In a recent study, Google found that 79% of smartphone users rely on their phones when shopping or researching products, and 90% of mobile queries result in some type of action: making a purchase, physically going to the business, providing contact info, etc. What does all this mean for your company? If you don’t have a mobile landing page then you are not fully connecting with a huge segment of the consumer population. In other words, you’re missing out on sales.

Even so, just having a mobile page isn’t enough. Like anything on the web, if you want to provide a fantastic online experience, you need to optimize it properly. Here are ten tips for a mobile-friendly landing page.

1.  Simplicity is Key

Above all, ensure your mobile landing page is brief, quickly scannable, and viewable from arms length. Remember, mobile users are busy and won’t waste time trying to decipher a bunch of content crammed onto a small screen.

2. Do Not Include Anything Requiring Flash Player

Not all mobile devices (iPhones in particular) support Flash, and even on those that do, it doesn’t always work well. Frankly, consumers are sick of encountering Flash elements which are incompatible with their phones and simply abandon unworkable sites.

3. Place the Most Vital Content at the Top of the Page

This is practical advice for any type of website, but is especially important for mobile landing pages where users are trying to find information as quickly as possible. Streamline your navigation so people can find what they are looking for at a glance and remove any extraneous text or images.

4. Avoid the Scroll

Try to keep your landing page viewable in a single screen, but if you need more room, always give visitors the option to scroll down – never sideways.

5. Have a Clear Call to Action

Make your call to action clear, obvious, and positioned near the top of the page. You can lessen your guest’s frustration (bumbling fingers and small touchscreens aren’t always the best combination) by making your action button slightly larger and away from your other links.

6. Utilize the Technology

Mobile devices offer many more capabilities than desktop browsers, so try to incorporate this functionality into your landing page’s design. Many mobile devices respond to tilting, shaking, swiping, and other motions, so design ways you can creatively include those elements. Also, tools such as click-to-call, maps, and location targeted promotions are great marketing features.

7. Keep the Load Time Short

This is another useful tip for both static and mobile pages. By now, everyone should know that if your site is inconvenient or slow, most consumers simply won’t bother.

8. Have a Brief, Memorable URL

Even if you don’t get a conversion on a person’s first visit, they may decide to checkout your landing page in the future. However, a major hindrance would be if the individual needs to type in your URL but can’t remember it – keep it simple.

9. Have Short Titles

Generally, mobile browsers can only show about 40 characters (even less when bookmarked), so keeping your titles short will make it easier for guests to know the theme of your page.

10. Offer a Link to your Regular Webpage

Despite all these suggestions, there are still those who prefer to interact with the desktop version of your site (especially if they are very familiar with it), and providing a link to it will ensure you satisfy all your guests.

Gartner** expects that by 2012 mobile web browsers will become more popular than desktop browsers. This prediction suggests mobile consumers aren’t merely composed of the young and tech savvy – but people from all demographics. Having a well-optimized mobile landing page will keep your business on top of the current trends and at the fingertips of mobile users.

What’s Driving the Trend?

Worldwide mobile web use is up above 1 billion people* and the number is rising all the time. If your marketing strategy doesn’t include a mobile landing then you are not connecting effectively with a huge portion of the population. Smartphones have become so user-friendly that people of all ages are using them to find content not only when they are on the go, but also when they are at home. Their convenience is unmatched as users typically always have their phones with them and can just as easily get online access while sitting on the couch or walking around a store. Making your site viewable on these devices is sometimes the only way to connect with those who want information always at their fingertips.

How are They Used?

Even if you don’t have a mobile landing page, you can guarantee at least some of your competitors do. Don’t wrongly assume this isn’t a big deal or that a traditional website is enough. By not being mobile-friendly, you are effectively taking yourself out of the equation for many sales opportunities. For example, consider a consumer who is at a store and wants to compare several similar items. To learn more about each product, this person will likely use their smartphone for research. If they try to visit your website and find it un-viewable or difficult to navigate, chances are they will simply dismiss your product altogether. Why would they risk buying something they know nothing about when they can easily get product information from your competitors?

How to Optimize Your Site for Mobile Users?

There are many creative ways you can provide an enhanced mobile experience to your online visitors. But, one of the most basic things you can (and should) do is condense your pages down to a version more suitable for small screen viewing. The good news is that if you have a WordPress site you don’t have to worry about writing a bunch of complicated code and can simply install a mobile plugin.

