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INVENTION OF SMARTPHONES AND TABLETS: A BOON OR A BANE FOR DIGITAL MARKETING?

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Today’s world is heavily smartphone driven. Our dependency on our smartphones and tablets is unbelievable. I come across one article every day that discusses the limitations of being so involved with our smartphones and tablets. But all of us have millions of reasons to be thankful for the comfort that these smartphones and tablets have brought to our lives.

Our smartphones today have become very powerful general-purpose tools, much like our personal computers. Smartphones today offer users access to web and all the online services on the move and are usually much cheaper to buy than a traditional computer. These benefits have now attracted most of the population to use the internet for finding information, shopping and socializing.

There is no doubt about the fact that the evolution of smartphones and tablets has led the way in changing the fate of digital marketing as well. Digital Marketing on the contrary has adapted slowly but steadily. Through this blog post I am going to summarize how the invention of smartphones and tablet are responsible for making digital marketing as powerful as it is today.

Let me start by describing the effect of Traditional Search these days. We are well aware of people’s dependency on Google when it comes to finding information. But has anyone ever thought why Google is as dependable as it has become these days?

Google is leading the way by optimizing results for mobile phones and tablets. On Tablets in particular, Google displays results differently depending on which way round the user has their device, landscape or portrait. Location dependent results are also served up as mobile devices have built in GPS or can be located via the phone networks. Half of all local searches are performed on a mobiles device which means Google Places listing is most relevant to a user’s search. A click to call button is also the most prominent as the first option under each local listing on a smartphone. Google has performed research and found that smartphone users are most likely to be searching for local businesses and therefore these results are given high priority.

Another drastic change has been observed for mobile websites after smartphones and tablets. Mobile Websites have come a long way since the beginning of mobile internet and so has connection speeds. Mobile sites no longer need to be cut down in size and information. Most modern mobile devices have the ability to show full websites that can be easily zoomed in and out for easier viewing on smaller screens. Website owners have realized there is significant increase in visits from mobile devices and worked hard to optimize their websites for these smaller screen sizes. Responsive websites save you having to rewrite content and all of your information is displayed to every user in a way that is comfortable to read. Responsive layouts have generated increased leads and sales for businesses as a result of the better user experience.

Email Marketing also used to be a revolutionary way to promote products and services to customers when it became a mainstream communication tool. Getting your message across instantly and being able to track response rates is very powerful to businesses. Since those years, email marketing had taken a toll which is why there is currently a large switch to responsive email design much like the boom in responsive website design. Creating an email that doesn’t require a user to zoom in is going to help generate clicks and greater responses. Email marketing has now come full circle, back to a point where it is effective and offers low investment.

Previously mobile devices weren’t considered a target for e-Commerce businesses as the limitations of the devices seemed too much to allow shopping to take place. The consensus was that people didn’t want to shop on their smaller devices, but mobile device eCommerce has come a long way. Users are now keen to purchase items wherever they are.

Studies into the behavior of website users on mobile devices have shown that those with the latest technology are more likely to spend more through eCommerce transactions.  Website owners have tested and optimized checkout processes specifically for mobiles devices in order to improve conversion rates and reduce dropout rates. Cutting back form lengths, saving users having to log in each time and using address look up tools are essential for these users as typing is harder on these devices.

These days, following and communicating with your favorite companies on Social Networks has become commonplace due to the easy access we now have them on our mobile devices. More than 1/3 of Facebook’s user base use the mobile version of Facebook and over 50% of Twitter users use Twitter mobile. This ‘open’ communication is mostly public which has its pros and cons. If you’re a business with great customer service this will provide significant benefits, but it requires investment into human resources to manage contact through these sources. If your business receives negative comments online, being a part of social networks is equally important so you can respond to issues in person as opposed to ignoring them and letting them become more damaging. Monitoring your social media mentions has now become much easier due to mobile devices. The additional brand exposure can be crucial and users have been more likely to share their experiences with friends on social networking sites. This is the new ‘word of mouth’ but this time Marketers have the ability to track most of the comments and can interact with them at will.

Another valuable addition to the bucket is of mobile device applications or more commonly called ‘Apps’. Apps are seen as the cooler way to connect with brands and online services. This is despite the slightly higher costs and ease of creating mobile device specific websites. However, Apps represent a good opportunity to give your brand a long term ‘relationship’ with the user by remaining on their device for much longer than a website. Apps are extremely popular due to being ‘cool’ and therefore cannot be ignored as brands from all industries have developed them for their target audience. If you have a business or service that can give users a tool to do what they need then this offers a lot more to the user and can help with longer brand engagement. If you are offering something unique you can your App for a price to help pay for the costs of development. Sometimes, users see Apps with a price more worthwhile than a free app and you can even generate more downloads.

As the research demonstrates, smartphones and tablets have brought many positive changes for digital marketing. If I could put it in a simpler way, the invention of smartphones and tablets have not only increased people’s awareness about Digital Marketing but have also made them gain perspective about its importance when it comes to increasing a business sales and revenue by increasing brand awareness. Digital Marketing as we all know has paved the way for a business to connect with its audience and build a long term relationship with the help of smartphones and tablets.