The invention of mobile technology has taken the business world by storm. According to an article by Statista, the number of mobile phone users is estimated to rise to 4.77 billion through 2017 and will likely pass the 5 billion mark by 2019. Mobile connectivity and communication has transformed how businesses create, plan, and distribute products, services, and messages. As a solopreneur, how can mobile technology enhance your business?
 

Augmented Operations

Business operations are smoother and swifter than ever before due to mobile technology. Cloud computing has by far contributed the most to streamlining how companies share and access information. This unprecedented accessibility allows vital files to be viewed, shared, edited, and transferred from anywhere to anywhere in seconds. This allows increasingly accurate and relevant service to clients and teammates alike.
Cloud-based tools and mobile technologies make removing traditional blockers to fast start-ups a snap. Scaling rapidly is essential to start-ups, and the ability to communicate and receive payments in seconds has eliminated what was traditionally a serious obstacle. Growth, production, and export milestones are surpassed faster, which spells better profitability for businesses and investors. Tools such as Slack, Google Drive, Wave, Wrike, and PayPal have cut the amount of time it takes to communicate, pay bills, collaborate on projects, receive payments, and more.
 

Improved Customer Experience

Mobile devices are rising in importance in customers’ lives. A large percentage of consumers perform searches and make purchases on mobile devices. Therefore, smart businesses must leverage this trend for profitability by making their websites mobile responsive and even creating mobile apps to aid consumer research and shopping. Mobile apps provide the personalized experience and level of service that consumers now expect. Shop, compare products, read reviews, and make purchases from virtually any location. In addition, those businesses with a stake in visual representation can adopt 3D concepts to allow consumers the total view of a property or product right from their mobile device.
Moreover, customers can directly share their feedback and concerns about products and services through mobile technology and receive quick responses to their complaints and queries. These consumer-friendly interactive methods help maintain clear communication with consumers and improve the overall client experience.
 

Enhanced Collaboration

The workforce of today has become mobile. This technology has enabled companies to expand their reach and employ a global network of employees and contractors. Business colleagues can now collaborate from anywhere in the world. Mobile devices make it possible to conduct online meetings, teleconferences, video calls and more via the internet with participants from every corner of the globe. Mobile users can attend group meetings or conference calls and contribute to the discussion as if they were physically present. Such flexibility allows increased participation and motivation among all participants.
In addition, such collaborative measures allow businesses to employ more freelance subcontractors for a variety of tasks. Professionals from all over the world can be part of your company’s talent pool, and for much less overhead than if you hired in-house and had to provide benefits, physical space, taxes, and infrastructure to support these personnel. Subcontracting with freelance professionals is a growing trend in business that provides a win for both companies and freelancers.
 

Advanced Marketing Strategies

Mobile marketing has quickly gained popularity as more customers turn to their mobile devices for practically everything. As a result, beacons that use Bluetooth technology are often used in stores to deliver personalized discounts and offers to customers’ mobile phones. The smartphone automatically connects with the network, reports the user present, and receives offers and coupons relevant to previous searches or shopping history.
Social media is primarily aimed at mobile users, as most consumers claim to access their social media accounts from mobile devices. Marketing through social media must then focus on a mobile consumer moving about and making decisions on the go. Messages and images must influence consumers to click a link and get information with easy purchasing and shipping options. This demands increased creativity and flexibility on the part of businesses to make their marketing efforts stand out among the crowd.
 

How can your business become more mobile-friendly?

• Optimize your website for the mobile and tablet screen environment. Mobile responsive design allows your website to automatically adjust when it senses what type of device is connected. In addition, more visual content is a key factor, especially video, which is what mobile users like best.
• Make your business easy to find on mobile search engines. Focus on an effective SEO strategy, including keywords and Meta data for every page in your web site. Include website mapping and social media information to provide quick and clickable contact information.
• Focus your strategy on local users. Local customers generally make up the largest group of people using mobile phones to find a business or service in their local area. A business with a global reach must also be hometown friendly and accessible.
• Utilize text message marketing. This is a very effective way for small businesses to advertise promotions or special offers to their customer base. Feature sign-ups for this text message service on your website, social media pages, and everywhere else you advertise.
• Update content regularly. Visitors to your website and social pages access them more often via mobile phone. This increase in frequency means they need more to keep them coming back. Focus on visually compelling and informative content with little reading necessary, like video and images.
• Test and measure your mobile strategy often. There is no golden ticket that works for every small business. To be successful, you must regularly re-evaluate to see what is really working to reach your audience. Analyze and make necessary adjustments. With the speed of mobile, any changes must be made swiftly or you risk losing many of your mobile customers.

2017 has seen the mobile wave continue to grow, with over eight out of ten people using a mobile device to access the internet. Moreover, well over half of e-commerce website traffic comes through mobile devices. Mobile has become mainstream. It’s no longer an experiment, but rather a robust marketing and communications platform that must be a central part of every company’s organizational strategy.
How do you leverage mobile technology to grow your business? What tips for implementing mobile technology or optimizing for mobile can you offer our readers? We would love your feedback! Share your thoughts, comments, mobile successes or failures, and questions with us in the comments.