A mobile plugin will automatically compress your site and turn it into an ideal mobile landing page. The plugin is able to summarize your content into a shortened version so people don’t have to worry about scrolling side to side or up and down to see your whole page. This type of layout makes your site faster loading and much easier for on-the-go consumer to quickly find what they need.

Although installing a mobile plugin isn’t the only thing you can do to optimize your site for smartphone users — it’s a start. Even this basic step will help to keep you relevant to the ever increasing mobile market and on par with your competition. 

Essentially, that’s all a QR code is – a hyperlink. Only instead of clicking, you use your smartphone to scan the object and retrieve the information. Theoretically, a QR code can appear on anything and serve as the means by which people get information when they are curious about something. With such integration between the tangible and the virtual, the dependency on the desktop computer will gradually decrease, which begs the question: is your business still operating solely in a desktop environment or have you embraced the mobile revolution?

Will QR Codes Really Become Mainstream?

Of course, it’s never easy to get people to change their behavior. It will take a while for consumers to adjust to simply pointing their phone at a code as opposed to picking up a flyer, typing in URL, or making a mental note to look up something when they get home. However, marketers are helping to drive the change by being among the first groups to start actively using QR codes.

And why wouldn’t advertisers want to embrace this technology? The codes are free to generate, they’re open-source, and can be seamlessly integrated into other aspects of a campaign (signs, websites, commercials, t-shirts, etc.). Not to mention, they make easy work of measuring quick-through rates and gathering demographic or geographic data.

Although QR codes are not entirely mainstream among all demographics, it’s rare to come across an individual who has never seen one (even if they weren’t sure what it was). The little black and white symbols are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore, and as more and more people buy smartphones, they will naturally experiment with QR codes.

How to Make them Mainstream?

The experimentation process is when marketers can hook consumers on the technology or discourage them indefinitely. When someone takes the time to use a QR code and they find it doesn’t work properly or offers little reward, it may take quite a bit of coercing to get them to make the effort again. Businesses can help themselves and boost the overall interest in QR codes by utilizing these guidelines:

1. Make the Content Mobile Friendly

No matter where your code directs users, make sure it is optimized for a mobile device. Take into account that on-the-go people are operating under shorter attention spans and expect all messages to have a quick, efficient delivery. Also consider the functionality of the viewing device. For example, an iPhone is much more interactive than a desktop; use that to your advantage.

2. Offer an Incentive

Why should anyone take the time to bother with your code? Just to see an ad or go to your website – not likely. To get users’ interest you have to reward them with something. It can be a coupon, deal, exclusive content, or anything else of interest to your audience. Once they see you offer a real reward or convenience, they will come back for more.

3. Stick with It!

Don’t get discouraged if not as many people as you would like are taking advantage of your fantastic QR codes right from the get-go. Remember, it will take some time to familiarize consumers with the technology. However, you can take comfort in the fact that they are already well-known among the tech savvy and those in the 18-35 year-old demographic. And if Japan is any indication, the codes will soon become massively popular.

In the Meantime…

Instead of waiting to jump on the QR code bandwagon after everyone is doing it, you can put your business on the cutting edge by adopting the technology now. This will allow you to reach out to consumers who are already using the codes and will make your business an expert at this advertising medium before it becomes mainstream.

1. Mobile Web Use Rising Rapidly

 There are around 1.2 billion mobile web users worldwide and that number is increasing all the time. As more and more people commit to the technology, they expect to see mobile campaigns designed specifically for their device. Consumers have little patience for content which doesn’t work properly on their smartphone or tablet, and consequently, tend to ignore brands who can’t adapt to the multimedia environment.

2. Location-Based Advertising

 With this technology marketers can pinpoint consumers and provide them advertisements based on their location or specific demographic. Never before have businesses been able to provide such personalized communications with their customers. Now, consumers can instantly receive coupons based on prior purchases or inquiries, a deal for a store they just entered, or restaurant suggestions relevant to their position.

Smartphones are a remarkably personal tool, and location based advertising is able to tap into some of that and provide consumers with what they really want. With such targeted messages, businesses can enjoy a greater response rate and a higher ROI.

