Only 20% of mobile internet users leave their phones at home. Four out of five carry their mobiles everywhere they go. Consequently, many businesses are now targeting customers who use mobile devices, because of the high penetration rate of marketing messages.

To have a major impact as a mobile marketer, you must know the purchasing behaviours of your target consumer group.

There are about 500 million smartphones and 100 million tablet computers in the world now. In five years time, the number will have increased to 700 million smartphones and 300 million tablets. There will be more people using phones and tablets to get online than people using computers.

Generally, wealthy users will prefer iOS to Android devices. Thus, you will probably find more buying customers when you target the former over the latter. According to Google, mobile ads generate more than $7 per device, per annum. In 2012, Google will earn approximately $5.8 billion from mobile ads. The global online auction giant, eBay, is reporting another significant change. It reports that 10% of its sales will be through mobile devices. PayPal is already noticing similar results as of 2011.

According to the 2011 Adobe Digital Marketing Insights, tablet users comprise the most lucrative market. The segment made 50% more online purchases online compared to smartphone users. Moreover, these purchases were 20% higher than laptop and desktop visitors to the online retailer websites were.

Out of 16.2 billion transactions in the US, tablet users are three times more likely to make buy products.

On average tablet users, spend 50% more on purchases using their devices compared to smartphone users.

As an Internet marketer then, you cannot afford to use a one-size-fits-all strategy for mobile targeting. And it’s clearly more important to deliver a richer experience for tablet users, who will generate a higher return-on-investment ROI for your campaign.

The impact of the shift

mobile marketing to young consumers

Young consumers are at the forefront of the 25% of mobile users who are making online purchases, which means the future can only get even more mobile.

What must you do for your business to remain afloat?

iPhone smartphone marketing

Whatever you offer online must be available for mobile. Only 1 out of 5 people will accept a bad user experience on their phones. Many people mistake smartphones or tablets for small computing devices. Yes, they are capable of computing, but they do it in a very different way for the user. For example, most of these devices use touch interfaces while desktops use cursors. No one wants to wait for slow apps or sites. It’s important to consider bandwidth and data space limitations of mobile devices.

Evidence of shifting consumer preference to shopping

mobile consumers buy more

Some online marketers argue that many consumers still use computers to make online purchases. Whilst that might be true for now, mobile devices also make a significant contribution to the sales via computers. The lack of smart payment solutions for phones could be a contributing factor to the statistics below.

  1. More than 75% of shoppers in developed countries use their phones for price comparisons, product info or store location.
  2. 37% of leads from Smartphone led to online purchases while only 32% lead to offline purchases.

Online purchases are more about the social interaction. Customers prefer to make informed choices. They rely on reviews by others on product sites, blogs and social networks. Research shows that online shoppers care more about prices than shop loyalty. They quickly jump to the lowest prices offered by a competitor even when they are about to make a similar purchase on another site.

Consumers already take their phones everywhere, for offline stores; the best way to feature your products inside your competitors’ zones is to use smartphones.

All mobile marketers should use:

  • Sites optimized for mobile devices.
  • Different strategies for marketing to phone users such as ad supported apps, email or coupons.
  • User reviews on all marketed products to influence purchase decisions.

Smartphones have become reliable for many other things and their inroad on market places is only the beginning. People rely on check-in apps and services to choose restaurants. They use their GPS enabled devices to find driving directions and will send pictures to their friends or share them socially. Increasingly, computers are becoming archaic for leisurely online usage!

Guest post by Rennell Garrett of RennelGarrett.com, a leading atlanta seo company.

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