An Inspiring Story of Mobile-First Approach as a Winning Game Plan

“There are no experts of tomorrow, only of yesterday,” says Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba and China’s wealthiest person. When and a friend founded their marketing agency in 2014, the entrepreneurs brought laptops to coffee shops and routinely burned the midnight oil in a cramped New York apartment. Kenny Kline Digital marketing is , and the bootstrapped duo’s prospects looked middling, at best. notoriously competitive A Mobile-First Game Plan Fueled by late-night lattes, JAKK Media’s founders stuck with their convictions: The future belongs to marketers who could via iPhones, Samsung devices, and . The former McKinsey & Co. consultant and graduate of Columbia Business School bet the farm on : a that creates user engagement for corporate clients. communicate and entertain small screens that future mobile-first approach Photo credit: K. Kline Mr. Kenny Kline (far left), managing partner of a marketing agency that he co-founded in 2014, leads 30 employees in Brooklyn, N.Y. and Austin, Texas. He says brands should adopt a mobile-first strategy in everything they do or risk getting left behind by innovative marketers. Mr. Kline (after five years in practice) now leads 30 employees in Brooklyn, N.Y. and Austin, Texas. What’s his ? advice for brands Our secret sauce is that people engage content differently on mobile compared to desktop. Smartphone owners want laughter, fun, and excitement. Brands get lost in and even a big budget could fall flat. They must vie for an audience’s . overwhelming level of noise shortening attention spans JAKK’s cofounder is referring to adults and kids who are by games, Twitter, chat apps, phone calls and texts, and other seemingly tasks. These cause messages to — like yesterday’s black-and-white newspaper. interrupted 24/7 urgent non-compelling get ignored Photo credit: Shutterstock Web surfers are spending less time on desktop to find content. Mobile traffic was 70% of all web traffic in 2018, according to AdWeek. Thus, consumer habits are clearly evolving. Exponential Growth of Smartphone Use Consumers now spend , according to 2018 AdWeek survey, representing 70% of all web traffic. And mobile video use is up 88% year-over-year. five hours daily on mobile But all that (potential) traffic will quickly disappear if your phone-facing content or infrastructure aren’t good. For example, half (53%) of site visits are abandoned if a page takes longer than three seconds to load. And when it comes to ecommerce, Google found that a by up to 20%. one-second delay can reduce conversions The lessons are these: The digital crowd is , and people demand instant gratification via or offers. extremely impatient compelling content Twitter Kenny Kline Kline says companies must , and that innovative approaches to marketing are key in today’s mobile-powered landscape. forget past trends In spite of persuasive trends, most companies still prioritize desktop. It may be resistance to change while others are unable to adapt . I see too many brands get left behind, especially when competing with disruptive marketers who aren’t afraid of trial-and-error. Compelling Content as a Competitive Advantage Even though we live in the Information Age, JAKK’s cofounder says that information isn’t enough. He advises brands to experiment with creative ways to . grab people’s attention Over the past decade, mobile marketing has gradually upended traditional channels such as television, billboards, and newspapers. And therefore, tectonic shifts in advertising practices are creating opportunities for businesses that follow a . mobile-first game plan Moreover, attention is the new wealth. It represents traffic and engagement, part of which converts into sales. And part of that leads to recurring business. “The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing,” says Tom Fishburne, a well-known marketer. Given all the noise, it takes and bold designs for a message to , and touch or influence a person. out-of-the-box thinking radiate from a tiny electronic screen So how’s his team performing? Today our sites reach millions of monthly visitors, and more than 60% of traffic comes from mobile. We want phone users to say, ‘Wow, that’s ’. Secondly, online material must be optimized for phone screens. incredible content! And how does coffee taste when you’ve got a dozen corporate accounts? Kenny Kline chuckles. “Tastier. Because you’re thankful for everything — business and otherwise.” these days When the , the world considers you . vision matches reality an expert Photo credit: K. Kline “The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing,” says Tom Fishburne, a well-known marketer.