The whole smartphone thing has changed the way that business operates, hasn’t it? As mobile devices get easier to use, a lot more of us are expecting a level of responsiveness that was unheard of ten years ago. I know that there are still parts of your customer base that don’t have them, but that number is getting smaller all the time.
With the increase in mobile marketing comes a pretty steep learning curve for a lot of businesses. I think that this learning curve has two sides to it, and they both are responsive.
Responsive On The Tech Side
If your websites are not responsive, a mobile device user is going to get pretty frustrated and find an alternative. Only an already-committed customer will put up with a site that doesn’t translate to the small screen. Use smaller files and images so it’s easy to load, for instance. Make sure your blog displays well on a phone. (If you are you reading this blog on your phone, I rest my case.)
Think about your target audience and plan your online presence accordingly. The technology should be used to communicate your message as quickly and effectively as possible. Most of us don’t care about fancy websites. We want what we are looking for, but we do want it to be attractive and easy to find.
Responsive On The Human Side
The whole idea of social media is responsiveness. All this stuff is a conversation instead of a presentation so it means that a post on your page or response to your tweet should be acknowledged as soon as possible and acted on pretty quick, too. This is new territory for some organizations, but this is where the mobile marketing train is going so we all need to get on board.
Set up a protocol for responding on social media and assign responsible staff to monitor the sites frequently. Some experts suggest that it be done at least hourly so that issues can be addressed immediately. Think about this from the user’s point of view: Social media is all about the moment and our response to it. If you aren’t responsive on the human side, you are missing out on a great opportunity.