Mobile marketing is the current big thing in social media, a sizzling white hot practice that capitalizes on the exponential growth of consumer adoption of mobile #mobile. The rapid proliferation of tablets and smartphones is changing the way customers interact with and purchase from brands. In this post you will learn how to master mobile marketing with these mobile marketing tips.
Today’s consumer is switched on and tuned into the changing pace and face of technology as we move into the post-PC era. The average person looks at their phone more than 150 times a day and increasing numbers are turning to their smartphones or tablets when looking for a local business #business.
You only have to sit in a café, bar or at bus stops to witness just how popular mobile has become. You will see numerous people with their heads hunched over their mobile devices, most likely playing games, shopping or monitoring their social media #socialmedia sites.
According to research conducted by Google, 70% of smartphone owners are now ‘smartphone shoppers’ and they use their phones before heading to the stores and while they are inside. In fact 84% of smartphone shoppers use their device for help with in store shopping. Shoppers who use mobile also buy more than those using search engines and store and brand #brand websites.
A survey by Travelzoo Asia Pacific demonstrated just how important mobile internet #internet is for Asian travelers. According to the findings, the first thing that 84% of travelers do when they reach a café, restaurant or hotel is to check for free Wi-Fi. A decade ago the mobile market didn’t exist, today, it is huge.
What all this means is that if you haven’t got a mobile marketing strategy #strategy in place or it’s been gathering dust on the shelves for some time, now is the time to take action. Here are some of the things you can do to tap into the ever-growing mobile crowd:
Make sure your website is mobile friendly – in order to satisfy consumer appetite for all things mobile you will need to ensure that your website can be easily read and navigated on mobile devices. If consumers can’t read your mobile site #site they will give up and go to your competitors.
You may need to hire someone to make the necessary changes or alternatively you can make some adjustments to make your site easier to read. This involves having a simple #simple design without any flash animations and increasing font size to 14.
You can also place the most important information at the top of the page such as your contact details, and avoid drop-down menus that are difficult to work on mobile platforms. If you have a WordPress blog #blog you can take advantage of the built-in mobile optimization tools and plugins.
Social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter already have mobile versions. Remember – your mobile site should be search engine #searchengine optimized just like your regular business site.
Market to your consumers via SMS text messages – with many mobile users sending dozens of text messages each day, reaching consumers via SMS can be very effective. SMS produces engagement rates that are 6-8 times higher than email and the average click through rate to a URL is 19% for text messages and 4.2% for emails.
In the same way that you compile an email marketing #emailmarketing list, work on building a text marketing list. Use the messaging service to communicate discounts, offers and promotions and be mindful not to spam your customers. If they opt in to your text service you can be upfront and tell them how many texts they can expect to receive each month.
Deploy QR codes – QR codes #qrcodes are two-dimensional barcodes that are read by smartphone cameras. They are placed on billboards, in shop windows and on printed publicity material and can direct users to a company’s website as well as to exclusive content and promotional material.
Make Instagram part of your mobile marketing strategy – Instagram is a hugely popular app #app and social networking service, and it links seamlessly with Facebook and Twitter. Get your business known on Instagram with superlative photos, videos and marketing ideas. You can create contests, post user-generated material and generate a bigger buzz about events you are hosting and attending.
Create a mobile app – having a mobile app developed used to be beyond the budgets of most small and medium-sized companies, but in recent years the prices have come down. Think about developing an app for your business that allows consumers to easily access your products and services. You can hire someone to create the app or use free and fee-based app building tools such as appmakr, BiznessApps and Conduit.
Make sure you’re easy to find on Facebook – 91% of local searchers look for businesses via Facebook, so ensure that you can easily be found by having a complete profile that is always up-to-date.
Users search by company name, location and category so these fields need to be filled in correctly. Also, encourage customers to check-in via Facebook when they’re at your store as this will appear in their friends’ feeds and help to get your name out there.
Mobile Marketing is here to Stay
There are significant opportunities for companies to connect with mobile-enabled consumers in effective and budget-friendly ways. Don’t be frightened of this relatively new form of attracting consumers. It’s simply a way of ensuring you have a presence in all the places they are shopping and searching for purchasing information.
