Tag Archives | mobile marketing

How to Get Your Small Business Mobile Ready in 2013

By on December 18, 2012 in 31 Ways to Boost Your Small Business, Guest Articles, Technology

guestpost 300x48 How to Get Your Small Business Mobile Ready in 2013If you’re like most small business owners, you’ve heard a lot about mobile marketing and how it can be used to grow your sales and revenues. You may have even read articles about how major corporations are tapping into mobile marketing to build their customer base.

The trouble is, you’ve never seen an article that offers a step-by-step guide on how to get started in mobile marketing. Oh, sure, everybody talks about case studies and examples from the major corporations, but nobody put together a roadmap for the small business owner – you know – the people who get in early or stay late to make sure their businesses are always running smoothly.

When Jeanne Hopkins and I wrote Go Mobile, the #1 best-selling book about mobile marketing, we set out to solve that problem. After all, the small business owner doesn’t have a staff of people they can delegate to. More typically, if a new initiative is going to get started, it’s going to get started by you, not your employees.

So, with that in mind, what follows are some steps you can take to get started in mobile marketing. These have been adapted from the book Go Mobile, so if they resonate with you, then they’ve accomplished their task.

Step #1. Use Mobile Marketing. This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many people talk about mobile marketing but don’t actively use mobile marketing. Oh, sure, they may understand the concept of mobile marketing, but they haven’t used it enough to become intimately familiar with it.

I’d like to encourage you to go out and scan a QR code today. And to do a Google search from your smartphone. And to download foursquare, LivingSocial, WHERE or SCVNGR and to use one of those apps to check-in at your favorite retail store.

How about downloading the Delta Air Lines app and using it as your boarding pass the next time you’re flying Delta? Or what about using the Starbucks Mobile Card to pay for your next cup of coffee?

All these things may sound intimidating at first, but it’s important to note – it’s very hard to break something when you do any of these things on your smartphone. So go ahead and give it a try. After all, in order to really understand mobile marketing you’re going to have to use mobile marketing. Otherwise, you won’t really have a grasp of all the nuances of this amazing and powerful new tool.

2. Set Up and Launch Your Mobile Website: If you haven’t set up your mobile website already, we have some good news – it’s actually easier than you might think. All it takes is a basic understanding of a few different approaches and then selecting which one is best for you.

But first a little background – a mobile website is different from a mobile app. A mobile website is a big computer file that’s hosted on a computer located at a hosting company like GoDaddy or HostGator. A mobile app is a small software program that lives on your smartphone. An app is kind of like Microsoft Word in that it’s a piece of software that’s been installed on your device.

Okay, so now that you know the difference between a mobile website and a mobile app, let’s talk about building out your mobile website. If you use a content management system like WordPress or Drupal for your blog or website, there are some mobile website plug-ins that you can install that reformat your site nicely so that it’s mobile-friendly. These plug-ins do a surprisingly good job of taking your blog posts and packaging them up in a mobile-friendly format.

Alternatively, you could use one of the plug-and-play systems provided by a variety of organizations. Some of the best companies for this include Mobify, Wirenode, Mippin Mobilizer, Onbile and MoFuse.

Of course, the best option is to have your web designer create a mobile site specifically for your company. If you have a regular website, then you probably have a web designer. And if you have a web designer, then they should be able to add a simple line of code to your home page that “sniffs” out whether your visitor is coming from a PC or if they’re coming from a smartphone. If they’re coming from a smartphone, then they’re re-directed to pages on the site that are designed to be mobile-friendly.

3. Create a QR Code Campaign. You’ve seen QR codes cropping up all over the place, but you probably didn’t know how easy they are to use. Here are some quick, easy steps to get you started using QR codes to offer special discounts to your customers.

a)      Create a Mobile Web Page with a Discount. This is the only step that may require the help of your web designer, but the key is to provide something of value. So, for example, create a page that says, “Thanks for scanning our code. Just show this mobile web page to your server to receive 5% off your dinner” or something like that

b)      Copy the URL of That Mobile Web Page. Once you’ve copied the URL of that web page, find a QR code generator online (just Google “QR Code Generator” and you’ll find plenty).

c)      Drop the URL into the QR Code Generator. Once you’ve dropped the URL into the generator, hit the submit button. You’ll see your QR code pop up instantly. That QR code is unique to your URL.

d)      Add the QR Code into Printed Materials. You can include QR codes in your print ads, your brochures or even your business cards. The key is to provide some sort of reward for having the user scan the code.

4. Register Your Business with Location Based Services: A location-based service is a term for an app that customers can download that provides discounts for the people using them. Foursquare, Gowalla, WHERE, LivingSocial and SCVNGR are examples of these. When people open up the apps from their smartphones, they’re offered discounts or incentives that encourage them to visit your business.

