Cross-Device Marketing Tips and Challenges

SEMPO Chicago Cross-Device Marketing Panel Hosted by Microsoft

On Wednesday March 26 I attended a networking and informational event sponsored by +SEMPO Chicago and held at Microsoft's +Microsoft's local headquarters.  The topic was "Why Cross-Device Marketing is Important & Charting the Course for Success".   Panelists were Matt Maroon, James Colborn, Felicia Gardner, Rebecca Keen and Bob Tripathi. The moderator was +Josh Dreller SEMPO Chicago VP.  The panelists each offered a unique perspective on the state of implementing mobile technology for marketing purposes.

The group consensus was that although responsive web design, design that is available and accessible to the user across all platforms is important, typically budgets are still in 'silos', often making it difficult to free up the funds for mobile marketing.  Most of the attendees said that only about 20-30% of their traffic was coming from mobile usage, so perhaps the issue of responsive design will be more pressing in the future and force departments to work together.  The bottom line is still to make it easy for your customers to access your web site and to dialogue with you.

SEMPO @Microsoft Cross-Device Marketing Panel

Responsive Web Design is Just the Beginning

Cross-device marketing isn't just about responsive web design.  For example, people search differently on mobile devices than desktops.  Mobile devices tend to be more social so when customers search for 'hood' on a mobile device, they mean their neighborhood.  When they search for 'hood' on a desktop device, they often mean 'hoodie' or an article of clothing  This difference has implications for web design, search and social media marketing. 

Analytics Enhance Effectiveness

Cross-device planning is greatly enhanced by analytics.  Rebecca mentioned that when marketers are reluctant to create applications for a certain device, she returns to the data and shows which devices and operating systems are driving traffic to the web site.  Usually data helps overcome any reluctance to develop for a particular platform.

Challenges Abound

Many marketing challenges remain in the mobile world however.  One of the audience members thought that too many marketing channels meant she could not be as nimble in response.  Certainly marketers will b e continuing the cross-device and cross-platform juggling act for many years to come.  Devices will continue to proliferate and marketers must meet the challenge.

By Debra Zahay-Blatz.
You can find Debra on Google+ and Twitter as well as LinkedIn.