In a world of constant connectivity, customers expect that you are able to give them what they need when they need it, especially when they are on the go. The term ‘mobile’ perfectly describes how technology has changed the customer experience; going mobile becomes mandatory for every innovative business strategy. If your company is not optimized for the mobile experience, you’re putting at risk your sales and damaging the perception of the brand itself. And clients will ultimately abandon you.
As a consequence of the evolution known as mobile mind shift, if you want to connect with clients of the Age of the Customer, you need to think and act digital first. Of course, going mobile for mobile’s sake is not the right answer to clients’ needs; you must get mobile right. Without a proper strategy and internally shared intents, you won’t be able to maintain focus in markets in which clients not only research and buy products on mobile devices, but also ask for compelling digital customer experience.
By 2017, around 69.4% of world's population is expected to use smartphones. By 2018, it is estimated that the wearables market will be worth some 12.6 billion dollars. People use mobile devices to listen to their favorite music, to watch videos, to search for information, to buy products and look for deals. Mobile is not just an option anymore.
Statistics say that mobile-friendly companies easily turn users into customers, and without a mobile awareness you’ll be driving users to your competitors. It’s a fact: frustrated users are highly likely to abandon you for competitors when they don’t get a satisfying experience across all touch points.
You can’t ignore these numbers, even more so if you are a retailer. There are at least 10 reasons why mobile customers will abandon you in the end:
- You don’t have a mobile presence: this is level zero. You don't have an app, your website is not responsive or adaptive, you never update your social pages. An analog residual in a digital environment.
- You site is not responsive: you have a website, yet it's all but mobile-friendly. It was made to work on a desktop computer, and it fails to deliver a fulfilling experience to users in mobility.
- You have a faulty app: they might be a necessary part of your digital strategy, but faulty - or not working at all - apps could only do harm to your brand perception. Find the right partner and develop a huge app experience.
- You don’t offer unique content: companies are now able to locate and target individuals who are significantly qualified, to create content marketing customized with context. If your strategy is not
location-savvy, then you're missing a piece. - You give a lousy User Experience: the user experience involves practical and emotional aspects of the interaction between the user and your digital product. A bad-designed UX will prevent you from building engagement.
- You don't optimize landing pages: if you're investing time and budget in inbound marketing tactics and online advertising, make sure you optimize your landing pages. They're the first place users land on, the first contact they have with your brand.
- You don't offer payment options: the conversion path will always be incomplete and inefficient if your payment process is slow, unclear and time-costly. Your customer journey must offer different solutions to pay in a seamless, easy and secure way.
- You don’t personalize offers: personalization is the key to success in the digital era. You can rely on big data to understand customers and markets: use those numbers to offer unique experiences and personal deals.
- You don’t think omni-channel: you are not judged for what you sell, but for the whole journey you create to connect products and clients. An omni-channel experience is a reflection of how our life has evolved in the mobile era, a foundational element of digital customer engagement .
- You don't play with customers: from 2015 on, more and more companies will focus on gamification mechanics to enhance loyalty. Games are everywhere, and you need to learn the rules of gamification to engage customers playing with them.
As practical advice: if you want to connect with your customers in a whole new way discover Neosperience Engage, the end-to-end mobile marketing solution to turn on smartphones like magic and deliver personalized experiences to customers close to, or inside the store.