Mobile Marketing – You Can’t Miss It……
The moment it became clear to me....It came in three bright flashes:
FLASH POINT 1
I’m sitting in Adelaide Airport waiting to catch a flight.
As I start people watching I notice it’s an average Sunday with around 150 people waiting at the boarding gate.
The thing is……at least 60% of them were doing something on a mobile phone and one young girl had both a smart phone and iPad out.
FLASH POINT 2
Now I’m on the plane reading the In Flight Magazine.
There is an Article showing a huge leap in the number of small businesses using mobile marketing, or planning to do so.
Apparently Mobile Marketing as enjoyed double digit growth for the last few years.
FLASH POINT 3
Once we land at my destination I like most others get my phone out. It suddenly strikes me that I’m not checking for missed calls or voice messages, instead I’m checking my emails, looking at the weather and planning my route to the hotel.
In fact when I’m out and about the only time I’m online is when I’m on my mobile phone. When you consider the amount of time I would be away from my desk, it would have to be around 60 -75% of my day.
“Any Advertiser who has planned their advertising based on a Desktop Screen has basically excluded the opportunity to place their ads in front of me at least 60% of the time.”
MAIN STREAM RETAIL
Main Street tends to be cautious about changing the way it markets, but local business owners are now embracing mobile marketing at a remarkable rate, including SMS (text messaging), mobile banners, email, paid search, mobile video, proximity campaigns, sponsorships, coupons, loyalty programs and deals.
That’s the main focus in
“Main Street Goes Mobile”
A new study by Borrell Associates, a media research firm.
According to the report, as business owners see more customers staring at small screens, they can’t help but take notice.
Another interesting fact was the mention that Trade magazines are full of stories about mobile marketing successes.
“Even trade shows for funeral directors offer mobile marketing seminars”
The Numbers
- New research shows that half of local businesses plan to use mobile marketing this year, on average they will devote 20% of their ad budgets for Mobile Marketing
- Meanwhile, customers are spending more than half of their online time on tablets and smart phones, and less on PCs and laptops.
- If you aren’t using mobile marketing, you should know that larger businesses with a turnover over $5m p/a are upping their Mobile Marketing spending by an average of 41% in the next 12 months.
“In fact, Borrell predicts that actual spending on local mobile marketing will double yearly for the next five years”
The Challenges
The mobile trend creates yet another challenge for small businesses:
How to maximise social media and mobile marketing – at the same time.
The mobile part is critical because social media marketing is a real-time experience; not something people do only when they’re in front of a PC.
Ask a Millenium when was the last time they checked Facebook on a Desktop and you’ll be surprised how little the desktop gets used in this mobile revolution,
The fact is most young people see communication as something they experience on the go and when they have a mobile phone in their pocket, purse or hand.
The Rewards
Here are some benefits, tips and advice on joining mobile marketing with social media:
1. Mobile expands your options: There’s only so much time you can spend in front of your computer, so adding mobile capabilities can free you to monitor, manage and update your social media marketing wherever you are. This makes it easier for you to make timely responses to customer questions or comments.
2. Increase your QR Code mileage: QR codes are an excellent, low-cost way to extend your digital reach and are well suited to mobile. Customers can scan the code with their mobile device (using a free code scanning app), and be taken to a web page or content. It’s far easier than searching online. QR codes offer one of the best ways for mobile devise users to interact with your business.
3. Adjust your content for mobile: Content intended for distribution to a mobile device should be formulated with that purpose in mind. Make it short, simple, clean, easy to access and easy to share. If you have a blog, make sure you have a mobile version.
4. Mobile sets the table: While some mobile marketing can result in immediate leads or sales, getting someone to fill out a form or make a purchase from a mobile device is difficult. Instead, think of mobile-social marketing as one more “touch point” that lets you connect with customers and prospects. Your goal is to offer helpful tidbits that set up the opportunity to connect in more substantial ways later.
5. Tap existing social tools: You don’t have to create mobile-social marketing from scratch. By using existing, mobile-based social networks such as Foursquare as a base, and then spreading the word via Facebook and Twitter, you can begin to meld mobile with social
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Not only are Small Business Mobile Apps the most cost efficient method of marketing today, 84% of Small Business Owners reported a substantial increase in trade after mobile marketing campaigns.
Why wait, act now and reap the rewards next week.
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