01 Aug Mobile First

Cell phones have advanced far beyond their humble beginnings as simple person-to-person communication devices. Now they are calendars, alarm clocks, handheld game consoles, and all-around miniature computers. With more people perusing the web on their phones, marketers and developers have started to implement a mobile first strategy to give on-the-go users the best look at their content.

A mobile first strategy is a development trend that prioritizes the mobile user experience. Designers use a progressive enhancement workflow to create the best product possible using the limited resources available for mobile development and as needed, enhance the design for tablet and desktop devices. Instead of creating a great desktop design and degrading it for the mobile interface, programmers start with an efficient and functional mobile design and enhance it for larger platforms.

Predicting that the smartphone market would surpass computer sales, Google programmers began prioritizing mobile first development as early as 2010. As more people started connecting to the internet from their phones, the major tech conglomerate foresaw the inevitable shift to mobile user engagement and advertising.

This revelation set forth a web development trend that not only evolved with consumer technology demands, it also allowed for localized marketing. When a customer researches competitive prices while shopping at a store, a mobile first strategy allows them to review the product on their phones in real time and make an informed purchasing decision. According to Google’s Micro Moments Guide, “one in three smartphone users has purchased from a company or brand other than the one they intended to because of information provided in the moment they needed it.” Mobile first content can travel with the user, bringing them the information most relevant to their current needs. Once Google started tracking mobile usability and issuing warnings when pages were not “mobile-friendly”, the mobile first strategy kicked into hyper drive. Companies began prioritizing mobile design and investing more funds into mobile advertising.

As consumers continue to connect, research, and shop on the go, implementing a mobile first strategy could be the key to attracting new customers and clients. In the next few years, mobile ads will account for over half of digital media advertising and ad spending will have increased into the hundreds of billions. Now more than ever, it’s imperative that marketers and developers are creating web content that appeals to the mobile user base. For tips on building your website or campaign for mobile engagement, contact Idea Associates and learn more from our digital design experts.