3 Ways Marketers Can Use Social Media to Boost Mobile Traffic

With more than 4 billion users and a predicted market value of $25 billion within the next three years, it’s no surprise that mobile usage is slated to surpass desktop usage by 2015 (source:Mashable; Techcrunch).

So how can you better optimize your applications and web-apps to stand out among the mobile clutter?

1. Increase Opportunities to Spread Word-of-Mouth

With social powering more referred traffic to many sites than organic search, failing to permit sharing from your mobile property results in missed opportunities to show up in social feeds and expand your audience. While many of today’s brands and businesses have begun to encourage content syndication to social networks, there is an obvious lag as content publishers recognize a huge increase in mobile audiences, but fail to meet this rapidly expanded userbases’ desire to share.

2. Ditch Forms - Not Data.

          According to PayPal, the average web registrant juggles 8+ usernames and passwords. It’s no secret that a percentage of users grow frustrated and fail to sign-in after forgetting their credentials. When a user attempts to log-in to a mobile property, this rate undoubtedly increases since small screens and keypads turn password retrieval turn into an even bigger chore.

          Allowing registrants to connect with a social identity strengthens your mobile property against log-in abandonment, while also providing you with valuable permission-based customer data that you don’t want to lose - including likes, interests, activities, friends/followers, and contact information leveraged with little work required of your users. Registrants who log-in via social are also able to simply syndicate content to social networks without leaving your mobile site.

3. Encourage Ratings/Reviews and Reactions in Real-Time.

Not surprisingly, 50% of all local searches now occur on Smartphones (source: Mashable). Permitting users to review a product or restaurant while it’s top-of-mind is crucial to increased conversions.

Likewise, 40% of viewers use a tablet or Smartphone while watching TV, meaning true real-time interaction requires careful attention to the mobile user experience (source: Intomobile).

The big challenge mobile marketers face in 2012? Creating opportunities for your mobile audience to talk about you in social feeds without sacrificing valuable customer data, time spent, or product quality.

How will you prepare for the mobile shift?