Metal Mulisha, a brand strongly influenced by the world of freestyle motocross, saw an increase in mobile profits of almost 20 percent by tailoring experiences for each user.

To drive mobile results, the brand partnered with personalization platform Reflektion, which has announced the extension of its Web site personalization solution to include mobile optimization and uses machine learning as well as predictive analysis to profile shoppers based on the type of device accessed and historical behaviors. The Silicon Valley-based company also incorporates responsive design, providing optimal viewing experiences regardless of browser derivation.

“Offering products that individual visitors are more interested in and are likely to buy is key to sustaining our sales growth,” said Ryan Cropley, La Jolla Group’s direction of ecommerce, Irvine, CA.

“Relevant, personalized recommendations are key to helping mobile visitors find the right products quickly, with fewer taps,” he said. “Mobile shoppers have really responded to a personalized set of products.”

Championing change
Metal Mulisha belongs to the La Jolla Group of apparel brands, which also includes O’Neil, Rusty, and FMF Racing.

With more than 1.6 million fans on Facebook, and 76,000 followers on Twitter, Metal Mulisha tries to remain on the cutting edge to increase engagement across all channels and ecommerce sales.

The brand recognized that most of its target shoppers are using mobile device to explore and discover products. Appropriately, it searched for a solution to provide a personalized mobile commerce experience.

Reflektion was able to identify user trends and tailor the experience to each customer, which in turn produced a healthy growth in mobile revenue and dramatically increased mobile page views.

For example, Metal Mulisha shifted the mobile layout of featured and personalized products versus the desktop experience. There are now fewer elements on each page to decrease crowding, with a focus on multiple product images that are easily browsed.

The site also strives to minimize the lag when accessing specific products, navigating to other pages or desiring to view additional item color options.

Product information is presented in order of importance, with clean, short-form digestible content fit for mobile.

“Our mobile traffic has surpassed desktop, but there is still ground to make up on higher desktop conversion rates,” Mr. Cropley said.

“Our efforts with Reflektion are focused on further improving the mobile experience and getting mobile conversions up to par with the bigger screens,” he said.

“We are working with Reflektion on extending our instant visual search capability from the desktop to mobile devices. With Reflektion, we are looking at other improvements that will drive mobile sales growth.”

Hole-shot
Although a force and pioneer at the X games and in action sports, the progressive label has justified spending on social initiatives despite the looming questions of measurable return.

In 2011 Metal Mulisha launched its first iPhone mobile app game, “Metal Mulisha World Domination,” a freestyle motocross game which features realistic 3D graphics and endless FMX tricks that replicate its sponsored riders such as Brian Deegan, Larry Linkogle and Jack Strong.

A veteran of sweepstakes and Facebook-targeted marketing, Metal Mulisha has used social marketing to increase engagement and draw interest in its material and event sponsored offerings.

One example is ReadyPulse, an enterprise software platform that uses patented tech to surface high quality, authorized social content from brand ambassadors.

Metal Mulisha’s branded social network pages are a social venue for bikers and fans to read up on and trade everything from action photos to advice on riding gear and attire.

In an effort to translate “Likes” and followers into business on its commerce sites, Metal Mulisha embedded ReadyPulse’s product testimonial widgets so consumers could see relevant products with relevant comments, thus creating what it calls an “emotional reaction” or “layer of attachment” to viewed items.

Tapping in to social comments from its most loyal customers, Metal Mulisha saw a near immediate return on its investment. Deployed first across its sponsored motocross rider pages and progressing to shoppable apparel pages, the brand reported a 120 percent increase in page conversions with a 113 percent increase in page traffic.

Metal Mulisha advertises on social media

Time spent on pages grew 91 percent per visit, and there was a 57 percent increase in per-visit dollar value.

Using analytics platforms and social commentary for indexing, Metal Mulisha has gained a deeper understanding of its most prolific customers. Placing the correct content in front of the right consumer at the right time and next to products they are considering purchasing has helped Metal Mulisha develop cross device and network purchasing patterns to personalize online experiences.

“Before our responsive site, as mobile traffic began to grow, we quickly realized as most did that pinching and zooming a full desktop site on a small screen was not going to work. We researched native vs. responsive, and regardless of if we did a native app, people will still get to us through the browser, so a responsive site was step one,” Mr. Cropley said.

“As mobile traffic has grown along with the launch of our responsive site, mobile product discovery has also grown in importance in order to make it easier for customers to find relevant products,” he said.

“We believe that a responsive design approach, rather than investing in native applications, are the answer for us.  With Reflektion, mobile optimization came as part of the solution.”

Final Take:
Michelle is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York