Your first step on this front is to claim your business with the location-based services. What does that mean? Claiming your business is just your way of raising your hand and saying, “I’m an official representative of this business and I want to claim our position on your service before any un-official representative does.”

When a customer uses foursquare, Gowalla, WHERE or SCVNGR, they basically “check-in” when they arrive at your business. Checking-in is simply the process of opening the app from a smartphone, then clicking on an icon so that the business knows the customer is at the location. Once they’ve done this, they can use the apps to get discounts, get more information about your business or see where their friends are hanging out.

5. Run a Mobile Paid Search Campaign: Paid search ads show up above the organic search results that are seen when you do a search on Google, Bing or Yahoo.  There are several best practices to keep in mind when you run a mobile paid search ad. First, you need to “go local” and make sure your ads would appeal to searches from people who are either in their car, on the sidewalk or in a shopping mall.

The second is to be sure your ads click through to a mobile-optimized landing page. There’s nothing more frustrating than clicking on a mobile paid search ad only to find the landing page isn’t set up to be read on a smartphone.

The third item is to be sure your ads target immediate needs. According to MobileMarketer.com, 70% of mobile search users complete their task after one hour, compared to 30% on the PC. So, target customers who are looking for immediate needs like restaurants, bars, auto repair shops, big box retail locations or book stores.

Finally, you’ll want to broaden the scope of the keywords you select for your campaign. Since mobile search volume is significantly lower than online search, you’ll need to include a broader range of keywords in your campaign in order to get the same kind of “umph” that you get with a traditional paid search campaign.

6. Run a Mobile Display Campaign. Display ads are the small banner ads that show up when you surf the web on your smartphone. They’re different from paid search ads, which are text ads that show up when you do a Google, Bing or Yahoo search. Display ads look like tiny little banner ads and can include graphics, colors and even movement.

What’s great about mobile display (or banner) ads is that consumers respond to them better than traditional display ads. In fact, a recent research study found that mobile ads were opened by 61% of participants while standard web ads were opened by only 7% of the consumers surveyed.

This indicates that mobile ads have distinct advantages over traditional banner ads. First, they have the benefit of novelty, which is always a successful trigger for marketers. And second, they take up a larger portion of the browser page, so they’re more intrusive.

You can get started in display ads by contacting one of the multitude of mobile advertising networks, some of which include iAd (from Apple), AdMob (from Google), Millennial Media and Mobclix.

The Bottom Line – Get Started Today. In the end, the whole point of this article is to help you get started in mobile marketing quickly so that you can use it to attract new prospects and convert them to customers. After all, the main reason you’re trying to learn more about mobile marketing is so that you can use it to grow your business, right?

Growth is good. And mobile marketing can help you accomplish that.

JamieTurner How to Get Your Small Business Mobile Ready in 2013Jamie Turner is a keynote speaker and the founder of 60SecondMarketer.com. He is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media and Go Mobile.

18 How to Get Your Small Business Mobile Ready in 2013

This article is from the SmallBizLady special blog series: 31 Ways to Boost Your Small Business in 2013. #Boost2013

 

Week One Posts of 31 Ways to BOOST Your Small Business in 2013 Week Two Posts of 31 Ways to BOOST Your Small Business in 2013

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Developing a Mobile Marketing Strategy with Kent Lewis

By on April 12, 2012 in Branding & Marketing, Q & A Interviews, SmallBizChat

qafollowup 300x201 Developing a Mobile Marketing Strategy with Kent LewisEvery week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with Kent Lewis @KentLewis is President and Founder of Anvil Media and Formic Media, sister search engine and social media marketing agencies based in Portland, Ore. For more information visit www.anvilmediainc.com.

SmallBizLady: What exactly does the term “mobile marketing” mean?

Kent Lewis: Mobile marketing technically refers to any form of messaging or advertising targeted at portable devices, which typically means cell phones, but may also include iPads and tablet-style devices. For our clients, we typically focus on developing strategic plans around mobile-friendly websites, local SEO, mobile advertising, QR codes, location-based services, email & SMS messaging and mobile applications or “apps.”

 SmallBizLady: What does a small business owner need to know about the mobile web?

Kent Lewis: Small businesses have a few options when it comes to “mobilizing” a website. The easiest and most cost-effective approach is to develop a mobile-friendly website, designed in CSS, with small screens as a consideration factor. The site renders nearly as well on a phone screen as a monitor, if designed correctly. The drawback is that mobile browsers are not as robust and does not typically support Flash or Javascript elements, but HTML 5 provides a viable alternative for interactivity. The alternative approach would be to build your corporate website on a mobile-friendly CMS platform — one that automatically generates a mobile version of your website. The benefit of this approach is that you don’t have to design the website specifically for mobile, as that will be handled by the CMS platform. The downside is that there are compromises and limitations of such platforms. If mobile is a core strategy for 2011, the ideal approach is to create a dedicated mobile website (m.companyname.com) with unique content and features your mobile audience will need or appreciate (i.e. contact information, driving directions for starters).

