By Rieva Lesonsky

I know I’ve been touting the power and importance of mobile communications for a while, but not enough of you are converting. So let’s start 2016 out with a promise to not only make sure your website is mobile-friendly, but to make sure all your digital marketing efforts are as well.

According to new projections from Bizrate Insights, a division of Connexity, as reported by Biz Report, over 50 percent of mobile purchases on Cyber Monday took place on a smartphone. Also:

  • 5o percent of online customers on Cyber Monday shopped via mobile device, up 16 percent from 2014
  • 40 percent of buyers shopped over the Thanksgiving weekend on mobile devices, a 15 percent year-over-year increase

Based on these and other statistics, expectations are purchases on mobile sites will rise nearly 70 percent this year.

Think with Google asks business owners if you’re “devoting the same amount of thought to your mobile marketing strategies and your brand’s role in being there whenever consumers’ needs arise?”

As Google explains it, when consumers use their mobile devices essentially they want to,“learn, do, find, or buy something right now. Whether in the form of searches, app interactions, mobile site visits, or even YouTube video views, these micro-moments happen constantly.”

And if you’re not mobile-friendly, you’re going to miss those “moment,” which are happening more and more frequently. Some additional statistics from Google show:

  • 90 percent of smartphone users are not absolutely certain of the specific brand they want to buy when they begin looking for information online.
  • 33 percent of smartphone users have purchased from a company or brand other than the one they intended to because of information provided in the moment they needed it.
  • You can increase unaided brand awareness by 46 percent simply by showing up in mobile search ad results.
  • 51 percent of smartphone users have discovered a new company or product when conducting a search on their smartphones.

Other studies have shown most email is opened on mobile devices, yet only about 11 percent of email marketing messages are optimized for mobile.

Ask your web host or Web designer about how you can become a mobile-friendly small business.