The discussion of late is that mobile apps are taking over in the areas of retail sales, customer service and engagement. While this may be true in some instances, the mobile web continues to be most frequented by consumers, often driven by their search activities. As Google’s search focus continues to favor mobile enabled sites, and more on-the-go traffic is coming from mobile search, the need for a mobile web strategy is critical in driving conversions and developing loyalty.
“In regard to retail and purchasing however, [mobile web usage dominates]. Black Friday illustrates this perfectly; IBM found that mobile traffic accounted for 46.7% of all online traffic in the US with mobile accounting for 26.1 per cent of all online sales.”
Mobile apps can be a difficult and expensive marketing approach, requiring a deep understanding of what services and features will be valuable to their customers, maintaining continued value to entice frequent use and staying relevant in a sea of other brand and local apps is difficult and time consuming. In the case of mobile websites, this is where discovery frequently occurs, particularly for local brands and franchise outlets. Tracking traffic from search to landing on a localized mobile website or landing page allows marketers to follow the path from discovery through engagement and ultimately to the purchase. Maintaining all of this attribution and conversion tracking in one location allows for more precise campaign management, customer segmentation and retargeting efforts.
Utilizing localized offers, coupons and loyalty programs within a mobile enabled website creates a central location for all consumer interactions, data and tracking. For local franchise retail sites, utilizing local search to connect with consumers seeking deals or directing consumers to specific locations are best enabled via a mobile enabled website. Owning and having access to the data covering the complete path to purchase helps organizations make better decisions on customer segments, effective media outlets, messages that lead to higher conversion and what motivates loyal customers. This point becomes even more critical for brands or franchise organizations managing multiple local websites and serving multiple offers and content customized to specific locations or regions.
DevHub has developed a solution offering brands and multi-location franchise organizations to manage multiple mobile enabled websites on a single platform. Through the platform, organizations can manage local listing information, co-op spending, push local deals and offers, create local landing pages, launch smart store locators, and update website content based on conversion data and campaign success.