Can you imagine being able to send specific advertisements to pre-qualified customers who are already looking for you instead of blasting your advertising across every medium you can think of in the hopes of getting just a small fraction of the customers watching? Mobile marketing is simply the use of mobile devices to get your message to the most qualified audience possible. Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets combine the power of the internet with social media into a portable device you carry with you all day long, allowing access to all information at all times. Because we are now so connected, this gives business owners a new way to market to willing customers who both want and need their services.
Today, mobile is the number one medium to search the internet and interact with each other, in fact, most people who use mobile have their phones or tablets on them at all times. This means that we are sharing and receiving information at all hours of the day so if your a business who has made a strong impression on someone, chances are, their friends will know about it very soon so you want that impression to be a good one.
People who use the web to look for a service or product usually act within one hour of their search. These customers will also use their mobile devices in your stores to look up info on your products,inform their friends where they are, and share the quality of your service. may also look for an item online and show you a picture to see if you carry it as well but you can also put these habits to work in your favor.
A Few Basic Techniques
The first thing you need to do is optimize your website for mobile which means having a simple landing page, with a large graphic, embedded with action buttons. I suggest a button that enables a direct call to the store, a button that connects to your Google+ local page, and one that connects to your main website. One of my clients has a button that leads to an interactive comic book.
Do you have a strong Google page?Your Google+ Local business page is essential for geocentric advertising which allows you to be visible when a local customer does a search for stores like you in their immediate area. If you are a diner and someone searches for hamburgers in your area, you will come up but when that customer walks through your door, you can still get them involved. By getting them to share their lunch order with their friends or bring in their friends in return for a discount on future meals, you can build a strong social media campaign leading to word of mouth. Also, by offering coupons on your mobile site or ad, you increase the return by a factor of ten, far greater than the return from traditional coupons. Or you can use a call to action, prompting customers to share your mobile ad to receive the coupon.
This leads us to contextual advertising, which is simply placing a mobile ad within a related article. This ad should be another offer value to the reader and give them reason to click. Plus, they are already pre-qualified by reading the article so the ad will have a greater impact than simple placing it in random media.
I am very exited about this new medium and looking forward to what the future holds, I see a great many opportunities for us as entrepreneurs to grow our business and build our fan base tremendously.
