Is Mobile Part of your 2014 Marketing Plans – or still an After-thought?

So, as you start looking towards 2014, how inclusive is ‘mobile’ as part of you marketing plans? I think until now, many of us have considered ‘mobile’ to be an after-thought – of “Oh yes, we should make sure the website can be read on mobile devices.” Or maybe it is something the product you sell needs to be enabled for. To many marketeers, it is being considered, but I am writing to those of you who may not have included this in your plans for next year – as its usage has increased rapidly over the last year. Some background reading are a Forrester blog, that talks about the ‘Mobile Mind Shift’. And IBM, on a webinar highlights ‘mobile’ as the number one digital trend for 2014 and sees it at the centre of all the devices used today.

The big thing I think that is of interest, is the social shift that has happened due to the ability to access information anywhere, anytime. Don’t you love it that you can be in a conversation, someone raises a question and you can say ‘I’ll look it up’. There is an ‘Always on’ mentality, as IBM refers to it. An ability to get information at any time.

All of our businesses are different – sometimes products, sometimes services, sometimes to business, others to consumers. But think about your prospects and customers again and try and think how they work and live. Is their device close-to-hand? What could you be doing, to make sure that you are too? It could be your website on mobile, it could be contacting you, it could be in the form of an app. There are many possibilities and they will be different for each business. But, without being too bah humbug, before you get too much into that Christmas spirit and cheer, just have a think of how you can be there at the touch of a button for your customers and prospects next year.