3. Real-Time Bidding

 Traditional advertising, which targets broad groups of people over large time spans, is rather hit or miss; sellers never know if they are truly reaching their target audience. Real-time bidding solves this problem by allowing businesses to pick and choose who receives their advertisements and how much they are willing to pay. When a consumer visits a webpage where real-time bidding is used, competing businesses will instantly analyze the possibility of making a sale based on the time of day, the person’s transaction history, the subject of the website, and a host of other variables. Thus, a business has a better idea of the value of a particular ad space before placing its bid.

Although it sounds complex, the whole process happens in less than a second. Not only is this method advantageous to sellers (through price and audience optimized messages), but consumers also benefit since they no longer have to endure irrelevant impressions.

4. Interactive Media

 The nature of mobile devices means your message can naturally engage consumers as they tap, swipe, tilt, and rotate your advertisement. Boring banners and content more suited to stationary computers have no place in the mobile world. As business owners utilize the functionality of smartphones and tablets through apps, games, mobile content, videos, and animations, they will find customers spend much more time interacting with their ad.

5. Mobile Private Exchange

 Publishers with high volumes of visitors have the opportunity to join a private exchange group. These groups are a branch of real time bidding, but provide more insight, customization, and price controls. This setup offers much more appeal to high-traffic sites that were previously turned off by the price degradation associated with other programmable markets.

This opens up the opportunity for advertisers to place their impressions on the highest-quality, most visited sites on the web. Many of these are from small publishers, owned by “real” people who consumers know and trust. Having your ad appear in such an environment garners much more respect and interest from web users.

Mobile advertising is still progressing, but despite the learning curve, the rapid growth in this market proves businesses can’t deny the opportunities it provides. Those who embrace the technology early will have a distinct advantage over their competitors as they utilize resources that simply aren’t available in any other form of marketing.

Treating it like a Static Medium

Many marketers design their mobile sites as mere replicas of what internet users can find via their stationary computers at home or in the office. This strategy, or lack thereof, ignores the fact that mobile advertising is its own entity. Do not think of it as merely another way to access your already existing content, but instead make it an extension or an enhancement of your overall campaign.

When devising how to use this medium, keep in mind what makes mobile use unique, and then capitalize on those differences. Some things to consider are:

• It connects with on-the-go consumers.  Mobile users face even more distractions than those accessing the web in stationary locations. Ensure your message makes an impact during the fleeting time you have with a potential customer.
• Provides continuous access with smartphones, tablets and the like, people can connect with your business any time they want – provide them some incentive to do so.
• Can use knowledge of location. Keep consumers engaged by providing them with information/perks related to where they are.
• Connection to social media. With social media always accessible, you have the ability to personally connect with individuals and nurture brand loyalty.

Not Tailoring Content to a Specific Device

Not only is it important to develop a strategy specifically for a mobile audience, but you must also take into account the various ways to connect people with your business. Whether you interact through text, SMS, smartphone, or tablet you need a differentiated approach.

Mobile users become frustrated when information doesn’t translate correctly on their specific device, so ensure you optimize your campaign for every medium. Also, consider how best to utilize each technology (as each provides certain benefits). For instance, smartphone web access can serve as a great platform for customers to quickly look up product details (when doing in-store comparisons) while text messages can be a nice tool for updating them about sales or other deals.

Having an Irrelevant or Unclear Message

To make your communication relevant, you must recognize your customers as individuals with different needs. In other words, your communication must match the audience.

When pinpointing what to convey, first answer these questions about the consumers:

• Where are they?
• What are they doing?
• What do they need?
• What benefit can I offer/how can I engage them in this particular circumstance?

As mentioned, those using mobile devices are generally on-the-go. Without effectively answering the questions above, you’ll never penetrate into their busy lives and standout among all the other digital noise. Additionally, what makes mobile advertising special is that it is interactive, and when done properly, people are motivated to DO something. But for this to work, you must have a distinct call to action – make it clear what you want your visitors to do and why they should do it.

Not Making the Interaction Worth Their Time

Why should a virtual user download your app, friend you on Facebook, read your text message, scan your QR code, or visit your mobile site? What is their incentive? Unfortunately, receiving a useless app, getting a link, or seeing your gorgeous, optimized landing page isn’t enough. Remember, in some way your message is interrupting their lives, so make it worthwhile.

