New Data in Mobile Shopping

Mobile a major force in consumer shopping habits.

Mobile shopping habits have continued to increase. Businesses have continued to see that more and more consumers connect with them through smartphones. This is not a surprise. As I’ve written before, mobile phones are perfect for today’s busy person-on-the-go. They allow us to purchase things as we go along, make reservations, check and answer e-mail, make a doctor’s appointment, and a whole host of other activities.

In a new report from MarketLive, Q2 2015 Update: Double-Digit Revenue Increases For Eight Consecutive Quarters, “smartphone revenue grew by 335 percent, while smartphone visits grew much slower (+44%)” in the catalog sector. The report also showed that page views per visit rose, smartphone add-to-cart rates rose more than 17% while declining on desktops and tablets.

These findings coincide with a report by Marchex that showed an increase in click-to-call commerce rates. Marchex states that “the average conversion rate (to a sale, appointment or reservation) is 5-25%.” Also, “conversion rates from mobile phone calls are on average 4x higher than those from desktop PCs” and “approximately three out of four phone calls to advertisers are product and service-related calls.”

Data also showed that 60% of car consumers, 58% of banking customers, 46% of those shopping for home goods, 72% of professional services consumers, and 58% of hotel customers were likely to “click-to-call.”

Want to reach your target audience? Contact SPARKS! and we’ll help you.

Smartphone Users Still Buy Through Desktop

Consumers still make purchases through their desktops.

As I wrote some weeks ago referencing a report by comScore, in March of this year, the number of mobile-only internet users outnumbered desktop-only users. We’re doing almost everything on mobile.

Smartphones allow us to purchase things as we go along, make reservations, check and answer e-mail, make a doctor’s appointment, and a whole host of other activities, which undoubtedly is responsible for the surpassing of desktop-only internet users.

According to a report from Gallup, “U.S. smartphone users rely on their device for a variety of everyday tasks, including connecting on social media and using email. Nevertheless, when it comes to the marketplace, 74% of U.S. adults with a smartphone say they mainly turn to their computer for making purchases online. Nearly as many also lean more on their computer (62%) than their smartphone (21%) for browsing products or comparing prices online.”

Gallup also showed that 21% of consumers spend more time on their phone to compare prices or browse for products, with only 11% making actual purchases, while 62% use their computers to compare prices/browse, and 74% making purchases.

The takeaway? Even though mobile marketing is vital, traditional website marketing is still an important factor in your marketing strategy.

Want to reach your target audience? Contact SPARKS! and we’ll help you.

Questions to Help You Define Your Brand

Brand building isn’t just having a great name.

Great brands are more than just great names. They mean something.

Think of Nike; it isn’t just a globally-known athletic brand, but it means something to casual, or even non-athletes. Or think Apple. It isn’t just a leading high tech brand, but there’s more, especially to Apple devotees.

How did they do this? They asked themselves certain questions that helped them define who they were and who their target audience is. These questions helped them showcase their value (something I recently wrote about).

When sitting down to define your brand, many questions will come into your head, but the following questions are vital to answer:

1. Why is my brand in existence? Your brand is your company. It is who you are. Sports teams exist to win trophies and to bring their supporters joy. What does your company bring to to its target audience?

2. What value does my brand offer? Before a potential consumer becomes a consumer, he or she will want to know what value your product will have for them. Value can be monetary or a positive emotional or health benefit. But before a consumer decides on the economic value of your brand, an emotional consideration will occur first. Define what value you are offering to your target audience. Like a sports team or a pop performer, your brand should offer a specific valuable experience for your consumer.

3. Is this what your audience needs? After you’ve answered the first question about why your brand exists, you must also know if what you are delivering is what your audience needs. You must be able to deliver an experience, and a product/service that your consumer needs. It isn’t just enough to be another computer company, but you must differentiate yourself from your competition.

Need help defining your brand? Contact SPARKS! and we’ll help you.

Great Brands Showcase Their Value

Promote your brand’s value to the consumer.

“A brand is an honest promise” is a maxim that every marketer knows. If a brand fails to deliver on its promise – better service, better experience, etc. – that failure to meet the consumer’s expectations will result in the loss of a customer, and in this connected world, will be made public. In the end, any brand with this problem will face a very difficult challenge in winning back the consumer.

Each brand also has a story. As I mentioned in a previous post, the best brands tell great stories. By telling stories, they connect with us emotionally, and consumers’ emotions influence whether or not they will make a purchase.

The other aspect a brand should emphasize is its value to the consumer. A brand needs to show why any consumer should purchase its products. But you shouldn’t just focus on your products and/or service; you need to promote your brand’s value. This bleeds into the question of why any consumer should choose your brand over another.

Volvo did a successful job of showcasing their value. The car manufacturer waded into the issue of bicycle safety and came up with something called Life Paint, which cyclists can spray on to their clothing and bicycles. Long known for bring a brand that focuses on consumer safety, Volvo further underlines their commitment to safety, whether those traveling are in their cars or outside and riding alongside of them. What does this do? It makes people look at Volvo in a wholly new way as a car manufacturer that really cares about safety, as the video shows.

Not sure how to promote your brand’s value? Contact SPARKS! to see how we can help you.

The Next Big Marketing Challenge: Centennials

Here come the Centennials.

Marketers are constantly on the lookout for the next opportunity to reach their target audiences. For years now, they have focused on reaching the millennials, those reaching young adulthood in or around the year 2000. As millennials are growing older, marketers are beginning to shift their focus, or rather, realize that centennials, also called Generation Z, are the next challenge.

