Debunking Common Mobile Marketing Myths

Consumers are increasingly turning to the convenience of mobile browsing and buying.

By Tracey Bowyer

Mobile marketing is constantly changing, and it’s tough to keep up. From Google’s mobile algorithm update to new mobile devices such as smartwatches and Fitbits, every franchise brand is trying to keep up. But there is also a lot of misinformation out there that you need to be wary of. Advice from industry peers might be outdated or even an article from last year is now incorrect because of recent changes. To help you sift through the clutter, we’ve debunked the four biggest mobile marketing myths so your franchise business won’t be led astray by false information.

Myth No. 1: Mobile devices are only used while out and about

On a crowded train on your way to work in the morning, it’s easy to imagine that mobile devices are only used when people aren’t at home. Although it is true that mobile devices are meant for exactly what their name entails — for moments when the user is “mobile” — people are using mobile devices increasingly at home.

According to Salesforce’s 2014 mobile report, 65 percent of tablet owners report using while watching TV at least once per day. That means they’re sitting at home, watching TV, while browsing the Internet on a tablet device. This doesn’t even include the number of people who browse the Internet and access social media pages through smartphones while hanging around the house or spending time with friends. 

In some cases, mobile devices are the only form of access to the Internet. According to Pew Research Center, 10 percent of Americans own a smartphone but do not have high-speed Internet service beyond their phone. These people have decided that a smartphone is either a better option than at-home Internet or they had to choose between having a smartphone and having at-home Internet. Either way, in both cases they chose having a smartphone, and therefore use their device for any and all online needs. An additional 15 percent have limited options for online access other than their cell phones. 

Myth No. 2: Mobile users are all the same

You can’t assume that mobile marketing is only for companies with Generation Y or Millennial audiences — it’s for everyone. People ages 18-24 use their smartphones a lot, but when we look at the data across all mobile devices, the results are more standardized across ages than you’d think. 

According to the Salesforce report, the youngest demographic spends the most time on smartphones, but the changes between ages 25 to 54 maintain a consistent pattern of about three to 3.5 hours spent on smartphones each day. Additionally, looking at the tablet statistics, people of all ages are spending time on their tablets every day. Tablets are typically seen as an accessory to the home for people to browse the Internet or play games without having to fire up their computer, so even though you might see a younger demographic glued to their smartphones and tablets while away from their homes, there are many more mobile devices tucked away at home for people of all ages.

With this in mind, the bulk of your audience goes online through mobile devices, and you have to cater to their different needs and preferences. Imagine that your business is a local restaurant that serves all ages in your community. You have to consider your wide audience when targeting people on mobile devices through search advertising, email and social media. You can launch a social campaign directed toward young adults ages 21 to 35 with a campaign highlighting your beverage specials on Tuesdays. 

But if you’re trying to bring in an older crowd, for example ages 50 and up, you might want to create a different ad targeted to that audience that highlights your Friday night fish fry. Your audience is on mobile devices, but you need to approach segments differently, depending on what is most likely to resonate with them. 

Myth No. 3: Having a mobile-friendly site is enough

We’d like to assume that you’re aware that your business site needs to adjust to mobile devices in some capacity. However, not all mobile optimizations are created equal. Here’s a quick view of the three main options:

• Mobile-friendly. A mobile-friendly site is designed for desktop users but also renders on mobile devices in the same manner as its larger desktop counterpart. This is by far the simplest optimization you can do for your franchise brand site and micro-pages. It is often plagued with people bouncing from the site because it’s too much effort to zoom in, click on a specific tab and find what they need.

• Mobile-optimized. This is a more advanced user experience and it has its own native design. Mobile-optimized sites are characterized by their larger, more clickable buttons and a decidedly different, larger aesthetic than the desktop version. In this design, people don’t have to squint to read text or zoom in all the way to be able to view it. These are great for local businesses who just need something better than a mobile-friendly site and have a relatively thin content profile for their site.

• Responsive website. This is basically the Holy Grail of mobile optimization. No matter the device the user views your site on — from the large iPhone 6 to the smaller iPhone 5, a Samsung Galaxy S or a Kindle Fire and everything in between — your site will respond to the device and adjust its features accordingly.

As a franchise business that likely features different tabs for different locations, products and services, your best option is a responsive website (and possibly your only real option). You probably house a lot of content from your brand’s homepage and have micro-pages for each location with their own set of information. A responsive site will provide the best user experience for the amount of content on your site, and you won’t suffer from higher bounce rates because people can easily find information they need on their device. 

Myth No. 4: Smaller screens don’t deliver sales

Consumers care less and less about the size of the device they’re using when it comes to making actual purchase decisions. In fact, mobile devices are instrumental in actual purchase decisions. 

Google found that 93 percent of people who use mobile to research online complete a purchase of that product or service in physical stores. Even if you aren’t convinced of mobile’s powers of online conversion, these devices are important for consumers as they move along the buying journey. They use mobile devices to research online, then go in the store or call to actually purchase the product or service they’ve been Googling.

And just when you think mobile isn’t for actual sales, the opposite is true. As consumers spend more time with their mobile devices, they become more comfortable using them for purchase decisions. A study by Capgemini focusing on consumer purchasing habits in the United Kingdom showed that 36 percent of online sales are now completed on a smartphone or tablet device. Although three years ago people hesitated to purchase something directly from a mobile device — the reasons are unclear, from not trusting the website or perhaps the transaction was seemingly too easy and they’d prefer to wait until they’re using a desktop computer — consumers are definitely turning to the convenience of mobile browsing and buying. 

Tracey Bowyer is vice president of product development for G/O Digital.