Is your marketing strategy set up for failure?

The old adage is true: you have to spend money to make money, but are you wasting your precious marketing dollars trying to reach customers through the wrong channels?

If your company doesn’t have a responsive website and you aren’t concerned with creating a positive user experience for mobile customers, your business is missing out on a critical demographic.

Mobile is arguably the closest a marketer can get to its customers. The mobile Tipping Point, reported in 2014, indicates digital media consumption by mobile users has surpassed desktop users, and experts indicate the disparity is only continuing to grow with time. This represents a tremendous area of opportunity for companies that are ready to stay relevant to today’s consumers.

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Mobile devices allow consumers to digest a great deal of information online with convenience, and the moment-by-moment access translates into significant potential for brands to offer a customized user experience uniquely suited to mobile marketing. By considering smartphone user behaviors as you develop your business marketing strategies, you can ensure your company stands out instead of getting stuck in the browser history.

Consider email marketing as an example. Most brands use this communication method to engage with customers, promote special offers and increase awareness of new products. In the last four years, mobile email open rates have increased by 47 percent, with desktop and webmail email open rates both declining during the same period. This behavior indicates that consumers are more likely to engage with businesses online using a mobile device than by any other method.

Equally as compelling are the statistics surrounding social media consumption by smartphone users. According to Cision, social media influences one in three U.S. consumer purchasing decisions, and users who are active on social media channels are four times more likely to spend on purchases.

This substantial statistic is only overshadowed by the staggering evidence associated with the behavior of smartphone users across various social media channels:

• 80% of Twitter users access the platform from a mobile device
• 88% of Facebook users are active on mobile devices
• 75% of Facebook video views occur on mobile devices
• 78% of Facebook ad revenue occurs from mobile views
• 60% of social sharing occurs on mobile devices
• 80% of Pinterest users access the platform from a mobile device
• 47% of Instagram users access the platform from a mobile phone*
• 53% of Instagram users access the platform from a tablet*

*According to Instagram, virtually no desktop usage is reported.

Your existing marketing efforts might not be in vain but it’s definitely worth the investment to dedicate time toward marketing for mobile to continue as you grow your business and reach new customers.