11 Mobile Marketing Strategies that Work in 2024

(This article was originally published on Udonis’ blog.)

Mobile device usage has been on a steady rise. Experts predict that 77% of the global population will use smartphones by 2025. So if you want to elevate your business, mobile marketing is essential. Here are the different mobile marketing strategies you should leverage in 2024.

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is one of the fundamental mobile marketing strategies. It encompasses all marketing content visible to users as they scroll through their preferred social media platforms.

For instance, sharing content on your business’s Facebook or Instagram account falls under organic social media marketing, which involves no advertising costs. On the flip side, paid social media marketing involves purchasing ad space across mobile platforms to enhance your reach.

To leverage social media marketing effectively, it’s crucial to pick suitable platforms, ensure your content is optimized for mobile viewing, and engage meaningfully with your audience.

Notably, several leading social media platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok, are primarily designed with mobile users in mind, which makes them integral to a mobile-first marketing approach.

In-App Advertising

Did you know that a whopping 92% of the time people spend on their phones is within apps?

Pretty wild, right? So, ignoring this could be a missed opportunity.

But, this doesn’t mean you have to go out and make your own app (though that could be a good idea for your business). Instead, you can get your message out there by advertising in existing apps.

This is what we call in-app advertising and it’s a paid mobile marketing strategy.

In-app advertising is possible thanks to mobile ad networks like Google Ads, Facebook, AppLovin, and many others that place ads into third-party apps.

Types of In-App Ads

Now, let’s talk about the ads themselves.

They’re not all the same.

You’ve got banner ads that hang out at the top or bottom of your screen, interstitial ads that pop up full screen, and rewarded video ads that offer perks for watching them.

And guess what? Users tend to like dynamic ad formats over static ones.

That brings us to utilizing video for your mobile marketing campaigns.

Mobile Video Advertising

As I mentioned, static content simply doesn’t cut it anymore.

According to Facebook’s research, videos hold people’s attention 5x longer than static images, and on mobile, this effect is even more pronounced.

Techjury reports that over 75% of video views happen on mobile, spanning across social media, streaming services, and entertainment apps. The rise of video-centric platforms like TikTok, one of the most downloaded mobile apps, highlights this trend.

While organic reach through video is possible, video ads are a quicker route to capturing audience attention. Video ad revenues are expected to soar to $241 billion by 2028, signaling a surge in their popularity.

At Udonis, we’ve learned that effective mobile video ads start strong, stay short, and closely align with the audience’s interests.

For effective engagement, vertical videos are key due to the portrait orientation of most devices. Six-second ads, or bumper ads, cater to our shrinking attention spans by being brief yet impactful.

User-generated content, embodying authenticity, also performs exceptionally well, as evidenced by Toyota’s Feeling the Street campaign, which increased Facebook ad engagement by 440%.

Mobile Apps

The mobile app market is thriving, which isn’t surprising given that over 80% of mobile usage occurs within apps.

For advertising, mobile apps offer two main avenues. We’ve already covered one — advertising within popular existing apps. The second mobile marketing strategy is to develop your own app tailored to your business.

Developing a mobile app for your business can simplify shopping for your customers, allowing for direct purchases, exclusive discounts, and promotional alerts. Push notifications enhance this by providing a direct line to your audience, and keep them informed regardless of their location.

Yet, the decision to create an app shouldn’t be automatic for every business.

It’s crucial to evaluate the actual need for an app and its financial feasibility.

Despite high app usage rates, the majority of that time is spent on social media and messaging apps.

Moreover, the reality of app engagement is sobering. Many users download apps only to use them sparingly, if at all.

TechCrunch highlights this trend, noting that the average smartphone user interacts with just nine apps daily. This statistic emphasizes the importance of careful consideration before venturing into app development.

Mobile Websites

It might seem obvious, but emphasizing the importance of a mobile-optimized website is crucial. Ensuring your website is mobile-friendly isn’t an option; it’s a necessity that should have been addressed already.

In today’s digital age, it’s the baseline expectation.

Surprisingly, many small businesses overlook the significance of a mobile-optimized site, which is a critical oversight.

Google has shifted its focus, prioritizing mobile versions of websites over desktop versions when indexing and ranking pages.

A website that isn’t properly optimized for mobile devices not only risks falling out of favor with Google, potentially disappearing from mobile search results, but also alienates a significant portion of potential customers.

Consider the user experience: 43% of consumers won’t revisit a website that suffers from slow loading times, and 40% will turn to a competitor after a poor mobile browsing experience.

The stakes are high, and the competition is fierce. Prioritizing user experience by optimizing for mobile browsing is not just recommended; it’s essential.

Mobile Influencer Marketing

Mobile marketing is not only about relying on different technologies. Relying on the right people can be lucrative too.

These are mobile influencers — people with fanbases and authority on different mobile platforms.

Mobile influencer marketing can help you boost brand awareness for your business, reach target audience, achieve authenticity, increase visibility on social media platforms, and more.

