reach customers where they are.
Updated: Apr 18, 2022
The mobile phone, unlike 15 to 20 years ago or so, has become one of the most important tools for business. Back then, the mobile phone was reserved for the elite few who could afford it. Today, mobile phones are almost a basic need. Your cellphone is the one thing you can’t leave your house with anymore. It tells you the time, it counts your steps in a day, it holds all your important contacts and appointments among other crucial activities for your business, leisure and day-to-day lives – it’s your personal assistant.
Globally, internet traffic from mobile devices is slightly over 50% of all internet traffic. In Kenya, it's 95.9% of the total number of internet users as of January 2022.
Based on the stats, it is very clear that mobile is one of your best bets to reach a large population. How then can you optimize your marketing to reach people on the devices they use the most?
1. Use responsive website designs
Users' behaviours are constantly changing. As website designers, it is important to keep that in mind when building sites. Responsive web design takes into account user behaviour and environment based on the platform, orientation and screen size. Whether users are on iPads, Mobiles, Laptops or whatever other devices they may be visiting your site from, the contents need to adjust automatically. We're talking about the size of the images, text fonts, buttons, overall content layout etc.
2. Think mobile-first
Your site's user experience is everything. You don't want your site visitors trying to pinch their screens, zooming in and out to be able to read and interact with your site content. When you think mobile-first, you begin your design with the most basic functions and features for the smallest, least-powerful devices — like mobile phones. A good example of this would be the hover effect. It is not a very practical or functional feature for touch screen phones yet works well on devices that work with a mouse or trackpad.
These days, for you to rank better on search engines, your site has to be mobile optimised. Search engines, like any other business, will want to return to clients relevant information. If they are searching from a mobile device, for your site to be prioritised in search results, it needs to be mobile-friendly.
Test how mobile-friendly your site is:
3. Link Shortening
Tracked links are very long and risk being cut and broken during sharing. Especially when sharing links via SMS or social media where the number of characters in a message is prime real-estate. Aside from being easier on the eye, the cost of marketing is reduced by shortening the characters you require to communicate your message and/or make it shareable.
4. Quick links
Mobile devices tend to be used when people are on the go or searching for quick solutions. Optimise your website visitors' experience by making information quickly and easily accessible to them. You can do this by adding quick links or a search bar.
Contact us for more tips and suggestions on how to effectively market your business online.
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