SmallBizLady: How does local search engine optimization play into mobile marketing strategies for small business?

Kent Lewis: While your website should do the heavy lifting in terms of providing a resource for mobile-enabled audiences, there are third party local directories that are playing a larger role in mobile search, particularly for small businesses. The content typically seen on a computer screen in local search results is going to power mobile search and other mobile applications in the future.  For starters, be sure to claim & optimize local listings on Google Places/Maps, Bing & Yahoo! Local and related local directories. Specifically, Google Places pages now offer click-to-call capability, which will be appealing to mobile users who are more likely to convert.

 SmallBizLady: Can you explain the various mobile advertising opportunities available to small businesses?

Kent Lewis: While mobile advertising is in its infancy as an industry, it is growing quickly. The good news is that you can get started relatively quickly and easily with mobile advertising campaigns. For those of you with existing Google AdWords accounts, adding mobile is as easy as clicking a button. Beyond expanding your text and display ads to mobile searches, you can incorporate mobile-friendly capabilities like click-to-call and call tracking (via Google Voice) to measure effectiveness of mobile marketing efforts, without the need for third party technology.  If you’re looking for additional mobile advertising opportunities, consider testing mobile ad platforms like AdMob and mobile social advertising like 140 Proof for Twitter mobile applications. With a bit more time and resources, you can explore sponsorship opportunities within existing SMS, MMS and mobile apps. Last but not least, don’t forget to incorporate QR codes (customizable bar codes that embed a URL) into your print, and other display, advertising.

SmallBizLady: What are QR codes and how can a small business use them?

Kent Lewis: Quick Response or “QR” codes are essentially customizable bar codes that are read by mobile phones through the camera and an application. Most frequently, QR codes include an embedded URL, which offers small businesses an opportunity to incorporate a unique, trackable web page into offline/print marketing materials like business cards, newsletters, print, broadcast and outdoor advertising. Free QR code generators are available online and are easy to use, after which you can simply paste the new square code into your marketing materials and wait for the phone or inbox to light up!

SmallBizLady: What are Location-based Services and why should we care?

Kent Lewis: Location-based services (LBS) are generating buzz and ridiculous valuations, but can also be powerful tools for engendering loyalty from your customers. Getting started is relatively simple: create and optimize business profiles on Foursquare, GoWalla, Yelp Mobile, Google and Facebook Places. Don’t forget that these platforms are essentially virtual loyalty programs, which means they require a dedicated effort to maximize your marketing opportunities.

SmallBizLady: What do we need to know about email and SMS text messaging?

Kent Lewis: SMS messaging is going to be the “new email” — in that your focus will be to collect phone numbers instead of (or in addition to) email addresses. As such, make sure your email platform is mobile-friendly. Confirm your outbound emails render well in mobile browsers and that you are collecting opt-in SMS information and developing an outbound marketing strategy specifically for text messaging. To take full advantage of SMS, consider investing in your own dedicated mobile platform.  Leverage existing mobile texting platforms (like MooText or MobileStorm) to create, manage and track mobile marketing campaigns. These platforms typically incorporate a mobile CRM (MCRM) to expand your customer insights and data into the mobile realm.

SmallBizLady: When should small businesses consider developing an application?

Kent Lewis: While mobile applications or “apps” are all the rage thanks to big consumer brands, Google and Apple, they may not be a good fit for small business. Before investing in development or licensing of an app, conduct thorough research into your target audiences’ usage of mobile. If you have critical mass, then ask pointed questions of your target audience about their needs and wants in regards to a mobile app. From there, you can get a bid against your specification from qualified vendors. Incidentally, research indicates mobile users prefer games, music and access to social networks as core elements of mobile apps.

SmallBizLady: Any parting thoughts about mobile marketing for business owners to consider?

Kent Lewis: Regardless of your marketing objectives, target audiences, budgets and available resources, there are at least seven core strategies to consider when developing a mobile marketing strategy for small business. Conduct the necessary research up front to minimize your investment and maximize your ROI. Don’t forget to develop measurable goals, embed necessary analytics and start small with limited testing before committing significant resources. Like any marketing program, mobile requires a dedicated effort to be effective over the long haul.

 

If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9pm ET follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter. Here’s how to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/S797e

For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is one of America’s leading small business experts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine named her #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also bestseller author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works.

 

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Where will Social Media Lead You in 2011?

By on January 18, 2011 in Guest Articles, Social Media

guestpost 150x150 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. 

BarbaraPender 150x150 Where will Social Media Lead You in 2011?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.

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