Mobile marketing for local businesses

Mobile Marketing for Your Local Business

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You see them everywhere: People who pull over to the side of the road,
frowning at their mobiles; people texting by the pool, or sitting beside you at
your children’s hockey game, oblivious to the action as they huddle over
their iPhones, Androids and Blackberries...

Mobile devices are everywhere – and it’s not just cell phones.
Smartphones (iPhones, Androids, Blackberries) are more popular than ever
before.

Even if you’re the last, die-hard hold-out who barely knows how to use an
oversized, old-fashioned cell phone (let alone a “smart phone”), this trend is
something you can’t ignore.

If you want to reach targeted customers who are ready to buy, you need to
understand – and use – mobile marketing.

Yes: Even if yours is a “bricks-and-mortar” business.

What is Mobile Marketing?

Mobile marketing means allowing people to find and access your business
via their mobile devices… as well as using mobile technology to get your
compelling message in front of local consumers.

Why should you bother about mobile marketing? Well, two trends have
developed and increased steadily since 2010, with no signs of slowing
down and every sign of expanding:

1. A higher number of people access the web only on their mobile
devices

2. Smartphones are gaining quickly in popularity and will soon be the
most common type of cell phone carried by consumers.

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It’s now estimated that almost ninety percent of the world has gone
mobile. Mobile marketing goes both ways: Your customers or clients use
it… and companies, entrepreneurs and small business people use it.

How your customers use mobile marketing – Customers typically use
mobile devices to:

• Search for products or services
• Search for information about a company or stores
• Search for the best deals – and coupons
• Find the nearest or most easily-accessed location where they can
purchase such products
• Get directions to the store or office of their choice

These functions are often accomplished using either Advertising or Apps –
written programs that perform a specific function, such as providing
directions, or listing all shoe stores in a given geographic area.

WalMart, Old Navy, Target, Best Buy and Domino’s Pizza are just five
major chains to recognize the power of Apps… but, according to web
authority Mashable, people still prefer to search actual mobile sites rather
than use Apps to find what they want.

In fact, searching via mobile device is the most common use of mobile
devices. If your business has a mobile-friendly website that is easy to
access, you already have a huge advantage over your local competitors.
Checking social network feeds for recommendations and answers is
another popular use your potential clients and customers make of their
mobiles. Searching via Twitter or asking for recommendations or opinions
via Facebook has become a natural activity for consumers. Knowing your
customers’ mobile habits has become an important part of demographic
research.

How local businesses use mobile marketing – But it isn’t only your
customer who can benefit from using a mobile phone to increase shopping
efficiency and improve retail results: Small business owners, both online
and off, can also save time and dramatically improve results by using
mobile websites and taking advantage of mobile functionality, tools and
features.

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How “big business” uses mobile marketing – As a small business
person, you may not think that big business trends will affect you. But with
major companies like Procter and Gamble and chain stores like Target and
WalMart developing mobile websites and Apps for consumers as well as
investing heavily in mobile advertising, notice has been served. This is the
new “normal”, when it comes to consumer buying decisions and habits.

Why Mobile Marketing is Important

Mobile marketing can’t be ignored because it’s not going away. This is one
trend that has naturally and easily morphed into part of everyday lifestyles
for a huge percentage of people – one that has been steadily growing over
the last decade – and accelerating that growth even more dramatically the
last three years.

It’s just basic psychology: We humans always prefer to:

• Do what is easiest
• Do what is entertaining, pleasant or fun
• Follow the crowd

When we follow this basic rule, we create new habits – and discard old,
“harder” ones. And habit creation seems to occur even more quickly with
mobile technology than it does in everyday life.

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But it isn’t just in uncovering a hidden mobile segment of your ideal
customer or client demographic that makes mobile marketing so useful…
As a small business person, mobile marketing can help you:

• Generate new business
• Save time
• Save costs
• Increase productivity
• Gain an advantage over your competition
• Stay in touch, real-time, with what’s happening in your business or
marketplace
• Stay ahead of or on top of trends

And all that on top of bringing customers to your door!

