Many of us will remember the time when a mobile would allow you to do little more than make calls and receive and send text messages. At one point, such functionality was the height of technology, and you could even play snake as well! Of course, though, things are very different now and calls and texts are just one of many features that modern phones allow us to do. Ever advancing processing power means that phones are now basically mini-computers with some added communication features. Improving internet technology also means that we can access the internet from pretty much anywhere.

For many people, this means more shopping. This, in turn, means a potential gold-mine for digital marketers to tap into. With new emerging markets, however, comes new challenges. The increased use of mobile devices for shopping online is helping to change the digital marketing landscape forever.

Ease of Use

Keyboards and mice make using a computer fairly easy, and most of us in the developed world know how to navigate a website with some ease. For mobile devices, however, it’s quite a different story. Small screens, and even smaller ‘keyboards’, can make it tricky to use mobiles. This potential awkwardness could cause a potential customer to just give up, so it’s important to make sites as easy to use on mobiles as possible.

Simplifying any process to as few clicks as possible can make a considerable difference to usability. Forms in particular need to be kept as short as they can be to avoid turning people off the sale. CTAs need to be as prominent as ever so they can be easily found, and used. The simpler your site is to use to mobile users, the higher your conversion rates, and this means more revenue.

Speed of Use

It’s by no means a new development that internet uses are an impatient breed. Make them wait for too long, or make it difficult for them to find what they want, and they will soon go elsewhere. The emergence of the popularity of shopping on mobile devices has only compounded this, meaning speed of use is now more important as ever before. Digital marketers and SEOs need to optimise websites with shopping on mobile devices in mind, or they could be missing out on a lot of sales.

As such, AMP (accelerated mobile pages), are now pretty much an essential where digital marketing is concerned. AMP helps mobile users to access websites faster by loading a resource-light version of the website they are trying to access. When presenting a stripped-down version of the site, loading times are much faster than they otherwise would be. Not only does this please impatient mobile users, but it also pleases the search engines and websites with AMP get a boost in the SERPS that those without don’t.

Apps

Nowadays, there seems to be an app for pretty much anything. They can be extremely useful tools to have for mobile users. They can also be an extremely powerful tool for digital marketers. Apps can help marketers to keep in touch with their potential customers by way of letting them know about the latest updates and great deals.

Apps also help marketers to offer their potential customers something extremely important in marketing; which is something of value. When a marketer gives the customer something of value for free, such as an app, this helps to gain trust and confidence, which helps to make the path to the sale a lot smoother. Apps can also be incorporated with other tech such as GPS, which would help the marketer to offer the right product, at the right time, in the right place. The potential uses are endless, and can be extremely effective if done right.

To remain successful in digital marketing, it is necessary to be flexible as it is one of the most dynamic industries out there. Keeping up with change is part of the job and if you don’t keep up, the competition will simply pass you by. One of the latest factors influencing the market is the rise of the use of mobile devices for online shopping. Adjust accordingly, and marketers could find that there is enormous potential just waiting to be tapped into.