Revolutions and alien-invasion movies tend to begin the same way: the first wave goes completely undetected, but quickly gains steam right under the nose of an unwitting populace – until it’s too late!

Well, don’t look now, but we’re currently in the midst of a very real worldwide revolution. Our classrooms, business meetings, roadways, and nearly every other aspect of our lives are being invaded. However, you won’t find coverage of it on local news or radio stations; instead, just reach into your pocket and wrap your fingers around history. Yes, soon the takeover will be complete – and everyone in the universe will have a mobile device permanently attached to their hand!

Ok, theatrics aside, the fact remains that the aggressive advent of smart devices has changed the digital market; and the trend shows no signs of slowing down. As more people continue to connect with content through their smartphones and tablets, brands and their marketing agencies are hard at work developing strategies focused on reaching and engaging with consumers through them.

Mobile technology has had a profound impact on how users gather information, and interact with brands. As such, business owners and digital marketers are now confronted with figuring out how to effectively capitalize on this infiltration. Adapting marketing campaigns to these new mediums is a must to not only survive, but thrive in the digital space; but how?

Unlike an attack from Mars, this is one battle that bullets and action heroes with remarkably chiseled jaws can’t win for us. Adopting these six proven mobile-first marketing tactics and techniques however, should still lead to a happy ending:

Optimize Your Emails
There is great potential in taking a closer look at the emails your brand produces – and particularly so when it comes to optimizing them for mobile readers. An increasing amount of people are accessing their email accounts through smartphones and tablets, yet most emails are not designed to be mobile-friendly. Do you really think someone will switch to a desktop just to see your message in all its wide-angle glory? Spoiler alert: they won’t. Emails that are easily accessible on a phone (meaning no excess pinching and zooming) will result in increased engagement rates and less subscriber drop-off. Most email clients even offer responsive templates – but there’s really no substitute for a ground up mobile-customized design!

Increase Your Paid Search Budget
Speaking of mysterious and all-powerful beings, Google has recently begun to show favor toward mobile-friendly websites by ranking them higher in their paid search results. In case you didn’t already know – over 70% of online searches are conducted through smart devices! The search engine has been working towards making ads more engaging for mobile users by aligning those that appear on their results pages with various mobile-device requirements. This means that companies that optimize and increase their mobile ad spend will help set themselves up for increased reach and click-through rates.

Integrate Your Strategies
In order for companies to get the most out of their mobile-first campaigns, all aspects of their marketing strategies must be driven by back-end data and analytics. You may have an app and a responsive website design, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for constant improvement! It all really comes down to User Experience (UX). Are your more popular pages buried, requiring visitors navigate to them through multiple menus? Do you have too many “walls-of-text” that might turn away those using smaller screens? We all know that bounce rates, visitor flow charts, and time spent on your site are important metrics – but they can offer even greater insight into your site’s deficiencies when it comes to the mobile experience.

Make Your Videos Mobile
One of the best way to capture and engage customers both new and old, is to work more video into your mobile-first marketing campaigns. Most people are using their smartphones and tablets to keep them entertained in mundane situations – or in some cases, out at dinner – making video one of the quickest-growing forms of digital content. Video allows for product demonstrations, fully animated stories, and is a great way to share your cat’s crazy antics with the world. Utilizing short video clips throughout your site and promotional platforms break up the monotony of scrolling through text – believe me; your consumer’s thumb will appreciate the breather!

Localize Your Content
Thanks to the convenience of mobile devices, smartphone and tablet users have a tendency to search for information while they are on the go – which it turns out is actually when they are the closest to making a purchase decision! Employing local keywords will increase targeted traffic, and help entice new customers looking for the products and services offered in their area. You can even go as far as to hyper localize your content using analytic tools and location tracking technology to provide specific content, discounts, and promotions that are customized to a customer’s location, or actions. It sounds a little scary – but what’s more terrifying is missing out on the perfect buyer because your website hasn’t been updated since 2005!

Above All, Focus On Your Consumer
The most successful mobile-first marketing strategies are those which focus entirely on the wants and needs of the consumer, rather than those which mix and match, or combine a bunch of tactics in hopes of being beneficial to the business itself. As good businessmen and women, we must understand that we cannot only address the desires of our customers; we should attempt to alleviate their problems and concerns. Providing a site built around what people are searching for, and more importantly how they’re searching for it, accomplishes both.

The Martians aren’t invading. And unless I suddenly fell into a time warp, the Red coats aren’t coming; but when it comes to mobile, the revolution is happening all around us. You may choose to ignore this advice at your own peril – after all, no one ever pays attention to the crazy kook running around and screaming about aliens in the movies. But guess what? Usually, he ends up being right.