Mobile Marketing for Local Business 101--Part 1 Getting Started
- ARTICLES |
Mobile marketing is no longer the wave of the future. It's right now. Business people everywhere are scrambling to find ways to reach their customers on mobile devices. If you're a local business person looking to reach a wider audience, or better serve the customers you already have, mobile marketing puts your business front and center in the palm of your hand right on their smartphones and mobile devices.
This is part 1 of a 4-part series of articles where we'll look at mobile marketing through the focused lens of the local business merchant. Let's dive right in and get started covering the basics of mobile marketing for local businesses:
What is mobile marketing?
Wikipedia says that the term, 'mobile marketing,' ". . .is meant to describe marketing on or with a mobile device, such as a cell phone using SMS Marketing." This represents a new-ish media for local businesses to use to reach new customers and retain the loyalty and mind share of their existing clientele. Mobile marketing is highly interactive, with far better response rates that email marketing has been getting lately.
Who uses mobile technology today?
An August 2011 report by comScore reports that over 234 million Americans over the age of 13 have mobile devices with 84.5 million of those being smart phones.
Source: bit.ly/JKP1WB
A Pew research study conducted in April 2012 found, "Currently, 88% of American adults have a cell phone, 57% have a laptop, 19% own an e-book reader, and 19% have a tablet computer; about six in ten adults (63%) go online wirelessly with one of those devices."
Source: pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Digital-differences/Overview.aspx
How is mobile impacting local business?
Mobile local search is growing from a rate of about 14 searches per month per user today to over 44 per month (projected) by 2016. This means that mobile local search will eclipse desktop searches by 2015. So, basically, your prospective customers are searching for your local business right now using their mobile phones and they are calling the businesses they find. Will they find you when they do a search with their mobile phone or device?
Source: » When Will Mobile Local Searches Eclipse Desktop?
According to a research report published by xAd in May 2012, 58% of secondary actions post-search led to users placing a call. They asked for maps and directions 36%, descriptions 5% and 1% more information.
Source: xAd Report Reveals Significant Increases in Performance Across Its Network in Q1 2012xAd | xAd
How are consumers using their mobile devices?
Consumers are using their mobile phones to:
What we'll be covering in the mobile marketing for local business 101 series
In this 4-part series we'll be taking a look at mobile websites for your local business, mobile advertising, and setting up your mobile advertising campaigns. In the final article we'll also give you some tips for developing your own mobile marketing strategy, how to determine if your client base and target audience are using mobile technology, and how to decide if it even makes sense for you to invest the time and energy in developing a mobile marketing strategy for your local business.
How have you gotten involved with mobile marketing for your local business? What have your results looked like? Please feel free to share in the comments.
If you're looking for even more tips and strategies for leveraging the potential of mobile marketing for local business, visit http://mcreasoft.com today.
This is part 1 of a 4-part series of articles where we'll look at mobile marketing through the focused lens of the local business merchant. Let's dive right in and get started covering the basics of mobile marketing for local businesses:
What is mobile marketing?
Wikipedia says that the term, 'mobile marketing,' ". . .is meant to describe marketing on or with a mobile device, such as a cell phone using SMS Marketing." This represents a new-ish media for local businesses to use to reach new customers and retain the loyalty and mind share of their existing clientele. Mobile marketing is highly interactive, with far better response rates that email marketing has been getting lately.
Who uses mobile technology today?
An August 2011 report by comScore reports that over 234 million Americans over the age of 13 have mobile devices with 84.5 million of those being smart phones.
Source: bit.ly/JKP1WB
A Pew research study conducted in April 2012 found, "Currently, 88% of American adults have a cell phone, 57% have a laptop, 19% own an e-book reader, and 19% have a tablet computer; about six in ten adults (63%) go online wirelessly with one of those devices."
Source: pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Digital-differences/Overview.aspx
How is mobile impacting local business?
Mobile local search is growing from a rate of about 14 searches per month per user today to over 44 per month (projected) by 2016. This means that mobile local search will eclipse desktop searches by 2015. So, basically, your prospective customers are searching for your local business right now using their mobile phones and they are calling the businesses they find. Will they find you when they do a search with their mobile phone or device?
Source: » When Will Mobile Local Searches Eclipse Desktop?
According to a research report published by xAd in May 2012, 58% of secondary actions post-search led to users placing a call. They asked for maps and directions 36%, descriptions 5% and 1% more information.
Source: xAd Report Reveals Significant Increases in Performance Across Its Network in Q1 2012xAd | xAd
How are consumers using their mobile devices?
Consumers are using their mobile phones to:
- Text
- Send pictures
- Use the GPS feature
- Play games
- Check email
- Stock quotes
- Keep up with friends on social media
- Watch videos
- Search for local products & services
What we'll be covering in the mobile marketing for local business 101 series
In this 4-part series we'll be taking a look at mobile websites for your local business, mobile advertising, and setting up your mobile advertising campaigns. In the final article we'll also give you some tips for developing your own mobile marketing strategy, how to determine if your client base and target audience are using mobile technology, and how to decide if it even makes sense for you to invest the time and energy in developing a mobile marketing strategy for your local business.
How have you gotten involved with mobile marketing for your local business? What have your results looked like? Please feel free to share in the comments.
If you're looking for even more tips and strategies for leveraging the potential of mobile marketing for local business, visit http://mcreasoft.com today.