The hype and fanfare surrounding the recent introduction of the iPhone 8 and iPhone X are proof that smartphones are an integral part of our lives.

According to comScore, an American media measurement and analytics company, smartphone penetration in the United States has crossed 80 percent in 2016. When the iPhone was launched in 2007 only six percent of the population had a smart phone!

This statistic indicates smartphones are everywhere. What’s more, the average smartphone conversion rates have increased to 64 percent compared to the average desktop conversions for e-commerce websites.

Moreover, we’re living in a digital world where businesses need to alter their marketing efforts so they are mobile-friendly. If you’re reworking your digital marketing strategy and are wondering whether and how much of it should focus on mobile devices, here are the top four reasons.

#1 – An Increasing Amount of Time Spent on Mobile Devices

Just last year, Americans spent an average of 10 hours per day one of their mobile devices and, this number is bound to increase.

This shows that an average American has been spending more than 500 hours each year browsing websites or talking on their mobile device. That alone gives businesses plenty of chances to connect with them, capture their attention and, get them discussing your business on the mobile devices that they use regularly. In fact, advertising trends are also reacting to this development. By 2019, it’s estimated that almost 72 percent of marketing budgets will be spent on advertisements and developing apps for mobile platforms.

#2 – Consumers Prefer Mobile Shopping

Most consumers these days are spending more time shopping on e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon. In fact, big names like Walmart and even the smaller mom and pop shops have realized the importance of taking advantage of the mobile platform. They are developing websites and user-friendly portals to facilitate a smooth user experience for their customers.

As per Bloomberg, about 60 percent of e-commerce visits will begin on mobile devices therefore, it’s clear that the businesses that develop mobile campaigns successfully will be able to introduce their products and convert them to sales will see a significant boost in their revenues.

#3 – Consumers Buy in Stores

The advent of mobile technology has given consumers a chance to shop and compare as they are walking down the store aisles. So as a business, if you have active mobile marketing campaigns running, you can take advantage of this. Adding Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and a user-friendly website, you’re all set to reel in the consumers when they have decided to buy.

Search engines like Google are changing their algorithms. The changes are aligned to give mobile-friendly sites higher preference. This shows that businesses need to increase their presence on mobile devices and include new forms of marketing.

#4 – Voice Search is Growing Exponentially

Thanks to the adoption of Apple Siri, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Microsoft Cortana, voice search is increasing in popularity.

Per one of the latest researches, 49 percent of Americans are using their voice assistants on a weekly basis. What is even more interesting is that 57 percent said that they don’t mind using voice search more if it’s able to recognize difficult commands.

The good news is that each platform provider is aware of this and is continuing to increase complicated voice commands by thousands at a time. In fact, today more than 20 percent of the searches that are carried out on Android devices are voice searches.  

This shift to voice search has a major impact on both — paid search as well as SEO. From now on, businesses need to use voice-search related terms and initiatives to maintain a competitive edge. So, the first step here would be to optimize your website for search terms that are more common to voice-based searches.

Finally, using Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) technology has boosted the Click Through Rates (CTR) by up to 90 percent. Another interesting fact to note is that consumers searching via their mobile devices are spending 35 percent more time with AMP content than mobile web pages. This would be a good point for any small to medium sized business to begin; developing Accelerated Mobile Pages for mobile searches.