Smartphone Conversions: The Uncrossable Chasm

Monday, we ran my video talking about how TV ads don't matter anymore, largely because of changing viewing habits. Tuesday morning, I came in and saw this chart from eMarketer, showing that 96 percent (!) of Americans go online while they're watching TV, 79 percent from their smartphones. Hallelujah! All of those viewers are just a web address and a swipe from converting off of your TV ads! If it worked that way, I think all the old media would be in a lot better shape. I certainly wouldn't be making videos about how TV advertising doesn't matter anymore. Smartphones Don't Play Well With Others The thing is, I watch TV every night with my smartphone and/or laptop by my side. In fact, I'm at home watching TV as I write this. There have been a few days I've used that time to go to the website of a catalog I got in the mail, especially if I have a laptop out. (That's your best case scenario if you send me a catalog, by the way: I go to your website on a laptop, there's a chance I buy something, and I might sign up for your newsletter.) I can't remember ever doing that for a TV ad. The problem is huge with smartphones, which have the lowest e-commerce conversion rates of any device. And by lowest, I mean conversion rates a fraction of what you see on tablets or traditional computers. According the "Monetate Ecommerce Quarterly Report for Q4 2015," e-commerce conversion rates on traditional computers in the U.S. are 4.66 percent and tablets are 3.89 percent, but smartphone visitors convert at only 1.43 percent. While more and more people watching TV are also tapping around on their phones, getting them to interact with you and actually buy something is almost a lost cause. No Sign of the Invisible Bridge That's been the story since smartphones were invented, and it comes down to both the interface, and what people are doing while they're on smartphones. Tapping a web address into a phone is really difficult (and swiping isn't even an option). That discourages people from using their phones to go to your e-commerce site from a commercial or other ad. Inputting the address, credit card and the other information needed to complete a sale is even worse. If you want a recipe for conversion rates that are a third of other channels, that's it. And it's a well-recognized issue. Over the years many technologies have tried, and are still trying, to bridge that gap. On the interface side, several startups have tried introducing tech to make it easier, from optical techniques like QR Codes and image recognition, to audio recognition like Shazam. On the payment side, this is why digital wallets are such a priority for the smartphone OS makers, manufacturers, and credit card companies alike. There's a very, very large fortune to be made for the company that can convince a majority of users and vendors to adopt their technology (and pay their fees). But right now, that space is as fractured as it can possibly be. By far the most reliable way to get conversions on smartphones is to get users to download your (well-designed and executed) e-commerce app. But unless you're Amazon, you can probably only count on your best customers to engage like that. Maybe They're Just Not That Into You That gets into the other thing dragging down smartphone conversions, especially from TV: They're probably using the phone to avoid your ads in the first place. When I'm on my phone while watching TV, a lot of the time I'm only tangentially paying attention to the show we're watching, let alone the commercials in between. Whether I'm talking on Facebook, playing a game or watching YouTube, I'm actually making myself extra "busy" (if not quite productive). That makes it a terrible time to try to get my attention and convince me to take an action for you. "I can't check out your offer, I have to finish telling my buddy he's an idiot before the show comes back on!" If you've been reading my blogs and editor's notes for a while, you might remember me speaking pretty strongly in favor of QR Codes and augmented reality based on my belief that something, anything, has to connect the mobile phone to IRL marketing. The need seems so obvious, I can't believe nobody's filled it yet. As the years have gone by, nothing's really asserted itself as that bridge. I have to admit it's not looking good. The biggest obstacle appears to be not technology, but user interest. People came to hate QR Codes, just ask Scott Stratten. https://youtu.be/ukzY4v_aOEE QR Codes, AR, Shazam, etc. have all been successful in more limited applications. But as a widely used bridge from the TV and other traditional media to the online world ... Well, many people have built it, and "they" haven't come. In all the generic talk about noise, fractured media and distracted consumers, I think sometimes we miss the canyon in the room. You can break through the clutter with good marketing, and you can get customers through your sales funnel with good UX design. ... But the smartphone conversion chasm is going to continue to be an issue for a long time.

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Smartphone Conversions: The Uncrossable Chasm

Thorin McGee

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