Who are the centennials? Centennials are classified as those born around 1997 to the present and are aged up to 18 years-old. Although only 23% of the population, this demographic will be entering the workforce, as well as college. What are their characteristics? They’re more realistic, and while they like having fun, they won’t take too many risks. Cynicism also is a trait. Their outlook is more tempered. And only 52% of centennials have an active Facebook account.

How to reach centennials?

Being true digital natives, centennials are savvy with all the technology that is available to them. They are, therefore, heavily mobile-dependent. Brands will need to reach centennials across as many platforms as possible. And brands will have to be intelligent about how they go about doing this. Will the message fit into a context? If not, centennials will ignore you. As marketing is becoming more and more personal, your message will have to relate to the specific centennial.

Since cynicism is also a trait, a brand will have to prove trustworthiness. According to The Futures Company, “Centennials are slow to trust established systems, which means they’re wary of traditional, one-way brand messages. Earn their trust by allowing them to share their experiences and adjust their preferences, or design authentic branded experiences that align with their interests. Giving centennials control over their experience with a brand will make them more comfortable.”

They also want to stand out. “Standing out is the new fitting in,” said Megan Hartman, head of Red Peak Branding’s youth-oriented division, Red Peak Youth. “This generation really is about making your own mark and being an individual” in a recent article on AdAge.

Be a trustworthy brand, whether trying to reach millennials, centennials or any other target audience.

Not sure how to reach your target audience? Contact SPARKS! to see how we can help you.

Effective Video Marketing Tips For Anyone

Tips on making a successful marketing video.

As I wrote a few months back, video will be a necessary component in marketing in 2015. Besides Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, video will prove to be one of the best methods marketers can use to tell their stories.

According to Cisco, “mobile video content has much higher bit rates than other mobile content types, mobile video will generate much of the mobile traffic growth through 2019. Mobile video will grow at a CAGR of 66 percent between 2014 and 2019, the highest growth rate of any mobile application category that we forecast other than M2M traffic. Of the 24.3 exabytes per month crossing the mobile network by 2019, 17.4 exabytes will be due to video”.

How can you create a successful marketing video? Here are some tips.

Focus on the story. A great movie succeeds because it focuses on the story. Movies that divert from the central story and begin to be didactic or try to preach a certain perspective fail, no matter the star power in the cast. In the same manner, marketers need to keep the story central and not try to sell. Eyeballs will be glued to the video because the story is good and interesting, and they won’t feel as if they are being pitched to or pressured into buying something.

Keep it brief. There is no ideal length of time to which your video should adhere. However, it’s best to keep it short. A video that runs too long will certainly not be viewed in its entirety. If there is enough material to spread over two or three videos, and if you have the budget, breaking up the story in parts is a good method by which customers will return to your website or YouTube channel. If the story is good, customers will want to see the next installment.

Use humor. We all love to laugh. What’s the best way to attract someone? Humor. Intelligent humor will communicate to your audience that you also think they are intelligent. Self-deprecating humor will show that you are able to laugh at yourself. (Of course, if the issue is serious, humor may be inappropriate, but that depends on your company and its industry or service).

Tutorial. Video can be an excellent way for your consumers to learn new information. For example, if you’re a baker, you can use video to share baking knowledge. Or, as AutoZone does, you can share automotive knowledge. Your customers will appreciate the fact that you are teaching them new skills.

Not sure how to do vide? Contact SPARKS! and we can help you.

New B2B Mobile Marketing Stats

The top priority for B2B mobile marketing is brand awareness.

As I’ve written before, mobile-only internet usage surpassed desktop usage, and seeing how dependable we have become on it, mobile-only usage will only increase. We’re mobile, making purchases, reservations, checking and answering e-mail, even confirming medical appointments.

While B2C marketing touts the benefits of the product, using emotion to trigger an action – purchase – B2B marketing uses logic, focusing on the features of the product. While B2C marketing aims for brand awareness, in their recent report on B2B mobile marketing, Regalix revealed that brand awareness is the top priority.

67% of those surveyed said that an increase in brand awareness is their top priority, followed by 62% who said that an increase in customer engagement was their top priority.

When it came to the most favored tactics used by B2B mobile marketers to reach their mobile marketing goals, the use of a mobile website or a mobile app both came in first at 65%.

While brand awareness is the number one priority for B2B mobile marketers, and with the continued increase and quickly changing technology that is mobile, it’s important for B2B mobile marketers to remember that mobile marketing isn’t just about mobile marketing, but about the consumer.

New Statistics on Mobile App Usage

Mobile apps are vital for your marketing

As more and more brands incorporate mobile marketing and create mobile-friendly websites, some are questioning the use of mobile apps. Although most may decide upon using an app, some questions arise as to the effectiveness and frequency of app usage.

App usage continues to rise and can be useful to your marketing success.

But it isn’t just enough to jump on the app bandwagon; to execute a successful mobile marketing strategy, you must know which apps your customers are on. You must also know how to utilize those apps to the potential that they can be used.

People do continue to make purchases using apps. However, to no one’s surprise, social networking apps topped the type usage by mobile apps users with an average of 25.1 sessions per month.

If your target audience is made up of millennials that like to travel, you’re lucky. eMarketer reported that three-quarters of millennials use mobile to make travel plans. “Among those loyal to one mobile device, smartphones were much more popular than tablets for planning, with respective usage rates of 62% and 46%.”