This week in particular there have been a host of articles regarding mobile marketing and what I found are very compelling (as well as disturbing) statistics. An article in Mobile Marketer http://bit.ly/UTGlkd noted that 76% of users want to find a company’s location and operating? from a mobile site. It cites a Google report “What Users Want Most from Mobile Sites”. Adweek also had an interesting article http://bit.ly/P09h8Y noting that ‘72% of Consumers Expect Brands to Have Mobile-Friendly Sites. But 96% have been to sites that weren’t mobile friendly’.

Full disclosure:

I do work with a great mobile partner www.lifeinmobile.com and will most likely encourage customers and associates to consider (if they don’t have one already) launching a mobile site as soon as possible.

However, I do not feel that every mobile site has to have an e-commerce orientation (shopping cart etc.) to conduct commerce. But I do feel that basic information should be available in a mobile context to be viewed more easily on both phones and tablets. I realize I am far from unique in that opinion. Americans were reared on the desktop computer and internet. The rest of the world still live their day to day lives using their mobile devices so consequently their mobile experiences are better than is the case in the U.S.

Mobile websites are of course different than mobile applications. Apps are cool shortcuts and can sometimes be quite expensive although it depends on the application’s complexity. Mobile websites are generally much less expensive – surprisingly so if there are not commerce based components integrated into the site.

When people navigate to a website on a tablet or mobile device they are ready to do something. Maybe even buy something! It won’t be long before a mobile device is the primary way people interact with the web. Getting out in front of a trend such as the move to mobile can show your company as forward thinking and customer-friendly. Ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky always said that his secret was that he skated to where the puck will be. Having a user-friendly mobile site does exactly that – even if you are a business selling to other businesses.

Let’s say you sell plumbing supplies to plumbers, buying cooperatives, or large enterprises. While your customers are unlikely to purchase a large variety of supplies on a mobile site that does not mean they should not be able to have a good mobile experience. Information on who to contact, best-selling products, locations, and click-to-call would make it easy for the prospect or customer to get the information they were seeking.

Case in point – The Adweek article noted “Fifty-five percent of respondents said a frustrating mobile experience hurts their opinion of a brand, but it’s more than a brand’s consumer sentiment that takes a knock. If the site isn’t mobile-friendly, 61 percent said they’ll take their attentions—and their wallets—elsewhere. However, if a site is mobile-friendly, 67 percent of consumers said they’re more likely to make a purchase. TicketNetwork, for example, saw its mobile traffic grow by 120 percent and mobile sales rise by 184 percent four months after launching a mobile site.”

Monetizing a mobile site is also critically important for companies that wish to transact business in a mobile environment. I will detail some interesting ways to do that in a future post.

If you were not convinced before are you now?