When my 19-year-old brother recently got off his shift at Chick-Fil-A and checked his phone, he told me that he had over 300 unread text messages.

He says that the most unread texts he’s ever had at one time is 500.

Depending on whom you ask, my brother is on the cusp of being either a millennial or part of Generation Z.

It has been widely observed that both groups use their smartphones a lot.

Because the rising generation spends so much time on technology, businesses ought to be investing heavily in Mobile marketing, especially mobile apps.

Mobile Marketing Is More Relevant Than Ever

Yet there are those who argue mobile app use is on its way out. Business Insider disagrees, saying that mobile apps, rather than being over and done with are in fact “evolving.”

One reason why is that while the number of people downloading apps has decreased, there are still a high number of users on the app store.

Also, bots, which supposedly could replace applications, are still too new to do so. Even if they weren’t, bots will not impact many of the most popular applications, such as those that feature games or videos.

Generation Z Is Coming

Just in case you’re not convinced that smartphone use will continue to grow, consider a recent report from the Washington Post on Generation Z.

Five girls, ages 10-13 were interviewed by a consulting firm called the Center for Generational Kinetics, which evaluates the traits of particular generations.

The center’s clients include many high-profile corporations who want to find out as soon as possible what Gen Z is like and what its members want.

The girls in the focus group have grown up with technology, taking it for granted as part of their lives.

From a separate survey, the firm found that Gen Z-ers don’t see a need for boundaries regarding when and where smartphones are used.

They think it’s reasonable for people to own their own phones by the time they are teenagers.

Why should these facts matter to marketers and mobile app developers? They matter because “By 2019, tens of millions of Gen-Z’ers will enter the workforce.

And by 2020, the young adults will wield roughly $3 trillion in purchasing power.”

Other Reasons to Focus on Mobile

Even now, research shows that traditional ecommerce is lagging behind mobile sales, which are growing at a rate of 300% faster than sales made on websites.

A significant majority—82%—of online shoppers go to their phones to decide which products to buy. And online shoppers spend 66% of their total shopping time on their mobile phones.

Remember, that’s the current research. We’re still waiting for the members of Generation Z to come into their true marketing power.

With mobile phone use only set to increase, it’s more important than ever for businesses to make sure they are offering their customers user-friendly mobile apps.

One more compelling reason why businesses need to focus on mobile is that user frustration with applications is a major cause of mobile cart abandonment.

Radware states that the cart abandonment rate for people shopping on their phones is as high as 97%.

If you’re wondering what to do to begin marketing on a mobile-friendly platform, there are plenty of mobile app developers out there who make it easy to transform the already-existing information on your website into an application.

Such companies offer various features, such as pre-made templates, the ability to analyze user activity, and a 99.9% server uptime. The apps are easy to publish and market, even for those who are not tech-savvy.

Mobile Marketing Apart from Apps

If utilizing the skills of an app developer is not an option for you for whatever reason, there are a few other strategies you can implement, such as mobile-friendly email marketing and mobile-friendly deals.

Calls-to-action and text message clubs are also incredibly useful for mobile devices because people are more likely to act immediately when they have their phones in hand.

Mobile Security

Security tends to be a major concern of mobile users and an area where many businesses could improve. But mobile shoppers can still take their own measures to protect their privacy.

If you are going to make a purchase through your phone, it is wise to take the following steps:

• Research apps you’re unfamiliar with to make sure they were made by a reliable developer.
• Use a credit card instead of a debit card, since a credit card offers more protection if your information is hacked.
• Screenshot your payment confirmation.
• Always use encrypted, not public, Wi-Fi.

The Future of Online Mobile Marketing

There seems to be no question that the future of online marketing is tied to mobile.

With this in mind, companies should devote a considerable amount of their resources to making sure they are offering mobile apps that are intuitive to use and as secure as possible.

Originally published 6/24/16; updated 11/2/20.

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