Proudly serving the industry for which it was named for more than 50 years, Outdoor Power Equipment provides dealers who sell and service outdoor power equipment with valuable information to succeed in a competitive market.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/108758
FEATURE STORY By Catherine Lukas Ter-Horst The Mobile Movement: All devices lead to your website A ccording to Google, 96 percent of the U.S. market is on a mobile device, and nearly half of that market (and counting) is on a smartphone. Does your business have the tools it needs to meet and compete in this growing market? In order to remain successful and competitive in a multi-device and on-thego world, you need to market your business to the growing population of mobile users — customers who use mobile phones, smartphones and tablets. That means taking advantage of the new technology in your brick-and-mortar store. Mobile devices are changing the way we live, and your business must change with them. If you haven't already started to think about your business this way, you need to start now. The goal of this article is to provide you with some of the key things you should consider to begin positioning your business to reach out, and capture, mobile consumer dollars. Today's mobile users Technology has changed, and so have 26 consumers when it comes to using mobile devices. They are no longer used simply to make a phone call or send text messages. Having the ability to search for, and quickly find, relevant and timely information is a "must have" when it comes to using a mobile device. Mobile searches are mostly local, and a majority lead to customer action. ThinkWith Google.com says 92 percent of Americans find local business information with their smartphones, and 89 percent take action after finding that information, either by calling or stopping into the business. According to the same website, "The companies that make mobile central to their marketing strategies will have an advantage in engaging with the mobile consumer." You have several options to help mobile customers find you. However, the most important thing you need to do is provide them with an easy-to-use and easy-to-view place to experience your dealership. If your dealership has a website, you're well on the way. Unfortunately, that's not enough anymore because the difference OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT Mobile-optimized versus mobile-friendly The first step is to understand the difference between making your site mobileoptimized versus mobile-friendly. • Mobile-optimized websites: This type of website is labor-intensive and requires that you deploy and support two completely different versions of your website — one for desktop/laptop users and one for mobile users. Today, this is used by large companies — Target, Amazon, The Home Depot — which have dedicated IT departments to develop and support the platforms required. Some websites may require you to download a dedicated application that enables that website to be accessed from a mobile device. Dedicated applications are great when customers are specifically looking for them, but not when a customer is already on your site and wants to make a purchase. The customer will need to stop the purchase process and be redirected to use the dedicated application. • Mobile-friendly websites: This type of website includes a mobile web interface which is designed to detect the device you are using and automatically display your site in either full website view or mobile view. This type of website is more widely used by dealerships because it is less labor-intensive, more widely supported by website providers, www.outdoorpowerequipment.com Illustration ©istockphoto.com/PixelEmbargo. in experience between how a customer searches for your business on a computer versus on a mobile device can mean the difference between getting a new customer and losing an existing one. The exciting thing is that you don't have to invest in a completely different website to reach those customers. And, you can begin to take steps today to leverage what you already have to start changing your business. If you're a mobile-device user yourself, you've probably noticed that how you access and view information on a mobile device is very different than when you use a desktop or laptop computer. And, as you begin to consider reaching the mobile market, there are really two key things you need to consider: technology and content. Today's technology gives you choices, and you can decide how to mobilize your existing business.You can make your business mobileoptimized or simply mobile-friendly. And, when it comes to content, you want to make sure the information you make available is relevant and timely, and leads to results.