For B2B, B2C and D2C ecommerce brands, the implication is that customers now expect to be able to influence smarter marketing that feels more personal. The following two integrated marketing strategies are both heavily influenced by audience preferences and behaviors:
1. Offering Device-Based Store Experiences
Responsive web design remains a digital buzzword for good reason—shopping on a smartphone or tablet is far more intimate, given the smaller screen and ability to touch the screen to interact with content. Designing a web experience based on the viewer’s current device is a device-based store experience strategy.
The device customers prefer to browse and shop with has big implications for marketers: smartphones accounted for 53% of all online shopping traffic1, but the conversion rate for desktop devices doubled that of smartphones2. Customers may be visiting eCommerce sites on their phone to browse and research items before purchasing on their laptop.
Before implementing a device-based store experience strategy consider the following:
- How do eCommerce traffic sessions vary based on customer device?
- How much larger is the average cart completion on mobile devices compared to desktop?
- How much more or less is the average time spent per user session by device?
2. Personalizing Search Engine Marketing
Search engines remain an essential first step for retail shoppers prior to browsing a specific eCommerce store, blog or app. While the search engine used may remain the same, the mobile search experience and results should be very different from desktop search. Building a separate mobile and desktop marketing strategy is a personalized search marketing strategy.
In Q3 2019, mobile devices accounted for nearly 60% of all organic searches in the US3. More than three quarters of the search keywords were different between mobile and desktop searches4, which is likely due to the inherently shorter user sessions on mobile (e.g., doing research on the go).
Before implementing a personalized search marketing strategy, consider the following:
- What are the highest ranked organic search keywords by device and search engine?
- How does the daytime website traffic peak compare by device and search engine?
- What paid search keywords are performing best by device and how does this list compare to the highest ranked organic search keywords?
Investing in a Customer-Influenced Marketing Strategy
The two integrated marketing strategies above should serve as a starting point to further incorporate customer behaviors and preferences into retail integrated marketing strategies. Taking inspiration from existing customer preferences and behaviors to attract new audiences is core to Trone's ecommerce retail marketing services.
Contact us to discuss your brand’s integrated marketing strategy aspirations.
Data Sources Cited:
1. Wolfgang Digital: KPI Report 2019
2. SaleCycle: Why are Mobile Conversion Rates Behind Desktop
3. Statista: Mobile share of organic search Q3 2013–Q1 2020
4. BrightEdge: Smartphone and Desktop Search Results Diverge Further