Marketing Tasks for 2014 that Should Have Been Done in 2013, Part 1

In a perfect world, kids would finish everything on their plate. So would business owners.

We may not live in a fantasy land such as this, but some marketing-related business tasks are too important to be treated like the peas of my youth.

This is Part 1 in a three-part series that will close out 2013. The first of three tasks to make a priority in 2014 – even though it should have been a priority this year – is one of those “no duh” recommendations. Based on what I see on a daily basis, it’s still painfully necessary.

And those who ignore it are leaving opportunities and revenue on the table – for their competition.

Optimize for mobile. Everything.

Instead of rattling off a bunch of mobile statistics, I’ll ask you to think about how you use your smartphone.

Your smartphone never leaves your sight, your hand, your pocket or your purse. It probably sleeps next to you at night. It keeps you entertained, informed and connected. It helps you make faster, smarter decisions.

Without a smartphone, you’re lost. So are your customers.

Then why in the name of all that is reasonable haven’t you optimized your website for mobile?

A mobile website makes it possible for potential customers to walk into your business anytime, anywhere, from any device.

When you try to squeeze your desktop site into a smartphone or tablet, you’re making it difficult for those customers to walk around and find what they need. Depending on how bad the site looks on mobile, you could be slamming the door in their faces.

Not nice. And not good business.

Two-thirds of mobile website visitors will never return if your site isn’t optimized for mobile and delivers a poor user experience.

Whether you go with responsive design or a mobile website, do it now. If you don’t have the time or ability to do it yourself, find a good developer, designer and content writer. The investment is more than worth it.

Use a responsive WordPress theme that requires minimal customization and you can have a mobile-friendly, user-friendly website up and running pretty quickly.

At this stage of the game, we need to be thinking mobile first with everything – concise content that delivers a clear message, powerful imagery that grabs attention, and simple navigation that makes life easy for the user.

The principles that enhance the mobile user experience will improve the desktop user experience, too. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to read through endless blather or click more than necessary just because I’m using my laptop that’s hooked up to a big HD monitor.

A mobile-first approach doesn’t just apply to your website. How easy is it to read your email distributions on a smartphone? If people need to rotate their devices and pinch and zoom, it’s time to pick a new template.

Just like mobile internet use is overtaking desktop internet use, about half of all emails are now viewed on mobile devices.

The trend is clearly shifting to mobile, so why not just use a mobile template? You’ll satisfy mobile users, and you can customize and test your emails to make sure they look great in the desktop versions of Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo and other email applications.

Again, a mobile-first approach not only creates a better user experience, but also forces you to focus and keep things simple. Do this and your customers, and bottom line, will thank you.