Mobile's Often Untapped Power: Call Generation

As mobile users soar to 73% of the world population, almost double Internet users, marketers are busy creating mobile-responsive websites and landing pages, mobile-friendly e-mail, mobile-optimized online ads and direct mail with mobile interaction, but their focus can miss mobile's real power. Remember that a mobile device is a phone, and it can generate valuable inbound phone calls, urges a recent MarketingProfs article by Eric Holmen. A 2014 Invoca analysis found that mobile marketing drives about 54% of calls to business, for example. So Holmen advises harnessing inbound call power with the following six steps: 1) Put phone numbers and "call us" CTA on websites and landing pages; 2) optimize your search ads with phone numbers; 3) make dialing easy with click-to-call and dynamic with individually assigned numbers; 4) track and analyze inbound calls by keywords, ad groups, campaigns, landing pages, regions and demographics; 5) track call outcomes, such as lead qualification, quote, sale, or lifetime value, to assess true ROI; 6) and, of course, test, adjust, repeat and optimize. See http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2015/29012/marketers-youre-doing-mobile-wrong-six-steps-for-doing-it-right

Content Often Misses the Mark With Mobile Users

Content marketing often fails to engage, especially when it comes to mobile users, per recent findings from BrightEdge's “Content Engagement Report” posted by B2B marketing firm KoMarketing Associates. Engagement rates for content vary by industry, coming in at 33% to 50% overall, with hospitality at the high end of the engagement rate spectrum and retail at the low end. However, industry engagement rates also differ based on whether the audience accesses content via a mobile device or a desktop, with engagement rates consistently lower for mobile users. For the B2B technology industry, as an example, there was a 53% engagement rate among desktop users, but engagement fell to 26% when content was viewed on a mobile device. The poorer mobile engagement is not surprising given that one in four mobile sites are not optimized correctly, resulting in an average smartphone traffic loss of 68%, KoMarketing points out. What is surprising is the slow response of some marketers to the need for mobile-friendly content to engage the 35%-40% of website visits coming from mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones. KoMarketing cites a 2015 survey published by Clutch showing that only 56% of small businesses have mobile-friendly websites, and 10% said they have no plans to create mobile-responsive design! For more, read http://www.komarketingassociates.com/industry-news/report-less-half-todays-content-leads-engagement-2430/