If the relationship remains exclusively one-sided (you getting a willing advertising subject and they get nothing), then they will eventually end the communication and may lose faith in your brand. The rewards you can offer are only limited by your ingenuity. Some examples are: coupons, videos, convenience, recipes, extra information, contests, free downloads, etc.

When consumers feel as if interacting with you offers some sort of an advantage, and is not seen as an intrusion, you know you have struck a good balance.  

Quick response codes, commonly referred to as QR codes, are commonplace in Japan and are on the rise in the US. These little boxes seem to be showing up on everything, and whether you utilize them or not, they are becoming pretty hard to ignore.

What is a QR Code?

Similar to barcodes used for finding prices on groceries, a QR code is simply a scannable image used to acquire additional information about a product or service. Consumers are able to scan the image using a QR code reader app on their smartphones. QR codes are becoming a favorite tool for marketers since they quickly and easily direct people to additional product info, websites, coupons, and more.

What’s Driving the Increase?

Over the past year, QR use has gone up 4589% percent — but, what’s the reason for this massive growth? The biggest influencing factor is the popularity of smartphones. It is estimated over 53 million people in the United States use smartphones, and they are always on the lookout for apps that offer benefits and ways to simplify their lives. QR codes are free to read and generate, which makes utilizing this technology a no-brainer for both advertisers and consumers alike.

Also, more and more shoppers are realizing there are perks to being a QR code user. Those familiar with the technology are drawn to packaging or signs with the symbols because they expect to get a coupon or deal after scanning the code. Word of discounts tends to travel fast, which helps to further push the popularity of QR codes.

How to Take Advantage of this Trend?

With the rapid increase of QR usage, not utilizing this tool in your marketing strategy would be a massive oversight. It is one of the few offline ways to drive traffic to your website and generally brings more attention to your brand. However, consumers become frustrated with poorly executed codes. Follow these simple rules to ensure you use this technology effectively:

1. Make sure your website is optimized for mobile use – There is nothing quite as irritating as taking the time to scan a QR code only to be directed to a website that doesn’t display properly on a smartphone — a sure way to lose customers. Ensure your site is mobile friendly.
2. Offer a Reward – Most shoppers won’t take the time to scan your code if they don’t expect to get something out of it. Try providing some type of incentive to keep consumers engaged.
3. Understand Your Customers – For any marketing strategy to work, you must know what your customers want. Pinpoint what they hope to get out of using your QR code (coupon, recipe, instructions, etc.) and offer that reward.

Who Can Use Them?

QR codes work great for every type of business — big or small. You can display them on packaging, magazines, signs, posters, coupons, business cards, and even on TV and internet advertisements. Every day, marketers are coming up with creative ways to use this innovation, and consumers are recognizing that the codes are fun, easy, and worthwhile.

Don’t let your business get behind the curve. Instead, start using this cost-effective way to further connect with your customers.

QR Code Infographic

Several studies have shown that the majority of people have favorable opinions about restroom advertising. The signs are usually colorful and entertaining, and most people have nothing else to occupy their minds during this otherwise boring situation.

2. Captive Audience

The appeal of a captive audience is what drives most business owners to restroom advertising. There are few, if any, other places that allow you to deliver your message with so little distractions. Consumers will spend several minutes with your advertisement. This may not seem like a big deal until you consider most people only take three to five seconds to glance at traditional print ads.

3. Better Recall

Because people spend so much undistracted time with your ad, they are able to recall your message for 60% to 78% longer than other types of advertisements.

4. Simple Way to Target Specific Demographics

Whether you want to focus your campaign on a specific gender, ethnicity, income level, age, or interest, indoor advertising offers a simple solution. Just target venues where your audience frequents, and then place your ads in either the men’s or women’s restroom (or both).

5. Corner a new Segment of the Market

Since it is an “out of the home” form of advertising, you have the possibility to reach active consumers who may miss ordinary ads. This can attract whole new groups of people to your business.

6. Inexpensive

Restroom ads are a low-cost form of advertising. Not only are they less expensive than many traditional forms of marketing, but because they work more efficiently, you get a better return on your investment.

7. Attracts Consumers with High Disposable Income

By placing your ads in venues where people are already spending money (restaurants, bars, theaters, arenas, etc.), you know you are reaching consumers with disposable income. By targeting this group, you have greater potential to make sales.

