Almost every prospect who contacts me has already Googled me, checked out our blog, and visited our firm website before they ever call me to set-up the initial appointment. This is a sure sign that these technologies are well past critical mass.
I use the term "critical mass" to mean that your best customers are expecting the firms they deal with to have that particular product, technology, or service available. And, they will only consider buying from those places that do.
In my example, I can attest to the fact that if I did not have a strong presence on Google, did not have a blog, and did not have a good website, I would most likely not even be considered by these new prospects.
Lesson: Once a technology hits critical mass, the business owner ignores it at their own risk! They learn how to implement it into their business or they slowly start losing ground to competitors who have learned how to use the technology to reach their customers.
Alex Lerch, in his blog post titled "Why You Need A Mobile Website This Year" (www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-you-need-mobile-website-year-alex-lerch), bluntly states:
Now is the time for businesses to become very aware of the need to target their marketing towards mobile device users, as they are rapidly starting to dominate the share of internet and search engine use.
He goes on to list the following “cold hard facts”:
- 58% of American adults have a smartphone with internet capability
- 32% of American adults have an e-reader
- 42% of American adults have a tablet computer
- 29% of cell owners describe their cell phone as "something they can't imagine living without."
- 34% of cell internet users go online mostly using their phones, and not using some other device such as a desktop or laptop computer.
And these trends are not slowing down. In Alex Lerch's article he states that Apple sold 39 million phones in the third quarter of 2014 alone. In the fourth quarter of 2014 Apple sold another 39.2 million iPhones and 12.3 million iPads. (www.theverge.com/2014/10/20/7022335/apple-q4-2014-earnings)
The problem? While 34% of users find your website using their phone, only one out of 10 small business websites are optimized for mobile.
I agree with Mr. Lerch that "Mobile dominance in the market is not a trend, but a change in course for all online marketing. An effective website today is not the same as it was three years ago.”
In my article titled “Is Your Business Growing or Dying?” I listed six things that successful businesses do differently from those businesses that are struggling to survive. Two are pertinent to this topic:
- Successful business owners stay current, and often lead the way, on tech trends.
- They also understand how these changes in technology will affect how their customers interact and buy from them.
2015 is a great time to gain a competitive advantage by optimizing your web content for mobile devices. Check out future articles where we will cover how to accomplish this in more detail.