Smartphones drive marketing decisions for businesses

Navigating the ever changing landscape of digital advertising can be difficult for the most seasoned business owner. Traditional advertising remains relevant, however being out front and visible in the digital space is paramount for today’s businesses to be successful.

Over the last 15 years, the shift to digital advertising has been tremendous. With the increase in mobile phone usage along with mobile phone capabilities, the window for reaching customers has become much larger. According to the Pew Research Center, 92% of Americans own a mobile phone. Of those 68% have Smartphones up 35% from 2011.

If your business is doing digital advertising, below are a few tips to follow:

First, make sure your website is mobile compatible (friendly). On average over half of all website traffic comes through business’s mobile platform. Baretta Taylor, the Director for Reach 256 a local digital agency in Decatur Al, says the most common issue for customers is having an older website that was built in the earlier 2000s. These businesses, in many cases, do not have access to the back end of their website to make weekly or monthly changes. “Our number one service here in Decatur is building responsive websites for small to medium sized businesses. Along with building their website, we help manage the day to day operations; making text changes and product changes as needed. “Customers don’t have the time to worry with making changes. We prefer to manage their site for them and this in return gives the client more time to run their business.” (Reach 256)

Having a mobile friendly website also can help with your organic listing on Google search pages. In April 2015, Google announced an update to their search algorithms. Many in the industry referred to this update as Mobil Armageddon. “Google’s mobile ranking factors will not only label your site as mobile-friendly, but will also use that to determine if your site should rank higher in the search results. Google said this algorithmic change will have a significant impact in the mobile search results, impacting all languages worldwide.” (Search Engine Land)

If you’re not sure if your website is mobile friendly, Reach 256 suggests you contact them or use this tool that Google offers to help determine your site’s profile: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

Along with a mobile website, having a social presence is essential. Facebook promotes to have over 1.7 billion active users per month. Other rising social media platforms include Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, SnapChat, and Pinterest, just to name a few.

“Having a page isn’t enough anymore,” says Taylor. “Using the wealth of information provided through these channels is a huge asset for a business.” (Reach 256). Being able to target customers from their likes and behavior, along with their geographic area, helps businesses target their perfect customer. This in turn helps them on the ROI.

With the digital landscape changing almost daily, we suggest seeking advice from a professional digital agency like Reach 256. Staying updated and relevant is a fulltime job. Compliance is time consuming. Each social platform has its own requirements. Reach 256 can help both promote your business and stay on top of the game while handling all the heavy lifting for you.

For more information about digital advertising, Reach 256 can be contacted at 256-340-2370.