The key to success in this type of mobile marketing is choosing the right influencers. Make sure to pick out an influencer who is:

• authentic
• experienced in your niche
• relevant to the target audience
• present on the same platforms as your target audience

Other than that, it’s important to stay up to date with influencer marketing trends. For example, a couple of years ago, businesses fought for the influencers with the biggest follower bases.

However, in the last couple of years, the tables have turned.

Now, the trend is focusing on authentic micro and nano-influencers with high engagement rates. Another influencer marketing trend is focusing on video content, just like in other types of mobile marketing.

Location-Based Marketing

Have you noticed how, when you travel somewhere, the ads on your phone become more local? This is what location-based marketing is all about.

With this mobile marketing strategy, you can create offers or promotions based on the location of your customers. People never leave the house without their smartphones. And that allows you to reach your customers anytime and anywhere.

According to Siteefy, eight out of ten marketers use location targeting for their mobile marketing campaigns. Moreover, Google reports that the number of queries that include terms like “where to buy” and “near me” is constantly growing.

Geo-fencing and Geo-conquesting

You can use geo-fencing and geo-conquesting techniques to reach users based on their geographical location, both of which are quite effective.

Geo-fencing means that you pretty much set a virtual fence around the location of your business. When a user enters that area, that triggers preset alerts. Those notifications can be anything from offers, discount codes, coupons, etc.

For instance, local businesses can set up their mobile ads to only appear within a one-mile radius of their locations. It is very unlikely that people will travel any further to visit a local business.

Geo-conquesting is a technique of setting that virtual fence around the location of your competitor. So you’re basically conquesting competitors’ locations and their customers.

Cool, right?

App Store Optimization

If you have an app and you want your customers to use it, app store optimization (ASO) should be one of your main focuses.

ASO is frequently called SEO for mobile apps.

App store optimization is the process of optimizing app store listings for mobile apps and games (Google Play & Apple App Store). The goal is to increase an app’s visibility and installs by ranking higher in the app stores.

App store optimization can help app marketers reach more users even if they don’t have big advertising budgets. The better ranking an app has, the more organic (free) downloads it will get.

What affects the ranking?

The most important app store ranking factors are:

• app name
• app description
• keywords
• visuals (app icon, screenshots, promo video)

As you can see, every single aspect of the app store listing should be optimized. If you’re wondering how to get started, here’s a step-by-step ASO guide.

Mobile Commerce Marketing

Mobile commerce marketing is an indispensable strategy for businesses focused on sales. Its importance has only escalated over the years, particularly with the surge in online shopping triggered by the pandemic.

This trend isn’t slowing down; projections indicate a 40% increase in time spent on shopping apps by 2025, according to App Annie.

So, what mobile marketing strategies can you employ to boost your mobile commerce efforts effectively?

Firstly, consider developing a shopping app. In today’s market, consumers expect seamless and enjoyable shopping experiences directly from their mobile devices.

Next, don’t overlook the power of social commerce. Most leading social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, now offer social commerce capabilities, which allows you to tap into their massive user bases.

Lastly, shoppable ads, particularly shoppable video ads, are gaining momentum. These interactive ads, found on platforms ranging from YouTube to Instagram, provide a direct path for consumers to purchase products.

Mobile Search Marketing

Since the dawn of the internet, search engines have been a go-to source for information, a trend that has only intensified with the mobile revolution.

Semrush reports that now around 60% of all searches come from mobile devices.

Mobile searches stand out from desktop queries in several ways.

Consider your own habits: when you search on your mobile, what’s your main goal? If you’re like most people, you want answers quickly.

This urgency means that the top search engine results capture the most attention. To climb to these coveted positions, consider allocating a portion of your advertising budget to search engine ads, such as Google search ads. These ads can be tailored specifically for mobile users and include features like clickable phone numbers or instant directions.

For organic search success, the magic word is search engine optimization (SEO). Mobile-friendliness is a critical factor here; it’s not just beneficial but essential for satisfying SEO algorithms and achieving better search rankings.

Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented Reality (AR) isn’t new, yet its potential for mobile marketing remains largely untapped by many businesses. This opens up a unique window for you to differentiate yourself from the competition.

The essence of a successful AR mobile marketing campaign lies in creativity. It’s all about crafting experiences that are not just engaging but also memorable for your customers.

Examples of AR Marketing Innovations

Even more than a decade ago, forward-thinking brands were already exploring the possibilities of AR.

Take AMC Theaters back in 2013, for instance. They launched an AR campaign that transformed movie posters into interactive experiences. By simply pointing their smartphones at a poster, moviegoers could watch the trailer on their screens and even purchase tickets through the AR app.

Simple, yet effective.

Another standout example is Gucci’s AR trial. Customers could virtually try on shoes by pointing their phones at their feet, allowing a digital overlay of the shoes to appear. This blend of the digital and physical worlds offers a glimpse into the potential of AR marketing.

What sets AR apart, especially from virtual reality (VR), is its accessibility. While VR often requires special headsets, AR can be experienced directly through a mobile phone.

Mobile Marketing Strategy

Need help with your mobile marketing strategy? Reach out to us — as a mobile marketing agency, we have years of experience with helping mobile businesses reach their marketing goals!