Benefits of a Mobile-First Marketing Strategy

The times have changed. Shopping no longer involves going out with a bunch of friends or family members and hitting up your favorite mall. People are now shopping from the couch, in the car (not the driver, hopefully), on their phone, on their laptop, on social media, and in-store. The term “omnichannel” has begun to encompass so many marketing channels that it’s hard to really understand just how many we have at our disposal.

But there’s one channel that stands head and shoulders above the rest: Mobile. Consumers are shopping on their phones more than ever, and more than on other channels, today. And that means marketers must meet the consumer where they are — on their phones. 

Mobile Ads Boom Thanks to Increased Usage

Mobile advertising has become a goliath in the marketing world. Mobile commerce currently makes up 44% of annual ecommerce sales, a total of over $314 billion annually. The current trajectory of mobile commerce is favorable, with projections showcasing that over half of all online sales will be purchased through mobile and sales will grow over $250 billion by 2024. 

Mobile usage is also accelerating this year as people spend more time at home and less time shopping in person. We’re on our devices around the clock keeping in contact with coworkers, family, and friends, shopping, reading the news, interacting on social media, playing games, and more. 

As a result of this, mobile advertising has soared. More than two thirds of ad spending will be devoted to mobile channels for the first time in 2020. While the pandemic tempered some projects for overall mobile ad spending this year, there will still be about 5% more money spent on mobile ads this year than last. With people depending on their phones for connection and communication more than ever, there’s ample opportunity for brands to engage their audiences. 

Engage Your Audiences on Mobile

There are a variety of mobile channels available to advertisers to engage their audience. Social, retargeting, mobile banner and digital ads, native app ads, mobile search, programmatic, SMS, and more. There are so many more ways to reach your audience through mobile devices than ever before, and brands should be taking advantage of as many as possible. 

As people spend more time on mobile, everything mobile-related is surging. App usage hit record high, growing 40% year-over-year in Q2 of 2020. App downloads hit 35 billion in Q2, another record high. Downloads surged with a record number of gaming apps being downloaded. Plenty of records were set in the mobile industry this year, showcasing the vast audience available to your brand.

One key piece of information to take away is the changing demographics of mobile shopping. Younger shoppers have always shopped on their phones. But a recent study from Sezzle found that the older the shopper, the less likely they are to shop in-store this holiday season. In fact, 80% of consumers state they’re shopping much more on mobile channels since the start of stay-at-home orders.

Winning on Mobile Means Winning Holiday Shopping

To truly win this year’s holiday shopping season, brands will need to focus on social media marketing. Many are projecting that the holiday season will be elongated this year now that social distancing will prevent holiday shopping traditions like Black Friday. Coupled with many retailers announcing they’ll be closed Thanksgiving Day, many will look online for their holiday shopping needs. 

The beginning of the holiday shopping season will likely begin in October, specifically on Prime Day, which has been rescheduled this year to October 13 and 14. Winning on Amazon is absolutely paramount to a successful season. Expect many of your consumers to be shopping on Amazon on their mobile device this year, so your keyword search SEO and paid ads on Amazon will be especially important compared to seasons-past. 

Mobile shopping in general will set a new high of hours spent on mobile devices. An estimated 1 billion hours will be spent on mobile through Q4, surging because of the holiday shopping season. It’s even likely that on Alibaba’s Singles Day, $45 billion will be spent on mobile, the most on a single day in history.

But mobile shopping doesn’t begin and end with any one retailer. Ads on social media, gaming, and streaming video apps have proven resilience through the pandemic. Digital and paid search ads remain key as mobile search continues to be the most common form of web search. Having a holistic and well-rounded mobile strategy will help brands beat the competition this holiday season. 

The Importance of Retargeting

It’s important that mobile marketing teams not forget about the star of mobile advertising: retargeting. Offering personalized ads catered to the customer’s needs, based on data in your feed, will be one of the single most important aspects of your mobile marketing strategy. 

Getting churned customers to re-engage, whether through an action in your app, redownloading your app, or another action, will be a more cost effective way to engage your customers than finding brand new ones. Retail marketers have taken note, with retargeting accounting for 65% of conversions within shopping apps. Shopping apps that u
tilize retargeting campaigns have seen 50% higher conversion success rates since the pandemic began, showcasing COVID-19’s positive impacts on retargeting. 

It’s absolutely critical to use retargeting campaigns, both in this holiday season and beyond. With such high metrics showcasing their effectiveness in getting consumers to re-engage and purchase, brands who do not will be left in the dust by the competition retargeting their audience. 

It’s clear that mobile marketing is critical, now more than ever. With a robust, targeted approach, brands can boost their sales this holiday season and further down the line. Get in touch with Adtaxi to see how we can help you increase your mobile advertising success.