Statistics on Cell Phone Usage and the Growth of Smartphones

There are five billion mobile phones in use around the world... and six
billion inhabitants on planet Earth (compared to less than two billion
personal computers).

On top of that basic statistic, nearly 42% of all U.S. mobile subscribers now
use Smartphones, according to a white paper prepared by comScore.

Until 2011 mobile users still showed a strong preference for using mobile
browsers, rather than Apps – but the same white paper states this has
turned around in 2012, predicting that mobile App use will be “reaching
parity with the mobile browser audience by year’s end”.

Common uses when using a mobile phone while shopping include:

• Retail location finding
• Retail price comparison

If your business involves retail of any sort, you can’t afford to ignore mobile
marketing.

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Mobile Website Tools Explained

Another surprising fact is that many small business owners – even web-
savvy ones – know surprisingly little about the tools you can use in your
mobile marketing.

First, let’s start with…

Mobile Websites – A “mobile website” is exclusively tailored to the small,
limited screen sizes of most mobiles. It can also be an alternate format for
an existing web theme, converted automatically to mobile size. Be sure to
check out your website on your mobile device or cell phone. If it doesn’t
display well on your mobile screen, you won’t need a survey to tell you that
people will be likely to click away without browsing through your content, if
your site is awkward to read or navigate.

Here are four essential tips on what makes a good mobile site…

1. “Less is more” – Make sure your site displays only what is
absolutely necessary. Think like a searcher… what do they want to
find? What do you want to find, when you access a website on your
mobile phone? What irks you? What do you hate on sites that don’t
display well on your mobile?

2. Keep it on the screen – This is the equivalent to “above the fold” for
regular websites. Anything that is super-important – anything you
don’t want your readers to miss – make sure it displays entirely within
the mobile browser screen, without readers having to scroll off the
page to “find” information or tabs.

3. The “All There” test? – Is your header missing? Is your page layout
completely “messed up”? Does everything display? Are there any
error messages?

4. Clear text – Is your text big enough to be ready on a tiny screen… or
does your content “disappear”?

The average screen size falls within 128-240 pixels, so graphics should be
no more than 200 pixels wide, tops.

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Mobile Coupons -- The ability to offer customers coupons is another
advantage mobile marketing brings to your marketing mix. They can be
both sent to your customer list, and stored by the recipient, all via mobile
marketing.

Web authority blog, Technorati, states: “It is estimated that by 2013 16.5%
of all mobile phone users will redeem coupons activated through their
mobile phones.”

QR Codes
QR codes may well be the sleeping giant of the mobile
industry – mostly because so many people don’t know
what to do with them. A QR code is a two-dimensional
barcode which can hold way more information than the
traditional one-dimensional barcode. All you need to do
is scan it or take a photo with your Smartphone, and the
code within the QR code will take you instantly to a
website, video or whatever the creator desires.

For example, say you put a QR code on your business card and someone
scans it with their mobile phone… they could be taken to your website or a
page you’ve created containing a coupon or compelling offer… or wherever
you like.

QR Codes offer further opportunities for:

• Branding your product or business
• Engaging your audience interactively
• Entertaining your audience
• Promotions
• Advertising

Text Marketing

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Mobile marketing via SMS text message marketing. SMS text messaging
taps directly into the immediacy of today’s mobile users, and can deliver
high-impact messages inexpensively in 160 characters or less.

SMS text messaging has been found to be a very effective marketing tool.
This may be partially because messages are so short they can be read at a
glance. (“Instant gratification” is another trend that has reached epic
proportions lately!)

SMS text message marketing is also permission based and the messages
therefore are welcomed by the receiver.

There are a couple of minor considerations: You do need to make sure
that people – just as with email – opt in; i.e. give consent to receive your
text messages. The CAN-Spam Act Applies to text messaging as well as
emails.

