It is time for your business to jump in and unleash a hidden traffic source of over a billion eager buyers that very few of your competitors know about…yet!
If you are a regular reader of this magazine, you will know mobile marketing has become the hottest new way for businesses to spread their message to customers.
It is not really a surprise as smartphone and tablet sales have been increasing year on year. As a result the trend of surfing the internet using mobile devices rather than PC’s is growing each year. Merrill Lynch has estimated that by the end of 2013, mobile devices will surpass PC’s as the most common device to access the Internet. Searches on mobile devices have grown 5 times in the past two years with over 50% of all LOCAL searches being done on a mobile device.
This opens up a great opportunity for local businesses like yours who want to directly reach potential new customers.
Consumers that own and use Smartphone’s make searches for local businesses nearly twice as much as general mobile phone users (61% vs. 32%).
This is great news for all local businesses that can rank high on searches, as their new customers are ready to buy there and then.
Once a customer gets to your site they expect to see a mobile friendly website that is easy to navigate giving them a positive experience that will encourage them to buy from you.
Here is what they are likely do once they get to your site:
Â? Get directions and opening times (74%)
Â? Contact the store (64%)
Â? Find product information (61%)
Â? Make a purchase or order a service (50%)
That figure of 50% making a purchase is phenomenal. You have a 50% chance to make a sale for every visitor who views your website on a mobile device.
Perhaps now you can see why it is vital for your business to have a mobile friendly website to entice these new visitors to buy from you or use your services.
How to Plan Your Mobile Marketing Campaign
Just like any other advertizing campaign, your mobile marketing must be carefully planned so that you can achieve the best possible results. Here are some steps you should follow if you want to run your own successful mobile advertizing campaign:
The first thing you need to do is decide what you want to achieve. The main objective of mobile marketing is to find leads and convert them into paying customers. However you might also want to redirect your visitors to your bricks and mortar store or office.
You need to understand your audience. It is important to remember that you have to actively engage users for your mobile marketing to be effective. To do this you need to do your homework and understand the audience you are aiming for so that you can effectively tailor your marketing and information to reach them.
Don’t be afraid to be innovative and try something new. Mobile marketing is still relatively new making it the perfect medium for exploration and creativity. Even if the campaign fails, there will be lots of lessons that you can learn from it that will help make your next campaigns much more successful.
Cost Effective and Powerful
Because they don’t fully understand mobile marketing, a number of small businesses we speak to feel mobile marketing is too expensive or too complicated. So they back away from it, decide not to investigate further.
If that is how you feel, this article will definitely reassure you and help allay any fears or hesitations about mobile marketing. It will show you how any small business can set up an easy, yet effective, mobile marketing campaign on a budget.
Here is a selection of the most cost effective marketing strategies which are easy to set up and very powerful, resulting in more sales for your business:
SMS Marketing
SMS marketing is simply marketing using a mobile phone. SMS stands for ‘Short Message Server’, otherwise known as text messaging. The beauty about SMS marketing is the fact that every mobile device has SMS capability. Virtually everybody can send and receive a text message now. That means that no matter what business you are in SMS is a viable marketing option.
SMS marketing is one the of the most affordable mobile ad campaigns because the costs of sending a text are so much cheaper these days.
To get the most out of an SMS campaign, don’t not send too many messages out too often as this will only serve to annoy your potential customers.
You need to think very carefully about the message or offer that you are going to send out. Try and put yourself in their shoes; ask yourself if the message that you are sending out is really something that you would want to receive. If it is, then be sure to always include a ‘call to action’ in the text. For example you might ask them to present the text when they come to your store to make a purchase and they will get a discount or ask them to visit your site to enter a competition with a particular codeword that is included in the text. There is no limit to the options of promotions and ideas that you can use. You just need to remember to include your business name and contact details in each SMS so that they know who the text is from.
QR Codes
Although you might not be familiar with the name, you will definitely have seen QR codes before. If you hadn’t noticed them, now that they have been pointed out to you, you will see them everywhere.
QR, stand for Quick Response and they are just simple two dimensional codes very similar to retail barcodes that have been used for years. You usually see these codes on printed advertizements in magazines, newspapers, flyers and even on TV. People just scan them with their Smartphone’s to view the content.
They are a fantastic opportunity for any local businesses looking to do something different with their marketing, particularly if they are on a budget.
They cut down the costs on paying for huge advertizements in the local newspapers and magazines. For example, if you are in Real Estate, you could put your QR codes on For Sale signs, flyers and in the local newspaper ads. Then, when people view them with their Smartphones, they will be taken directly to a video or full page website, where they will be given a full tour of the property. Before QR codes came along you would have paid for a half page or even a full page ad to get in all of the information that you wanted, which costs a fortune. Not anymore. All that information can now be accessed just by scanning one tiny QR box. Now you understand QR codes, you will no doubt come up with many more ideas relevant to your business.
Mobile Phone Applications
Mobile phone applications provide businesses with a great way to strengthen the bond between you and your customer. Virtually every major business has their own app, but even smaller businesses are realising that for less than the price of a one-off full page ad in their local newspaper which would be seen for just one day, they can have a useful marketing tool that could generate a ton of brand new business.
Mobile Phone App Ads
There are literally thousands of free apps available in Smartphone app stores. These apps are free because instead of paying for the app, the user knows the app will display ads as they are using it. They expect to see the ads and are not offended by it. As a result, this type of mobile marketing can be particularly effective when the ad is related to the subject of the app. So, spend a few minutes looking round apps related to your service industry and choose which app you want to advertize on.
Location Based Mobile Advertizing (often referred to as Proximity
Marketing)
This kind of marketing is generally used with Bluetooth-enabled devices. These custom ads, created by local businesses, are displayed on mobile devices whenever the phone user is in a particular location.
This kind of advertizing is very popular and welcomed by the phone user. After all, who doesn’t love to receive a bargain? They will receive a simple text message, coupon, picture message or even a short video showing what offer is currently available, and as these offers are normally time sensitive it encourages them to take action quickly.
Your Business Can Cash in on Mobile Marketing Today
Although some of these ideas might seem too complicated or out of your budget, don’t let this put you off looking into them as you are going to be pleasantly surprised.
The fact is, if your business is to survive, you need to get involved in mobile marketing as soon as possible. Your customers are actively using their Smartphone’s every day to find businesses and buy from them. They will expect your company to get involved too. If you don’t, then your competition is going to get there instead, making irresistible offers and ranking higher than you. So when the customers make a local search on their phones your completion is going to steal the business away from you right before your eyes. This is not scaremongering. It is a fact.
Why not give us a call today and we can meet up for an informal coffee or have a conversation over the phone. We will be able explain what we can do for your business and give you a huge return on investment. Don’t leave it too late so your company lags behind and you lose even more sales.
