I'm not going to 'bury the lede' here. If you own a business, you need to stop asking, “Is a mobile-optimized website or mobile marketing strategy necessary?” 

Every business should be engaged with, and learning to love, mobile devices. Over 79% of all websites are now mobile optimized and smartphones are now almost a ubiquitous device around the world. Think of it this way: when a prospective customer has access to your business 24/7 in their pocket, purse, or just an arm’s length away, doesn’t that feel great? The opportunities for new customers to find you are greater than they have been in the history of commerce. 

Mobile-friendly options: The process to create a mobile-friendly version of your website for a tablet and smartphone is also more accessible than ever, especially if your web designer or programmer has already built upon and customized a Wordpress template that can be easily updated. This will save your budget when developing the mobile website because you can save time on design, navigation and branding. 

A mobile website isn’t an option for ecommerce success: it’s mandatory. Don’t put this off. Once you start with mobile design, you may want to explore other mobile-friendly options for marketing and increasing potential customer engagement. You revenue and brand experience may be supplemented by introducing a mobile app, mobile landing pages, simple text marketing or a mobile engagement platform. In addition to your mobile-friendly website, there are two other smart mobile marketing tactics you can deploy to increase customer engagement, foster brand loyalty, and make the user experience highly enjoyable: mobile apps and landing pages. 

Should I build a mobile website AND a mobile app? Mobile websites will require less work to maintain than a mobile app development, which will likely lower your total cost. Part of this is due to the rise in responsive design for websites. (Here’s your design that allows your conventional website to essentially double as a mobile site, as it “responds” to the size of the screen from which your users access the site. Consider also that apps have to be maintained and written for a variety of different platforms (Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Blackberry). You may also find that it’s easier to drive traffic to a mobile website than it is to get people to download an app. For one, you can use traditional SEO tactics for your mobile site that you’re already using on your website. Also, convincing users to download an app is an extra step that you have to take, and even then there’s no guarantee that they will become a regular user of the app. 

Want your business on the home touch screen at all times? An app is the way to go. If your website isn’t designed to be viewed on mobile screens, having an app for your company helps you to avoid having to do a total redesign from the ground up. The problem though is how to get your audience to find and download your company app in the first place? There are also numerous limitations to websites, particularly space and resources. This leads to limits to functionality that you can avoid through using mobile apps. Finally, there’s a lot of data to suggest that smartphone users spend significantly more time using apps than browsing the web on their devices. By late 2013, users were spending 30 hours a month on average using their apps. 

Mobile landing pages are still a best-kept secret. To many, the mere thought of upgrading their website sends them into cold shivers. The money, time and effort involved is enormous. With Googles latest move to downgrade search rankings that do not have mobile optimized sites, there is no longer a real choice. Your website must be mobile friendly. For live events, sales pages and quick marketing initiatives, mobile landing pages are a great way to get your leads flowing without necessarily having to re work your websites, scope in the work to the webmaster or bother the IT department. These days, mobile landing pages are so easy to use and can be deployed super quickly. 

Still Undecided? The only thing I would say to you having reached the bottom of this page and no doubt having done some other research is to get moving! Not having a mobile presence today is like NOT having the good ol 'graham bell' (telephone) of yesteryear, like NOT having a mobile phone today or an email address. Find a solution and start. The world is leaving you behind.