Targeting customers using Mobile

by Andy Carroll, 25 Oct 2012

Mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets run "Apps" which are small applications developed for smart phones such as Android or iPhones.

Given the heavy increase in mobile use it is important to understand how the technology is affecting general internet trends.

Previously marketeers focused on developing websites for use on PCs with large screens. Most consumers and business users primarily connected to the internet via their PC or laptop. The primary activities were web browsing and email.

Over the last few years this behaviour has started to change with many consumers and business users connecting via smart phones. Less time is spent on websites compared to previous years and this is likely due to the increase in social media and the trend towards increased smart phone use. People tend to socialise on-line more and the major social media companies like twitter and facebook develop native apps specifically aimed at mobile connected users. All the main facilities of their websites are provided in a simple user interface to make the experience easy and enjoyable.

How does this affect me?

Your website is still important and currently the primary on-line resource for people at their desks. As long as desktop PC or laptop devices remain the most frequently used device by your customers, you have little cause for concern. However it will become increasingly important to ensure you are delivering your message to the devices your customers use most frequently.

Any site regularly accessed by smart phone would benefit by providing a mobile optimised version of the site.

If your website provides tools and interactive facilities these could potentially be provided via a mobile optimised web site or programmed as a native app.

If you have a news or information website, delivering key articles to smart phones either via a mobile optimised web site or perhaps a "native app" would encourage more use.

A native app for example would make your service a prominent feature of the phone and would become something far more likely to be used every day, especially if you have great content or useful services.

Assuming you have some great tools and services or news content on your current website you can re-purpose them for mobile delivery. The resources you deliver through your website are potentially the same assets you would deliver to smart phones. The technology used to format or to deliver these resources may change but the resources are the same.

Targeting customers using Mobile

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Andy Carroll