Social media marketing professionals know the power of mobile when considering how to increase conversion rate. Not only is it increasingly becoming the go-to method for answering everyday questions, but it’s also a key indicator of consumers’ intent to purchase.
In a 2016 Think With Google survey of 1,000 people, when an everyday problem arose, 96% completed a mobile search for the solution. And what’s more, for an astonishing 87% of them, it was the very first thing that they did.
These were ‘problems’ like, “Where should we go for dinner?”, or “What do people think of this film?”. These micro-moments might not hold much weight for us consumers—they’re just thoughts that we have hundreds of times a day—but for social media marketing experts, they can be immensely valuable to inform mobile marketing strategy.
Secondly, we know that 92% of those who searched on their phone then went on to make a related purchase within the day. That’s an outstanding mobile conversion rate.
And not only that, but people are also actively searching on their mobiles for purchases beyond the here and now—68% are searching about things they will need or want at some point in the future.
So how do we capture these high-value leads? How can businesses and marketers alike capitalise on these crucial micro-moments to boost both their immediate and long-term mobile conversion rate?
Forms might play a bigger role than you think in your mobile marketing strategy.
The Role of Mobile Forms
While the role of mobile forms in your business is to capture data about high-value leads, this holds no value to your customer. To them, the role of the form is to get them something that they want—the step beyond the form. That might be an account on your site, access to updates, or a free download you’ve promised.
Your mobile marketing strategy hinges on consumer experience. With this in mind, your form needs to be as unobtrusive as possible. Simple to complete, quick, and not requiring too much thought. Otherwise, if the barrier is too high, your consumers just aren’t going to bother, or are going to leave with a negative memory of your brand, and you’ve lost a potentially brilliant, ready-to-buy lead.
The first rule goes without saying, and that’s to minimise the fields. Mobile screens are a fraction of the size of desktop ones. They’re also taller than they are wide, meaning answers have to be shorter to fit on a line, and typing is more cumbersome on a smaller keypad.
Once you’ve simplified your form as much as you can, here are 5 additional ways to increase form conversion rates and in turn boost your social media marketing.
1. Automate Responses if You Can
Both autocorrect and autofill features can make your consumers’ lives so much easier. We love it when we log into a site and it remembers who we are, so we don’t have to try all of our 10 different passwords. Likewise, we love it when a form predicts our address, and we can just click to confirm. Autofill and autocorrect also has the bonus benefit of ensuring you get the right data—minus the typos that can wreak havoc with your future funnel.
It’s also worth mentioning that scanners can be a marketer’s best friend when it comes to capturing credit card information. While autofilling can solve the issue, it’s a hassle if you don’t have that data on file. Instead, a scanner can read the details on a card held in front of it—taking the hard work out of a notoriously annoying field.
2. Streamline Form Layout
We’re talking strictly a single column of response fields, for ease of reading and so you don’t scare anyone off. It’s also a far more intuitive action to scroll down rather than across. Remember—it’s a portrait aspect ratio, so build your layout around the screen it sits within. For any segments or drop-down lists, consider a collapsable format.
Secondly, punctuate your form with clear, coloured, one-word action buttons, like ‘Send’ or ‘Submit’. Not only does it minimise the risk of your consumers getting lost, but it also reaffirms that they’ve taken the action they intended to.
3. Anticipate Questions, Then Answer Them
As with all marketing, you should try to anticipate problems and provide an answer as needed. One way to do this through forms is to have a little information icon present at the end of ambiguous or uncommon fields. Upon hover, consumers can see a succinct explanation of what is required.
Another example is with longer response fields. Perhaps you’ve asked your consumer how they first heard about your product. Without any guidance, they won’t be sure if they’re expected to write a word, a sentence or a paragraph. Particularly with competition forms, consumers are more motivated to give more detail—which can be time consuming for both you and them if that’s not what you were after. Add in a guide via a character limit.
4. Keep Track of Progress
Whether short or long, all forms should include a progress bar or other indicator of a consumer’s form completion status. Even if it’s long, it’ll help to manage their expectations, and judge whether or not they want to invest the time and effort. You’ll see your mobile conversion rate go through the roof. Without a progress bar, you risk people getting frustrated and leaving when they’re unknowingly on the last question.
5. Minimise Errors
Error messages work a treat—advising people if their mobile number is in the wrong format, for example, rather than having to manually weed out these errors yourself. Similar to autofill and autocorrect, it’s another way to minimise the workload on your end—with the added bonus of improving the experience for your consumer.
