Denae
Hello, everybody and welcome to our first installment of the marketing mentorship series. I'm Denae, a Digital Marketing Specialist at Consumer 51. And I am here with none other than JB, our Vice President of Strategic Development, how are you doing, JB?
JB
Doing lovely, nice to sit down with you.
Denae
You as well, thanks for making the time. So let’s dive right into our inaugural topic: marketing for mobile vs. desktop devices. Are desktops even still relevant in marketing efforts today?
JB
Absolutely, they are. And let’s just establish that desktops aren’t only those big towers and monitors, but laptops as well. We're seeing a big move towards mobile–we always carry these mini-computers in our pockets. And most of the screen time people get will be on their mobile phones. However, there are significant groups that are still using desktops. And there are significant reasons why people use desktops continuously.
Denae
Oh really? Can you tell us a bit about the demographics that you see using desktop computers versus mobile devices? And along with those demographics, do you notice any specific user behavior?
JB
So there's the primary ones we're going to be looking at. For desktop usage, we have students, we have people who work in certain offices or remote settings, and we also have a lot of users in the older demographics. Those numbers skew a lot higher when we look at the 55 and up demographic.
Denae
We're already aware that different demographics skew towards one platform or the other. How should marketers adjust our efforts when marketing on desktop platforms forms versus mobile platforms?
JB
The most important thing – and I’ve mentioned it in previous articles – is that you know your audience. If you don't know your audience, you're not going to be able to connect with them meaningfully. Understanding their device usage will help you understand how they interact with your business.
The design, the messaging, and the usage are going to vary between mobile and desktop.
Let’s break it down. We fly through our mobile phones a lot faster–that’s why refresh rate is so important. And what the research found is, the faster you allow people to scroll, the longer people are going to spend on your platform - but with less time on each screen. Meaning the attention span on mobile is much shorter than when it comes to a desktop.
So when you think of your mobile messaging, it needs to be dynamic and work with a lot less space. You want your headlines and your blocks of text to be brief, snappy, and we want to break it up with things like sub headers, images, pull quotes, things of that nature. Visually tracking on Desktop can be easier on the eyes, but there are other issues to contend with like the side bars and pop ups. There are lots of considerations with regards to HOW your user will be scrolling through your content.
Denae
Do you see any instances where desktop is primarily used?
If you want to do form filling where you capture information from your audience, desktop is the way to go. Unless they have autofill set up, many people are less likely to write out all of their information on a mobile device. If you want them to thoughtfully fill something out, you're going to want to try and get them over to their desktop.
If we break down the sales funnel, we start with awareness, right? So a lot of that captivating will be done via mobile, whether that’s via paid advertising or social media, etc. If you want them to start interacting with you more – reading longer blogs, filling out forms, building trust with your brand, etc., you’ll need to get them over to the desktop as well.
When we look at the demographics and device usage of these campaigns, we actually start to see it skew almost 75% of the usage on a desktop versus mobile at the later stages of the roadmap. Across the board, when it comes to discovery and in-depth research lots of that will be on desktop.
Denae
Interesting! So the way we market shapes the user journey.
JB
Absolutely! Let’s look at the usage of QR codes for example. QR codes are a very mobile-centric window into your campaign. So make sure that on the other side of that QR code, you’re set up for a mobile-first experience. Alternatively, if you want customers to type in a URL, they're probably going to be more likely to switch to a desktop? So when we create links, when we create the journey, it's not just one piece of marketing, it's a whole series that you want to walk your user through. As a marketer, you need to understand how your customers are interacting with your brand and how that will impact the next stage of their journey.
Denae
And let's dive deeper into something you just mentioned: being mobile-first. We've already established that desktop interactions are by no means irrelevant, but we've heard talk in digital marketing circles that everything should be pushed towards the mobile first idea. Do you agree? Or do you visualize something a bit more holistic?
JB
The mobile-first idea has definitely evolved. Mobile content used to be more of an afterthought; we used to try to cram desktop layouts onto a mobile device, and it wouldn't quite work. But as we've moved into this direction of these pocket computers, there's so many more considerations.
To me, mobile-first means we need to consider our content on mobile devices and give it its own attention. For example, building two separate websites so that it’s optimized on both desktop and mobile.
Now, we don't want to get too hung up on that. Because the digital landscape is always evolving. Google Glass is coming up and we recently heard the announcement of neuro-link human trials. So flexibility is essential.
When we think “mobile-first”, let’s think “technology-first”. What will user engagement and experience look like, no matter the platform? These are the questions we have to think about. Because that's the first step. If you understand what your user is going to do, then the rest follows.
Denae
So we’re centering the user experience with technology, especially as we look toward the future. How are you anticipating the shift of these platforms?
I know you already brought up some emerging technology, technology that's going to become even more accessible, standardized as the years go on. So could we double down on that idea of centering user experience and technology interactions as opposed to a specific technology?
JB
You always need to keep an eye on what your consumer is using. We’re seeing desktop monitors having larger screens, so you should adjust your websites accordingly, right? We’re seeing more flip phones, so you’ll need to consider how your content will display there. It’s essential to stay in touch with things like that, and what the future looks like. I don't know exactly where it's headed. But I know that you’ve got to stay aware of the Next Big Thing, and if you don’t have the bandwidth for that, you need an agency that's doing it for you.
Someone on your team NEEDS to be paying attention to technological advancements so that you understand how your customers are impacted, which will inform your marketing decisions.
Denae
Thank you! And one last question to wrap up our first Marketing Mentor Session. So we're speaking to digital marketers everywhere. But that has so many components. We have UX designers, we have graphic designers, we have copywriters. So what is something foundational that all of them can take from this lesson?
JB
Work together from the beginning. Your team is made up of so many components, so don’t patchwork your strategy together as projects evolve, start with a strategy.
Start with that user understanding first. Once you figure that out, then you can develop a strategy for what the conversation is going to look like, what their interaction is going to look like, what their journey is going to look like.
Once you've done that, if everybody's working from the same playbook, you're going to have a cohesive effort that feels like it's being tailored to your audience. And that's what your audience wants.
They want that personal experience. So start with the user, and then get everybody else to follow that same strategy.
Denae
Thank you, JB! Looking forward to our next session!
JB
My pleasure!