How to market mobile payments

James Ashton from FindMyUKCasino.com says that eCommerce businesses must offer mobile payment options and suggests ways marketers can advertise payments to customers.

Ecommerce businesses are fully aware that they must provide consumers with a varied range of payment methods if they are to capture the widest possible market share. 

In the past, offering debit card and credit card payments would suffice, but today more than half of all global payments are estimated to be made via alternative payment methods. 

And with the value of mobile payments in the USA alone rising 41 per cent year-on-year from $69.8bn (£53.2bn) in 2018 to $98.8bn in 2019, mobile payment methods are fast becoming the preferred option among shoppers.

If they haven’t already, ecommerce businesses must add the likes of PayPal, Klarna, Revolut, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay to their payment gateways or risk losing market share to their rivals. 

Of course, once mobile payment methods have been added to the online checkout, it is the job of the marketing team to make consumers aware of the options available to them. 

This can be easier said than done; payments are not often seen as a strong angle for marketing activity, but given the role they play in consumers deciding where to buy, they must not be ignored. 

Below, I discuss several ways marketers can ensure consumers are aware of the mobile payment options available to them in a way that is engaging, fun and on-brand. 

Newsletter
While newsletter open rates are not what they were, they still provide a direct and powerful way of communicating with consumers already engaged with your business. 

Each time you add a new mobile payment option, fire out a newsletter to your customer base telling them that it is now available when purchasing items from your business online or via mobile app. 

I would also recommend writing an in-depth article about the payment method, educating your customers about what it is, how it works, the benefits it offers and how to sign up and use it. 

This article should be uploaded to your company blog or content hub and can then be linked to from the newsletter sent to consumers. It can also be shared via social media. 

Partner with affiliates
Affiliates are a great way of educating potential customers about the mobile payment methods you offer, and, in some sectors, consumers search for businesses based on the payments available.

In our sector, players search for PayPal casinos, Pay by mobile casinos, Apple Pay casinos, etc., and we create content around these queries to engage and convert consumers from the SERPs.

In the UK, for example, there are more than 1,000 searches for PayPal casinos each month, while in the retail sector, there are 750+ searches per month for terms around “PayPal shops online”. 

This shows just how important payments are when it comes to consumers deciding where to shop and the potential for businesses to grow their market share by engaging with them via affiliates.   

If you already have affiliate partners, work with them on content around the payment methods you offer consumers. If you don’t, consider whether affiliates are a viable option for your business. 

It is worth noting that affiliates often see the majority of traffic come from mobile – in our case we skew 70/30 in favour of smartphones and tablets. 

Push notifications within your app
Push notifications should always be approached with caution, but they are certainly a viable option for making your customers aware of new mobile payment methods available to them. 

I always caution against the over-use of push notifications, but when they provide value to the customer they can and should be deployed. 

Consider combining the push notification with an offer for those using the new mobile payment method for the first time. 
For example: PayPal now available at checkout. Tap to get 10% off your first PayPal order.

This both educates the consumer and also provides value to their shopping experience through the 10% discount offered when they checkout with PayPal. 

SMS marketing
If the open rates of newsletters are not what they once were, the open rates of SMS messages are incredibly high – think about it, would you leave a message unopened? 

Again, SMS marketing must be approached with caution, and any messages sent must provide valuable information to the customer and not be spammy. 

Adding a new mobile payment option is of interest and does provide value. If combined with an offer, the open rate, clickthrough rate and conversion rate can surpass even the highest ROIs and KPIs. 

According to SMS Comparison, SMS open rates can be as high as 98 per cent.

These are just a few ways marketers can leverage the power of mobile payment options when it comes to payments being a factor in where consumers decide to shop and spend. 

Payments may not be sexy, but they are a strong driver of customer acquisition and retention and marketers really need to give payments the attention they deserve. 

Those that do, and especially those that think outside the box, who engage customers and use their messaging and promotions to provide true value, will enjoy the greatest growth.