4 Reasons Your Bank Should Be Focused on Mobile Marketing

The banking industry has gone through a complete digital transformation, leading to a dramatic jump in mobile banking usage. In fact, there’s been a 50% increase in consumer mobile banking usage in the past year. This means it’s critical that marketers master the smaller screen and cater to mobile banking.

However, most banks and credit unions are still spending a nominal amount of budget on developing mobile experiences. This is troublesome when 81% of users are now using mobile banking at least nine days a month – meaning consumers are relying more on their phones and less on tellers. 

As mobile banking increases and surpasses other forms of banking, these are the four reasons your bank should focus on mobile marketing:

Google Says You Should

Google’s Mobilegeddon update penalizes websites that aren’t responsive. This means it’s critical to provide a mobile experience for customers, because Google recognizes that many user searches are conducted on mobile, rather than desktop. 

With this update, Google gives preferential search rankings to sites that are optimized for mobile. This means your website needs to be mobile-friendly, with correctly proportioned text and imagery, easy-to-use links, and features that are fit for smaller screens. 

Building a responsive website will satisfy your customers. So, just do it. Google says so.  

You’ll Reach a Greater Audience

Many people don’t even use their desktops or laptops anymore. Rather, a growing share of people are depending on their smartphones as their primary means of accessing the internet. In fact, one in five American adults are “smartphone-only” internet users.  

And by 2025, almost three quarters (72.6%) of internet users will access the web solely via their smartphones. This means keeping your marketing mobile-focused is critical to engage this audience and capture more people who are ditching desktops and moving to mobile.

You’ll Enable an Omni-Channel Experience 

Omnichannel is a multichannel and multi-device approach to provide users with a seamless experience as they engage with a product, brand, or service. A true omnichannel experience allows a user to start an activity or action on one device and pick up wherever they left off on a new device.

Related: From Teller to Tablet: Omnichannel Banking

This omnichannel experience ensures that customers will have a consistent and personalized banking experience, whether accessing information through a tablet or smartphone. Considering 90% of users utilize multiple screens sequentially to accomplish a task, this type of experience is necessary in order to satisfy customers.

And customers have come to expect banks to know them. They expect banks to connect with them via their preferred channel (e.g., text, email, call, etc.), provide targeted offers, and respond to their requests regardless of the device they’re on. This means your bank has expectations to meet, and if you don’t, you risk falling behind competition. 

You’ll Show Up for Local Searches

The majority of people type a quick “near me” or “local” to find a business in their proximity. In fact, 97% of consumers use search engines to find local information. 

As today’s consumers use phones day in and day out, many will type these local searches into their mobile devices. For example, if someone needs to find the nearest bank on their commute, they might type in “banks near me” on their phone. If you focus on mobile marketing, your bank has a greater chance of showing up during the search. 

Therefore, keep mobile marketing top of mind and your bank’s website will rank at the top of searches. 

Go Mobile 

The majority of consumers use mobile – and your bank should, too. If you focus on mobile marketing, you’ll not only satisfy Google, but you’ll also reach a greater audience, enable an omni-channel experience, and show up for local searches. Therefore, go mobile and you’ll go from just another bank to the top bank that people choose each and every time.