8. Better Brand Recognition

Because it is so cost-effective, you can place your ads in multiple locations and have the potential to reach many more customers. As people continually spend undistracted time with your advertisements, they will begin to recognize your brand and understand your message. The more they know you, the likelier they are to choose your product or service.

9. It’s Easy

Attracting customers shouldn’t be a difficult process, and it doesn’t get more straightforward than restroom advertising.

10. It Works

The restroom advertising formula is simple: connect a target audience with your ad in an uncluttered location, and watch your sales increase dramatically. Although it is simple, repeated studies have shown this method to work. There is just no other way to get such undivided attention to your brand.

Convinced that restroom advertising is right for you? Give Rocket Dog Media a call and a talented advertising expert will discuss all the possibilities for your business.

Inside Stall

An ad inside a stall can be as simple as a well-positioned, framed sign. Although the advertisement is minimal, stall users are literally held captive with your message for one to three minutes. These are a great choice in less busy venues where people spend more time inside the stall than they do waiting in line.

Above Urinals

Generally, those using urinals have nowhere to look but straight ahead. This creates the perfect opportunity to place an ad in an area of direct eyesight — it’s hard to miss a message when it is only inches from your face. Like stall ads, these are best suited to locations without congestion, where most of the person’s time is spent in front of the facilities.

On Walls

Wall posters work best in crowded restrooms such as those found in airports, theaters, and sporting arenas. Consumers could spend several minutes or more waiting in line with nothing else to do but read your message. By positioning your poster near the entrance or exit, your brand can connect with every person that comes into the restroom. In a busy location, you could reach hundreds or thousands of people a day.

On Mirrors

Whether a restroom is busy or not, almost everyone will spend some time in front of the mirror washing their hands. Something like a colorful, vinyl cling can attract the attention of sink users and give them an impression of your brand. While these ads work well in both men and women’s restrooms, they are especially effective when targeted at women since they tend to spend more time in front of the mirror.

The great thing about restroom advertising is that it’s a relatively inexpensive small business marketing strategy. You may choose to use a stall sign for a few months and then change up your tactic by switching to a wall poster. To make the biggest impact, you can use all the types of restroom ads at once to create a domination effect in a small area.

No matter which type of restroom ad you choose, this non-traditional form of indoor advertising is sure to bring greater attention to your brand and an increase in your business’ profits. A knowledgeable advertising expert at RDM can assist you in determining which restroom advertising locations will best suit your advertisement.

Homepage ads available on KMRSKKOK.com – Engage the active community and lead potential customers to your website’s landing page for some of the best results available in local advertising. Advertising on KMRSKKOK.com is one of the fastest ways to broadcast a message to thousands of people in the community. Advertising on the homepage of KMRSKKOK.com is an exciting way to capture the attention of nearly everyone who visits the website.

Contact your Account Representative today for details on how to claim your KMRSKKOK.com website real estate.

Headline Advertising on 1 of our top 5 premium locations. Short durations.

2 locations on the homepage for the premium 620X90 ad spots. Located under the feature, headline stories and another located directly under the news headlines on the center of the page.

Maximum page real estate with the 300X300 ad size. A solid homepage location largely displaying your message next to great content, an easy way to capture the attention of visitors to the site.

728X90 -this Footer ad is displayed not only on the homepage, it’s on every page of the website. This location is so attractive because of the amount of impressions seen every day. Large and displayed on every page, a solid choice for the serious advertising campaign.

460X94 -A solid and large space of authority on every page of the website. Most website visitors use the footer as navigation, they enjoy recent and fresh updated content and the ease of use of finding pages they often visit. This ad location receives the most impressions (along with the other footer ad listed above). Results are explosive for this spot.

Speak with your Account Representative today to grab your spot. Advertising locations are limited, act now.

High School Team Page ads available on KMRSKKOK.com – Target repeat and faithful visitors to the page. This is a great way to reach out to everyone interested in what’s happening with the High School team! Contact your Account Representative today for details on how to claim your KMRSKKOK.com website real estate.

Prominent ad location on the High School team page with the premium 620X90 ad spot. Located under the feature, headline stories for the team.

Maximum page real estate with the 300X300 sidebar ad. A solid, front and center option largely displaying your message and support for the team. It’s surrounded by great content, it’s an easy way to capture the attention of the players, parents, and fans.

Speak with your Account Representative today to grab your spot. Advertising locations are limited, act now.