More and more, customers are letting shop owners know that the future is now. Mobile is quickly becoming a viable format for online browsing and sales while video is quickly replacing copy as a way for business owners to connect to their customers. It is no longer merely optional to include these two technologies in your marketing and business strategies, it’s becoming necessary.
The Importance of Mobile
Mobile platforms are increasing in popularity every day. According to IBM, mobile accounted for more than one third of all online traffic in the fourth quarter of 2013. What’s more, mobile accounted for 17% of all online transactions during the holiday season. 17% may not sound like such a significant number by itself, but couple it with the fact that it shows a 46% increase over the number from last year and you begin to see the impact that mobile is beginning to make.
If that percentage increase holds true this year, mobile will account for 25% of all online purchases during the upcoming holiday season. If your website isn’t mobile friendly, that can have a huge impact on your online sales! It’s also another reason to make having a way to communicate with your customers through a mobile platform a priority. Social media is perfect for this as Facebook, Twitter and other sites are intended to be used primarily on mobile devices.
Video as A Dominant Medium
Video is quickly taking the place of those long text posts on many business websites and blogs. Why? Because consumers prefer them. Many people are intimidated by a wall of text, and a video feels (whether true or not depends on the individual reader/video) like a much less time-intensive way to get the same information. But more importantly, it allows the business owner to infuse some personality into the delivery that may be lacking in written text.
Regardless of why customers prefer videos, there is no debate that they do. With that in mind, you should definitely look to add a video or two to your site in the near future. This doesn’t have to be an extremely elaborate project. There’s no need to run out and drop thousands of dollars on a high-end digital camera. You can make videos almost as good with a low-end rig that will only cost a few hundred. You probably shouldn’t use your cell-phone, but if you have no other options it would be better than nothing at all.
Technology is providing a big impact on businesses of every size in 2014. Do you have your strategy in place?
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