John Tackett says, “Video is emerging as the new darling of content marketing, and it makes sense. As a medium, video delivers information customers want about a business quickly and inexpensively thanks to ever-evolving tech. But how does using video in your marketing strategy stack up when you add the complexity of rendering across multiple devices? Throw a smartphone or tablet into the mix, and your customer experience can get messy fast. So in today’s MarketingExperiments Blog post, I wanted to share with you an interesting experiment from our latest Web clinic that increased conversion... [...]

Soo Jin says, “A multitude of strategies are available to marketers to help push customers along the purchase funnel. While these marketing tactics may be widely available, the slow adoption of such strategies and industry technologies places a limitation on the success of certain verticals and brands. This especially rings true for industries traditionally built on in-store purchases. During the 2015 Automotive News World Congress conference in January, a panel of auto industry experts discussed the necessity for better adoption of online tools to improve customer satisfaction in the auto... [...]

Tristan Barnum says, “As marketers, we read, think, and talk a lot about Web presence—whether social media, content marketing, search, or other digital medium—and we put a lot of time and effort into perfecting our brand’s image, messaging, and positioning. As we should. However, when was the last time you considered “phone presence” during your branding refresh exercises and marketing brainstorms? Traditional telephony may not be one of the first agenda items that come to mind in a content planning meeting, but perhaps it should be. More than half of consumers still... [...]

Matthew Whitehead says, “Mobile is driving major changes in how consumers research and buy across a wide range of industries.   So for online marketers it is no longer enough to rely on responsive site design and a mobile app. You need to think mobile-first. Every marketer understands that the mobile channel is growing rapidly. By 2018 analysts estimate that there will be nearly 2.7bn smartphone users globally, a 250% growth since 2012. Mobile devices are becoming the primary method of accessing the internet and digital media. Indeed, research from comScore found that 60% of time spent on digital... [...]

Philip Rooke says, “As Econsultancy lists its 16 essential success factors for ecommerce checkouts, we have been revamping ours at Spreadshirt. 2014 saw an upswing people using their mobile devices not only to browse, but also to buy. The trend extended to phones too, as consumers became increasingly confident in buying from their phones rather than waiting to make the final purchase from a desktop or laptop. This trend lead us to rethink our checkout system last year and launch a single-page process. As a result we saw mobile orders double in the run-up to Christmas. Conversions via mobile... [...]

Greg Sterling says, “The latest comScore smartphone data have arrived but not much has changed. The two noteworthy items in this month’s report are an increase in smartphone ownership and Pinterest’s entry into the top 15 apps list. The company says that the US smartphone market now comprises 75.8 percent of the total mobile subscriber population. In December it was 74.9 percent. Operating system market share data are nearly identical to three months ago”. Smartphone Penetration Grows To 76 Percent In US — Report Marketing Land  [...]

John Gagnon says, “It’s impossible to read anything about marketing today without running into one big word: Mobile. But here’s something you might not have heard yet: Mobile marketing is practically made for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), for two primary reasons: 1. Most mobile searches are for local businesses. Local businesses tend to be SMBs, which means that most mobile searchers are looking for you. 2. Search marketing, whether mobile or otherwise, is the easiest marketing to control. Set your budget where you’re comfortable, start and stop with the click... [...]

Justin Briggs says, “Mobile isn’t the future. It’s the present. Mobile apps are not only changing how we interact with devices and websites, they’re changing the way we search. Companies are creating meaningful experiences on mobile-friendly websites and apps, which in turn create new opportunities to get in front of users. I’d like to explore the growth of mobile app search and its current opportunities to gain visibility and drive engagement. Rise of mobile app search The growth of mobile device usage has driven a significant lift in app-related searches.... [...]

Rob Thurner says, “We should replace ‘mobile first’ with ‘customer first’.  Think about the many ways you can personalise the site based on that unique user.   Hot on the heels of Graham’s post, 23 reasons why mobile users will abandon your site, I’ve just moderated an Econsultancy roundtable on mobile site optimisation. Chatham House rules applied, so I make no references to the 12 people round the table handling content, marketing, performance, analytics, optimization and conversion for their retail, financial services, utility, travel and media businesses. We... [...]

Greg Sterling says, “Nearly 75 percent (74.9 percent) of mobile subscribers in the US now own smartphones. In December 2013, US smartphone penetration was 65.2 percent. By December 2015 it will be above 80 percent, perhaps closing in on 85 percent. The 75 percent figure comes from the latest comScore US smartphone market sharereport, out today. Overall the market share data are mostly unchanged from previous months. Apple and Google occupy generally the same relative positions as in past surveys. However, seemingly flying in the face of Apple’s massive holiday quarterly sales, comScore... [...]