What is mobile marketing? And how to leverage it to attract customers

Mobile marketing is a necessity for businesses that want to reach customers across devices and drive e-commerce sales. After all, mobile devices aren’t just tools for communicating on the go anymore; they’re baked into every aspect of people’s lives, whether they’re conducting business, streaming their favorite show, or researching their next purchase.

Americans spend an average of 5 hours and 16 minutes per day on their phones, and nearly half say they’re addicted to their phones.¹ For businesses, the benefits of mobile marketing are clear: Tap into a broad audience of smartphone users who are consistently engaging with their devices.

So, what is mobile marketing, exactly? In this article, we’ll break down the importance of mobile marketing for small businesses, key channels and strategies to leverage, and best practices for optimizing your campaigns. With these insights, you can be well prepared to stand out in a competitive landscape and boost mobile marketing results.

What is mobile marketing?

What is mobile marketing? Mobile marketing is the process of using content campaigns to reach audiences on smartphones and tablet devices. The mobile marketing channels you choose will depend on your target market and campaign goals. If you’re looking to increase brand awareness among Gen Z, for example, you might create short, attention-grabbing videos for TikTok or Instagram.

Businesses can also use mobile optimization strategies to continuously improve their campaigns and streamline user experiences. For example, they can create mobile-responsive websites and ads that load quickly and clearly across devices.

How does mobile marketing work?

Mobile marketing involves reaching customers through different channels like SMS text, social media apps, and push notifications. To drive organic mobile engagement, businesses shouldn’t just copy-and-paste their desktop campaigns onto these channels. They should develop customized content that’s tailored to the mobile customer experience and user journey.

How does mobile advertising work?

Mobile advertising is the process of launching paid campaigns for target audiences on mobile devices. For example, businesses can deliver personalized ads via SMS text to promote timely deals and recommended products.

Data analytics is crucial to mobile advertising success. By analyzing campaign results and tracking customer behaviors, businesses can refine their campaigns accordingly and enhance results. This can also help them streamline spend and make the most of their mobile ad budgets.

Examples of mobile marketing channels

There are many mobile marketing channels to choose from, each with its own audience demographics and use cases. Popular channels include:

Mobile-responsive websites

Just because your website can be accessed on mobile browsers doesn’t mean it’s mobile-friendly. If your site is only built for desktop devices, images may fail to load or the layout might look distorted on mobile, which can increase your bounce rate and frustrate visitors. That’s why it’s important to use mobile web design to make sure your pages function seamlessly on smartphones and tablets. For example, you can compress images so they load faster and minimize redirects to prevent delays.

Mobile apps

Mobile apps offer a dedicated space for users to interact with brands, fostering loyalty and engagement. Businesses can use their apps to deliver personalized content, interactive experiences, and loyalty rewards. Apps can also serve as dedicated e-commerce hubs for each brand.

In-app advertising

Marketers can also launch in-app ads to reach customers across other apps on their devices. These might include display ads, video ads, interactive ads, or sponsored content that blends in with the user experience.

For example, businesses can create in-app marketing campaigns to be distributed in publishing, gaming, or streaming apps. They can also launch social media campaigns across apps like TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube to deliver targeted, personalized ads to specific demographics.

SMS texts

Adopt an SMS marketing strategy to deliver concise and direct messages to users' smartphones. For example, you can reach customers with timely promotions, new product alerts, and trending content to, driving them to your website or app for more information.

Push notifications

Similar to SMS texts, you can use your app to send real-time mobile push notifications directly to people’s devices. Just ask users to opt in to receive these messages and customize their settings according to their interests.

Why is a mobile marketing strategy important?

Mobile devices play a pivotal role in today’s customer journey. People can use their smartphones and tablets to search for product reviews, follow their favorite brands, scan QR codes, navigate physical stores, and order products to be delivered the next day. They can also use their devices to make digital payments both in-person and online.

It’s no surprise, then, that consumers expect seamless and relevant experiences on their mobile devices. Failing to meet such expectations can result in lost sales opportunities and dissatisfied customers. That’s why a well-crafted mobile marketing strategy provides a significant competitive advantage. Businesses that embrace mobile marketing tools can stay ahead of the curve, tap into a vast pool of potential customers, and establish a deeper connection with their existing audience.

Mobile marketing campaigns also allow small business owners to gather valuable data and insights about customers. They can then use these insights to tailor their content to customers’ preferences, optimizing performance results and reducing wasteful spend.