Fortunately, with the type of unlimited or very inexpensive text data
packages commonly available for mobile phones today it won’t cost most
consumers additional fees to receive messages. But you still must let them
know that data costs could apply if they chose to receive your
communications.

According to authority site, Mashable, SMS messaging is “one of the most
popular communication methods in the world”. It’s the preferred
communication method of choice for an exponentially-growing number of
people.

And SMS is available to all mobile users without the need to download
extra Apps.

Mobile Content Marketing

Before you market to customers via mobile, you do need them to “sign up”
– just the way they do on websites.

This also applies if they are walk-in customers to your physical store.

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You can let them know about your mobile programs in a variety of easy
ways. Here are just two:

• “Just ask” – Ask them if they’d like to receive coupons by mobile or
text alerts on sales, etc. If they answer “yes”, get them to opt in to a
text campaign you have set up for this. Offer an incentive for them to
do so, such as a coupon or a great discount.

• Hold a contest – Hold a content to win a freebie. Have them opt in
to a contest text campaign. Make sure you follow all compliance
regulations on the do’s and don’ts of running a mobile marketing
campaign.

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And, of course, add a “Mobile #” field to your regular or mobile website
signup form:

Adapting Mobile Marketing for Any Type of Local Business

It doesn’t matter what you do – mobile marketing can help you achieve
your business goals.

You can fit it into your customers’ lifestyles and needs… or you can use it
to help you manage your business even more effectively.

You can use mobile marketing to help:

• Manage – and save – your time
• Track promotions
• Uncover hidden segments of your niche that do all their pre-buying
research via mobile
• Attract customers ready to buy
• Keep you in touch with your clients
• Connect with clients or customers more efficiently
• Connect with social networks
• Update promotions instantly

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Whatever you do, remember that mobile marketing is tailor-made for actual
storefronts.

Your Mobile Marketing Strategy

Before you ever decide whether or not to sign up with a Mobile Ad network,
however, you need to decide on your unique Mobile Marketing Strategy.

Some of it will be based on strong research – for example, what type of
mobile device does your target audience prefer? Do they prefer SMS text
messages or email contact? Do they search via mobile or via PC most
often?

Some of it, however, you can learn right this second – it’s universal.

Your number one priority should be in creating…

1. A mobile-friendly website – Don’t let this overwhelm you. If you’ve
set up your site with WordPress, chances are it already displays well
on mobiles, if you’ve used a reliable theme. If not, you can transform
it in about ten seconds by installing the WP Touch plugin from your
WordPress Plugins dashboard (just select “Add new” and enter “WP
Touch” in the search box).

(Be sure to BACK UP your site first!)

2. Mobile advertising – If you can afford to go with a Mobile Ad
Network, you won’t have to worry about developing separate versions
of campaigns for different mobile browsers. And if you go with SMS
text ads, using a Mobile Ad Network can be quite inexpensive.

3. Mobile Apps – Thy are not just for big companies and gamers
anymore. If your customers use Apps then adding one for your
business that is interactive and easy to use is a no-brainer.

Another plus for developing an App – if there’s something you can
provide that your competitors don’t – but for which your customer
base has expressed a strong need. (For example, you run a nursery
and offer an App to calculate planting depth for various plants,

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offering it as a free download – thus delighting your customers and
eliminating the hundreds of phone calls you get on the subject).

You want to make sure your App provides enough value for your
customers to use it and to justify the expense of making one. You
also need to remember that apps are platform-specific. You’ll want to
determine the primary operating system your customers are using
(iPhones, Droids, etc.) and make it available accordingly.

4. Promotions and Campaigns – once you’ve gone Mobile, you can
begin to plan a series of promotions and campaigns, tracking the
results to tweak each successive one even closer to your target
customer or client.

Whatever you decide, remember this: Mobile Marketing is here to stay
(and growing stronger every day).

With or without you!

To find how mobile marketing can impact your business, give us a call.

Uki@Social Media Swansea 07947824709 or email us at
socialmediaswansea@gmail.com or info@socialmediaswansea.com

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