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Ciena grows mobile views 35pc year-over-year with optimized site

Networking company Ciena is seeing that by refreshing its mobile site with features such as video and social media, it has been able to increase traffic over the past year.

Ciena originally launched a mobile site in 2008, but after realizing that traffic from mobile devices was growing decided to update it. Ciena is working with Limelight Networks on this initiative.

?Since rolling out our mobile site, our audience coming in from mobile devices is more engaged,? said Cory Reed, director of digital marketing at Ciena, Allen, TX.

?We launched the current design last year and tried to pick out the things we most needed to be easily accessible on a mobile site,? he said.

Ciena is a business-to-business company that powers the networks behind carriers.

Mobile networking
Ciena originally had a barebones mobile site with only a few phone numbers on it.

When relaunching its mobile site, one of the main things Ciena wanted to include was more rich and interactive features, such as video.

The primary purpose of Ciena?s mobile site is to generate sales leads. Therefore it was important for the company to play up its contact features such as click-to-call and email. The contact button is prominently placed on the mobile site under the company?s logo.

Including social media is another big part for Ciena to connect with its consumers. Links to the company?s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn pages are placed in the upper right-hand corner of the site and remain stationary as consumers flip through pages.

Users can also view information about all of Ciena?s solutions and products via the mobile site.

Consumers can also view a calendar of Ciena?s upcoming events, read the company?s blog and find press releases via the mobile site.

Smart future
Ciena is now focusing on differentiating traffic from smartphones and tablets.

Per Mr. Reed, traffic from tablet devices has increased nine percent each month since the company relaunched its mobile site.

Ciena is looking to develop a mobile site that is specific for tablets. Although its mobile site does give tablet users an optimized experience, it does not take advantage of the rich features and size of a tablet.

Ciena views a mobile site as a stepping stone into mobile and is considering developing an app. The app would give some stickiness to the Ciena brand with letting consumers access news and information from their handsets while on the go.

Mobile is also changing the way that Ciena?s sales team works, per Mr. Reed. Employees are relying more on their own devices.

?There is a growing movement towards people replacing their own desktops with tablets, which causes a blurring between the entertainment and work world,? Mr. Reed said.

?There is a growing number of people bringing their own devices to work with them, and they are not necessarily reaching for a desktop or laptop if a need comes up,? he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York