Mastering Mobile: How to Reach More Mobile Buyers

Is mobile a part of your B2B company’s marketing and sales strategy? According to Think With Google back in 2017, over 40% of all B2B sales were already occurring on a mobile device… and that was over five years ago! As of 2020, that number had increased to well over 55%… and even more B2B buyers admit to doing their research on mobile before purchasing.

Some buyers may still use a desktop computer to communicate with sales reps and purchase products or services, but others will use a mobile device. By targeting these mobile buyers, your B2B company will generate more sales. How do you reach more mobile buyers exactly?

Design a Mobile-Friendly Website

You can’t expect mobile buyers to interact with your B2B company if it uses an outdated, desktop-oriented website. Not all websites are accessible on mobile devices. Desktop-oriented websites load and function fine on desktop computers but not on mobile devices. Mobile buyers may encounter technical errors like broken images, stretched-out images, small and hard-to-read text and long load times. Technical errors such as these can cost your B2B company sales.

To reach more mobile buyers, you should design a mobile-friendly website for your B2B company. Mobile-friendly websites are characterized by a design framework that’s compatible with smartphones and other mobile devices. Responsive Web Design (RWD) is one such framework. It involves the use of fluid grids and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) media queries. Jargon aside, RWD websites offer a positive experience for mobile users.

Develop a Mobile App

Even if your B2B company doesn’t operate in the software industry, it can benefit from its own mobile app. Many B2B companies use mobile apps to interact with their audience. It’s an effective tactic for reaching more mobile buyers.

Mobile apps are designed specifically for mobile devices. After developing a mobile app — or hiring someone to develop it on your B2B company’s behalf — you can promote it to your B2B company’s audience. As users begin to download the mobile app, you can gather data and even interact with them.

Here are some ideas to consider for a mobile app:

• App-based version of your B2B company’s website
• Appointment scheduling app
• Product or service guide app
• Ordering app
• Conference or communications app

Use Web Push Notifications

You can use web push notifications to reach more mobile buyers. Also known simply as push notifications, they are pop-up messages that are sent directly to a user’s mobile device. You’ll need to obtain the user’s permission. After he or she has elected to receive web push notifications from your B2B company’s website, the user will be added to a list. You can then create marketing and sales messages that target the user’s mobile device.

While most B2B companies are familiar with mobile-friendly websites and mobile apps, many of them ignore web push notifications. Nonetheless, web push notifications can help you reach more mobile buyers. Statistics show that they can increase website traffic by up to 25% and click-through rates (CTRs) by up to 30%. If you’re still skeptical, launch a web push notification campaign today to see for yourself. Web push notifications are effective because they are sent directly to mobile devices. Therefore, you can use them to connect with mobile buyers and encourage them to interact with your B2B company.

Invest in Paid Advertising

One of the easiest ways to reach more mobile buyers is to invest in paid advertising. There are paid advertising services that offer mobile targeting options. Google Ads, for instance, supports mobile targeting. You can create mobile ads in a variety of formats, such as text and image. Unlike other ads, they will only reach mobile users.

Google claims that 91% of users search for information on their smartphones. B2B buyers are no exception. When researching products or services, some of them may conduct an online search via their mobile device. Mobile ads can attract these buyers to your B2B company.

Many social media networks offer their advertising services. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are some of the top social networks, all of which offer an advertising service. And while their features vary, some of them support mobile targeting. The bottom line is that you can reach more mobile users by investing in paid advertising.

Leverage SMS

Another way to reach more mobile buyers is to leverage Short Messaging Service (SMS). You can send SMS messages to buyers’ mobile devices. As you may know, SMS messages are text messages. You can send SMS messages over a variety of mobile technologies — 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G — to reach a larger mobile audience. The technology emerged in the 1990s and has since become the world’s leading format for mobile-to-mobile text messages.

SMS requires buyers’ mobile phone numbers. You can only send SMS messages to buyers if know their mobile phone numbers. Therefore, you should ask prospects for their numbers when interacting with them. The more mobile phone numbers you acquire, the more effective your SMS efforts will be.

Start a Newsletter

If your B2B company doesn’t already have one, you may want to start a newsletter. A newsletter, of course, is a series or sequence of emails to which users can subscribe. Users who are interested in your B2B company may want to subscribe so that they can receive relevant, high-quality content.

While users can open and read your B2B company’s emails on all devices, many of them will likely use a mobile device. It’s estimated that nearly two-thirds of all emails are opened on a mobile device.

You can start a newsletter using any email marketing platform. There are nearly a dozen email marketing platforms, all of which support newsletters. Using one of these platforms, you can harvest email addresses with an opt-in form while also creating and sending emails to subscribers.

In Conclusion

Mobile devices have changed the way in which B2B companies communicate and engage with their audiences. As more buyers use their smartphones and tablets for work-related purposes, B2B companies will continue to invest in mobile marketing and sales tactics. You can reach more mobile buyers by designing a mobile-friendly website, developing a mobile app, using web push notifications, investing in paid advertising, leveraging SMS, and starting a newsletter.