Optimizing Ecommerce Marketing for Mobile Users

Every year, more Canadians are turning away from computers and accessing the internet using mobile devices. From just 17% in 2015, by 2020, nearly 41% of people used their smartphones to get online. In January 2020 alone, Canadians made more than 36 million mobile connections. That’s a number equal to 96% of the total population! And since research shows that 98% of younger Canadians (aged 15-24) own a smartphone, the number of mobile connections is only going to get higher.

What else is happening online? Research shows that in 2020, 66% of visits to the most popular websites around the world came from mobile devices. While most people still spend up to 40% longer on desktop sites than on mobile sites, the pandemic seems to have had a negative effect on our attention spans, as bounce rates (the speed at which users leave a site) are now almost equal for computers and mobile devices. And with businesses closed due to COVID-19, it’s not surprising that Ecommerce surged. Online sales in Canada increased by 110% between May 2019 and May 2020.

Mobile SEO

Using mobile SEO means you’re optimizing your website for mobile devices. Mobile users should be able to access your site using the same URL as your regular desktop site. Images and navigation tools should also automatically adjust to fit the smaller screen size of mobile devices.

Why is mobile SEO so important? In March 2021, after months of delay, Google is launching mobile-first indexing. This means that mobile-optimized websites will show up at the top of search results. This doesn’t mean you need to create new content—in fact, the best mobile SEO strategy is to use the same content for both mobile and desktop platforms—but it does mean you need to think about how your content appears on mobile.

Here are some tips for getting the most out of mobile SEO:

• Keep navigation simple. Menus should be short and easy to follow. Clicking on your company’s logo should always take users back to your homepage.

• Don’t use popups.

• Make sure buttons are the right size. Too small? Customers will have trouble clicking them. Too big? They’ll get in the way of navigating your site. Rather than struggle, most users will simply click away. When you think it’s right, make sure to test your site on devices with different screen sizes.

• Check your font sizes. Just like buttons, font that is too small or too large leads to a frustrating user experience.

• Focus on your CTAs. Each page should make it easy for users to move to the next step, whether that’s viewing similar items, adding a product to a shopping cart, or completing their purchase.

Google even makes it easy to check whether your website is mobile-friendly. You can do that here.

Social media marketing

In 2020, 67% of Canadians—that’s about 25 million people—used social media, and that number gets higher every year. Marketing on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is becoming an essential tool for brands to reach customers. Here’s some of what social media marketing offers:

• Brand awareness: The visual impact of social media makes it easy to highlight your brand. And because platforms send content to users based on their history, there’s a good chance your marketing will reach people who are interested in what you’re selling.

• Communication: Social media marketing makes it easy for people to interact with your brand. They can comment on posts, ask questions and share content with their own networks.

• Higher sales: Social media reaches well beyond your current customer base, making it a great way to build sales. Customers who engage with your brand by posting their own content relating to your products can drive growth even higher.

• Promotions: Using short videos and stories that highlight your products is a great way to attract attention. But remember that social media to launch promotional campaigns requires a careful touch. If you don’t do it enough, you likely won’t reach a big enough audience. And if you do it too often, you’ll turn off potential customers who feel like your offers aren’t all that special. This is where you can really dig into your marketing data. Find that specific campaigns are resonating with a particular customer group? Direct specific promotions to those users and you’ll see better results.

• Data: As a bonus, social media marketing also gives you lots of information about how your campaigns are performing. Use data about clicks and views to fine tune your marketing and boost your sales!

Mobile-specific campaigns

A mobile-specific marketing campaign can help boost traffic to your business, increase sales and build better customer connections. Here’s how it works:

• Traffic: Because mobile marketing can be triggered by location, customers are more likely to find your business when they’re shopping nearby.

• Conversion: When you can see who’s visited your site, or interacted with your social platforms, you’ve got an opportunity to convince browsers to become buyers. Offer a one-time discount on the product they were interested in, send them information about other products they may not have seen, or even ask them if they want to keep receiving your emails. They may not be ready to shop today but showing people you respect their time and attention goes a long way towards encouraging them to buy tomorrow.

• Engagement: Pretty much every smartphone has a camera in it. Take advantage by using mobile campaigns that encourage your customers to engage with your brand by posting photos of how they use your products.

Marketing for mobile and social media marketing are all about your customers and how they view your products. It’s a great way to make sure your campaigns really speak to your target market. In the end, as more people use their smartphones, you need to advertise to them, where they are.

Want to learn more about optimizing your Ecommerce business for mobile? Contact us today to learn more about which solutions you should be considering. Call us at 1-800-957-0534 or email us at marketing@merrco.com.