Five benefits of mobile marketing for businesses

1. Increased reach and accessibility: Mobile marketing allows businesses to reach a wider audience without geographic constraints.
2. Enhanced customer engagement: Businesses can engage customers where they’re already active and consuming content, and nurture relationships with real-time interactions.
3. Improved targeting and personalization: By leveraging data analytics to understand user behavior, preferences, and demographics, businesses can create highly targeted and personalized campaigns. Tailoring content to individual needs and interests also continues to boost engagement and conversion rates.
4. Measurable results and return on investment (ROI): One of the most significant advantages of mobile marketing is its measurability. Businesses can track the performance of campaigns in real time, measuring key metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and customer acquisition costs. This data-driven approach supports continuous optimization and a positive ROI.
5. Cost-effectiveness: Mobile advertising allows for precise budget allocation, since you only pay for the interactions or clicks that your campaigns generate.

Measuring and optimizing mobile marketing

Businesses should continuously measure and optimize their campaigns to enhance results. Consider tracking key mobile marketing metrics such as:

• Impressions: The number of times your ad is shown to users. For example, you might track impressions of search, social media, and display ads. Impressions are helpful for gauging brand awareness and reach among your target audience. You can also track viewable impressions, specifically, to measure how many times your ad actively seen by users — meaning, it’s visible on their screens for a certain amount of time.

• Clickthrough rate (CTR): The percentage of people who click on your ads or organic content. A high CTR can indicate that your campaigns are effective at grabbing people’s attention and motivating them to learn more. If your CTR is low, consider adding or adjusting your call to action (CTA) with an enticing and click-worthy directive, like “Discover more,” “Download now,” or “Start shopping.”

• Leads: The number of people who have demonstrated consideration for brand or products beyond just the awareness stage of the marketing funnel. Going further than just viewing or clicking on an ad, leads might have expressed their interest by signing up for an email newsletter, registering for an event, or downloading a piece of content.

• Conversion rate (CVR): The percentage of people who convert by completing a specific action. Depending on your campaign goals, your conversion event might be an app installation, form completion, or purchase. CVR is often used to track lower-funnel campaigns that are created to specifically generate ROI and performance results.
• Bounce rate: The percentage of people who leave your website after only viewing one page. A high bounce rate can indicate that your website content isn’t engaging enough or is difficult to navigate. So, even if your ads are enticing enough to drive clicks, your on-site experience isn’t effective at moving users further through the funnel. If you have a high bounce rate, consider optimizing your web page loading times and layouts for user-friendliness.

• Return on investment (ROI): Your net profit divided by your marketing costs. Essentially, ROI measures how much you earn from your marketing and advertising expenses. A positive ROI indicates that you’re making money from your marketing campaigns while a negative ROI indicates that you’re losing money. Even if you have a negative ROI, that doesn’t mean your marketing efforts are in vain. Use your campaign data to understand what does and doesn’t work among your audience, and optimize future campaigns for better results.

Optimizing mobile marketing

Now that you know what mobile marketing is, it’s time to understand how you can optimize your campaigns over time. Let’s break down some next-level strategies that you can use to optimize your mobile marketing efforts:

• Implement tracking and reporting tools: Leverage user analytics platforms to monitor engagement across mobile channels and slice data into categorized reports.

• Run A/B tests: Also known as split tests, A/B tests are used to compare the performance of two different campaigns to see which generates better results. For example, you might test two different versions of your ad copy, visuals, landing pages, or calls to action. This can also help you make the most of your marketing budget and streamline spend.

• Leverage location-based marketing: Don’t just target a large swath of customers by city or country. Reach them with relevant and personalized ads based on their real-time location. For instance, you can send push notifications with special offers when they’re near one of your stores or provide helpful recommendations for products or activities based on the weather in their area.

• Map out your user journey: Customers may use multiple mobile channels on their path to purchase. For instance, they might see a social ad, click through to your website, sign up for your email newsletter, download your app, and then finally choose to check out. By mapping this journey, you can create mobile content that drives customers through the funnel and contributes to conversion optimization.

Leverage mobile marketing to reach more customers

In today's business landscape, mobile outreach solutions — such as small business apps and social media marketing campaigns — are powerful tools for connecting with new audiences and building brand loyalty. To stand out among the competition, marketers must leverage innovative strategies to optimize their campaigns and boost ROI. They should also integrate their mobile efforts with overall marketing strategies to create a seamless customer journey across devices.

Most importantly, when shoppers are ready to check out, you want their experience to be as smooth and intuitive as possible. That’s where PayPal’s online payments solution can help. With PayPal, you can meet customers with their preferred payment methods and streamline your checkout process — delivering a seamless mobile journey from awareness to purchase.