Black Friday countdown #4 – Maximise your mobile opportunity

For the past five years there has been one topic drilled into the minds of digital marketers everywhere as they plan for the new year – mobile. But how important is it to ensure you’re approaching your mobile marketing with the same level of details as other marketing efforts? How drastic is the change in user behaviour?

‘This year will be the year of mobile’, ‘this will be a breakthrough year for mobile’, ‘mobile searches will overtake desktop this year’ – the (unofficial) slogans of Google AdWords for the past five years.

Google’s insistence that the next year will be the year in which we see desktop searches plummet and mobile lead the way forward is usually met with eye rolling from digital marketers who firmly believe that desktop is leading the way.

So, in order to establish just how much mobile is playing in people’s buying habits we turned to Twitter’s new polls feature to get some answers.

Have you ever made a purchase on your mobile phone?

As we can see, a whopping 91 per cent of users have made a purchase on their mobile phone, a process that’s become much more natural in recent years. Mobile purchasing doesn’t necessarily happen on the move either, 68 per cent of mobile usage occurs at home, or 75 out of the 111 minutes that an average user spends on their phone each day.

Are you more likely to buy on your phone if the site is mobile optimised?

Mobile optimisation is huge. If the user struggles to use your site on a smaller screen or finds that the process is taking too long then they will move on to a site that offers them a better experience.

Have you ever used your phone for price comparison whilst shopping in store?

Being able to access data at our fingertips wherever we are is the biggest benefit of mobile devices. As we can see here, 83 per cent of users will take advantage of this by searching for products on competitor sites while in store to make sure they are getting the best possible deal.

Are you more likely to just do research on your phone or research and buy?

Interestingly this was the only question asked where there is no clear winner.  Whilst a lot of research is taking place on mobile devices, exactly half of those polled said they were likely to also make the purchase on their mobiles. As we know, 95 per cent of users are more likely to purchase when the site is optimised, so this could be a reflection of how many sites offer a good mobile experience. But it also highlights the importance of making sure you are analysing your campaigns effectively by reviewing assisted conversions.

So what can businesses take from this in order to maximise mobile opportunity on Black Friday?

• Make sure your site is mobile optimised – This is huge, if your site doesn’t make it easy for users to purchase they will go elsewhere.
• Promote your offers effectively so they can easily be found – Potential customers will be looking at other sites to make sure they are getting the best price. Make sure any delivery offers or related product promotions are clear so they know you have the best deal.
• Consider increasing your mobile budget – Mobile is growing and more users are making purchases on their phone. Make sure you have enough budget to capture as many users as possible.
• Review your tracking – Be aware that mobile may be the first port of call for users researching a product, particularly high-ticket items. Make sure your ads are prominent on mobile and then review your conversion reports to effectively track those making the final purchase on desktops.

Other articles in the series

Black Friday Countdown #5: How to optimise your shopping campaigns

Black Friday Countdown #6: Make your ads stand out

Black Friday countdown #7: Google’s new Customer Match feature

Black Friday countdown #8: Get promoting on social

Black Friday countdown #9: Target your audience early through PPC