Consumers commanded a different experience from brands; and just like that, marketing became a mobile affair. Marketers who want true customer engagement, take heed!
- There are 35 billion smartphone users and 37.2 million customers already opted-in to receive SMS (Statista)
- 89 per cent of people would recommend a brand after a positive experience on mobile (Google)
- Global mcommerce sales reached $1.357 trillion in 2017 (eMarketer).
The opportunity to capitalize on mobile is now. Brands (like yours) need to adopt a mobile-centric strategy if they wish to extend their reach, acquire and retain customers, and increase their marketing ROI.
Why is that? Ultimately, it is because consumers’ shopping habits rely heavily on the smartphone and its capabilities. Today we’re inseparable from our mobiles.
The device equips customers with:
- quick access to information
- social proof
- convenience of purchase
- easy selection process and checkout
- extensive product and service choice.
Now that the shopfront sits on the consumer’s coffee table, brands are under pressure to deliver a seamless ‘at-home’ experience. Since mobile is inherently personal to the individual, brands should prioritise personalisation at every stage of the customer journey.
Here are four ways to deliver the best experience on mobile:
1. Implement A Welcome Program That’s Fit For Mobile
First impressions are what build the initial foundations of a long-lasting customer relationship. Brands aiming to nurture a loyal customer base should take an active interest in new subscribers. Winning them over on mobile can make all the difference.
- Confirm subscription via SMS
- Send a mobile optimized welcome email (promote your app if you have one)
- Invite subscribers to fill in a fully responsive preference center
- Segment contacts based on the information you capture.
2. Deliver An On-the-go Aftersales Experience
The post-purchase journey is a honeymoon period (your customers are really into you, so it’s important to be really into them, too). This is where you can drive valuable mobile moments that build that all-important brand love.
Customers expect:
- timely transactional notifications
- informative delivery updates in real time
- value-add aftersales content (‘how-tos’, reviews, promotions related to past behaviour).
Whether these messages are delivered via email, SMS or push, they need to be contextual and relevant. Every mobile moment should mean something to the customer.
3. Engage Customers At Meaningful Moments
Loyalty does not come from one single purchase. Brands have to invest in their customers – that means providing rich content and tailored product recommendations. It costs five times more to acquire a customer than to retain one, so nurturing tactics should be the cornerstone of your mobile marketing strategy.
Top tips:
- Trigger a product review via email/SMS and offer an incentive to boost responses
- Combine preference data with behavioral insight to power relevant communications
- Send broadcast promotions/event-based notifications via SMS and push (flash sales, content drops, new arrivals, appointment/renewal/replenishment reminders)
- Anniversaries are a great conversation starter – think birthdays, throwbacks, one-year-since-first-purchase, etc.
4. Keep Customers Hooked Wherever They Are
Customers inevitably fall off the radar, and it is a challenge for every business. Since acquisition is pricier than retention, marketers need to refine their re-engagement tactics and prevent customers from lapsing. But fear not: if you’re going to win them back, it’s going to be on mobile.
- Agree on your lapse criteria (i.e. customer hasn’t opened an email in three months or purchased in six)
- Build a winback program that incorporates SMS, push and email (using whichever channel subscribers are likelier to engage on)
- Consider retargeting ads on Facebook and Google.
Audience segmentation is the most important tactic for marketers to practice. The experience on mobile must be as personalised as possible; consumers won’t engage with messages that lack context or relevancy.
So, when planning out your mobile strategy, think about the reasoning behind every communication in the customer lifecycle. The devil is always in the data.