Where will Social Media Lead You in 2011?

Where will Social Media Lead You in 2011?  By Barbara Pender

Mobile marketing will be among the hottest trends.  Are you ready?  Here is a checklist of the basic items you need to have and to hold as you begin to marry into this next rampant stage of Social Media.  I promise to leave you with processes and go-to links for further bookmarking.

While preparing for this article, a friend of mine reminded me that knowledge goes beyond learning; it is action that completes its cycle.  So I’m passing that on to you - read and react; because mobile marketing will leave you behind wondering “why wasn’t I part of that movement?”

What is Mobile Marketing, (MM)?  It was once referenced or defined as “horizontal telecommunication convergence”….uh yeah.  That’s how the geeks start out when honing a new feature or tool; give it an acronym or multi syllable name to scare everyone while we figure out what it is.  Now that we know, we can simplify it and let everyone in, so are you ready?  Great!  Mobile Marketing is marketing with a mobile device, yes – like your cell phone.  Here is a link to increase your knowledge via definitions in the MM industry, http://bit.ly/getyoursocialacttogether.

Now that we’ve covered the basics let’s move on to why mobile marketing is the trend.  Ask yourself; do you know anyone who does not have a mobile phone?  The industry has made it easy to get and the features quite easy to use — hence the phrase “there’s an app for that”.   I’m going to focus on one of the definition terms from the link above and that is LBS. 

Location based services is what a cell phone network offers, this vehicle is used to send custom advertising to you, the cell phone subscriber; and it is all GPS based.  Meaning that you’re not going to receive an ad from a small business in Ohio if you live in Iowa.  How does this happen?  There is a GPS chip built into your existing phone.

Foursquare, YELP, Facebook Places, just to name a few, utilize LBS technology.  How should you use them to leverage your business?  There are so many ways to explore and it can be overwhelming to decide which ones to use; yes more than one.  The reason is that your clientele will not all be using Foursquare, so it is important to know about more than one and decide which one or ones you will utilize when you put together your mobile marketing strategy.  Their concept is to connect with your friends at brick and mortar locations; where you will earn passports, rewards, points, badges and status labels.

As a business owner, you can embrace those titles and accolades by offering a discount to those who are the Duchess of your establishments (Yelp), or the Mayor of the town in your area (Foursquare).  The LBS is doing all of the work for you, it will be displayed on your social media tool and you should be running your marketing on that same platform. 

Remember that mobile marketing will allow you to send out exclusive and targeted promos, rewarding those who patronize your business and make others wonder why they are not and therefore will envy the deals.  Get on board with the mobile marketing trend!! 

• Start with locating a good Social Media Strategist
• Know your customer base
• Know your audience
• Arm your business with the right mobile marketing tools

Take a deeper look at the benefits of using some of these tools, expanding the search to practices that will actually benefit your small business.  Sharing location updates, geo-tagging, commenting with customers; becoming part of their mobile address book, online social networks, communities and blogs. 

Barbara Pender is a Social Media coach, providing training and speaking opportunities covering this fast paced industry.  Connect with her on Facebook — and follow her on Twitter.