The Growing Importance of Mobile Marketing

Mobile devices, such as cell phones and tablets, quickly have become an ever-present part of daily life for just about all of us. We have grown so accustomed to the convenience of being able to use these devices for countless reasons on the go, whether it’s scrolling through social media sites, catching up on the news or searching for information. According to a report on mobile usage and user behavior from comScore, a measurement firm, 62 percent of all digital media time is now spent on mobile, while time spent using traditional computers has fallen from 49 to 38 percent since 2013.

It also is now estimated that more than 60 percent of all Google searches are completed using mobile devices. In response, Google recently adjusted its algorithm to prioritize mobile-friendly websites more highly in search results. Websites that are not mobile-friendly likely will experience a significant drop in their search-engine rankings and total web traffic — which could ultimately lead to a decrease in your company’s sales.

As marketing professionals, we must therefore renew our focus on capturing these on-the-go audiences if we want our messages touting pest control to make an impact in today’s relevant spaces. To successfully make the foray into mobile marketing, however, it is important to first do your research to determine which audiences you are intending to reach, how to optimize your web content for mobile viewers and how to capture their attention along every point of their digital journey.

Finding Your Mobile Audience. Before crafting your mobile plan, check out Google Analytics to learn more about where your customers are and how they’re interacting with your site through their mobile devices. Through Google Analytics, you can see the percentage of visitors who come to your site from traditional computers and mobile devices, also enabling you to determine which pages rank highest with mobile users.

Millennials are the generation most connected with mobile devices — did you see the skit on the season premiere of SNL? They can’t live without them! With their population totaling about 77 million, these young consumers are poised to overtake baby boomers as the largest demographic in the country. As of 2014, 84 percent of millennials own mobile devices, and when asked by data marketing firm Annalect about the leading ways in which brands should use digital media, 55 percent of U.S. millennial mobile users named having mobile-friendly websites and apps their chief concern.

Though it is important to keep millennials in mind, as this is the next generation of homeowners, we can’t forget about the baby boomers! There’s a widespread belief that the older crowd isn’t tech-savvy enough for mobile, but according to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, 74 percent of people aged 65 and older own a mobile device and more than 39 million have Facebook or Twitter profiles. And although many seniors are interested in everything mobile devices have to offer, they do still gravitate toward simple text and imagery. To capture this audience, make sure language is relatable and avoid overusing trendy buzzwords.

According to Google, 90 percent of smartphone users use their phones in short bursts while they’re out and about to make progress toward a long-term goal.

The Mobile User Experience. Speaking of what people want out of mobile sites and apps, consumers at this point expect to have just as good an experience with your company’s mobile site as on their desktop computer. There are a couple ways to accomplish this, including building a responsive site, creating a simple app for your customers and optimizing your social presence for mobile.

A responsive site design will scale your site to fit all mobile devices, but the content will be the same as on a desktop computer. This allows for easy reading and navigation without a lot of frustrating resizing, panning or scrolling. As mentioned earlier, Google is now giving preference to these mobile-friendly sites in search results. Creating an app is also a good option for improving your mobile presence, but the high costs of developing one warrant a lot of research to ensure it is the right choice for your company’s needs.

Be sure to also take note of the way your social sites are displayed on mobile devices. Pew Research Center found 40 percent of cellphone owners use their device to access social network sites, with 28 percent doing so on a daily basis. Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are displayed in a columnar format, so be sure to consider this when selecting eye-catching and relevant profile and cover images.

As you’re putting together all these pieces, it’s important to maintain a consistent brand across all web platforms. While mobile should now be a central focus of your marketing and public relations plans, try to take all channels into consideration to ensure the experience between your mobile, web and social presences isn’t disjointed.

The Customer’s Journey. As you begin taking steps to optimize your customers’ mobile experience, try to focus on what the average “digital journey” looks like for many consumers. These journeys can happen in a matter of minutes, making it all the more important to capture your audience at every possible opportunity. For example, many users will begin with a search on their mobile devices while they are on the go, later moving to desktop computers to further their research.

Consider this scenario: A homeowner notices a possible rodent issue in her home. While she is waiting in line at the grocery store that day, she takes out her phone to search for nearby pest control companies. This potential customer may scope out the Facebook or Twitter pages of the first couple companies that come up, and later, upon returning home, she will continue her research on a desktop computer and discuss her findings with her partner, ultimately deciding together whether or not to call the pest control company. This type of digital journey is not unique. According to a recent Google study on such micro-moments, 90 percent of smartphone users use their phones in short bursts while they’re out and about to make progress toward a long-term goal. Keeping this type of behavior in mind, it is crucial that your company is easy to find in mobile searches or from links on social media sites.

As mobile devices continue to become even more sophisticated and the number of people at every age who are regularly using them rises, it will remain critical for marketers and public relations professionals in the pest control industry to make mobile a high priority. Mobile is the future and it is time to embrace it in order to more effectively communicate with generations who will soon control the majority of the marketplace — or else you risk falling behind.