The Mobile Bias in Digital Marketing

by Andrew Schulkind

I get that we’re all addicted to our phones, and I get that I am (obviously) not representative of every market demographic, but I can’t be the only one who thinks the whole “mobile first” ethos is not in the best interest of B2B marketers, can I?

What brought this to mind is an article I read recently saying that Google will soon be applying mobile-first indexing to all websites.

mobile phone user's hands and phone

Where Are Your Prospects?

In looking at the B2B client sites — and our own — I see mobile and tablet usage over the last year at between 11% and 26% (an international audience, interestingly) with most grouped between 16% and 21%. So, roughly 80% of site visits for our small B2B clients are desktop/laptop.

Certainly, it could be the case that our clients’ mobile numbers are depressed because we don’t practice mobile-first design, though engagement numbers don’t really bear that out.

More likely, though, is the reality that most prospects searching for digital marketing, art advisory, sustainable infrastructure investment banking and other B2B services are doing so on their laptops nd not their phones or tablets.

Majority of Web Traffic is Mobile – But Not For All Kinds of Web Traffic

A quick walk down the aisle on my exurban commuter train tells me that work is being done on laptops, movies and other video are mostly found on tablets, and games and music occupy the phone crowd.

There are exceptions of course, and my research is purely anecdotal, but the larger point remains: look at your audience usage data to find out what audience you need to view as your primary audience. Correlate that usage data to engagement and, if you can, to conversions.

Then you’ll know where to put your website marketing optimization resources.

It Doesn’t Pay to Row Against the Tide

All that said, there’s a limit to how far you can push this. That is, if Google says they’re going to penalize you across the board for a site that’s not mobile friendly, you may want to tamp down any rebellious instincts. Make sure your website performs well in mobile testing even as you focus on the layouts that are likely to win you the most business.

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