How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

Hi Warriors,

Simeon Tuitt here, just thought I would put up this thread for UK warriors who need tips and ideas for marketing mobile services to businesses in the UK, I've noticed a lot of the mobile marketing information online is targeted and based around the USA mobile marketing scene and that is vastly different to the UK.

So if you are from the UK and do mobile marketing here and have ideas to share with others from the UK or have a question about how to offer mobile marketing services, approach businesses, handle text messaging in the UK for your clients, generate leads or set up mobile web sites and what to charge for services here, post your comments in this thread.

In the UK we can charge more than across the pond in the USA and so USA price points shouldn't be the guide for setting prices when approaching UK businesses. I want to share my wealth of knowledge with UK warriors and anyone doing mobile marketing or looking to get into it, so drop your questions and lets share ideas, contribute and help each other with mobile marketing.

Re: How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

Since you say you have experience in this, I'd like to know your method of finding clients and how you sell them the service (over the phone, e-mail, in person etc)?

Also when did you start your mobile solutions and how did you go about it?

What are your initial services and costs on offer and what else do you further upsell later down the line?

Have you found that many local UK business owners have a keen interest in mobile, or are they mostly a bit skeptical to "take a risk"?

Probably just sound nosey, and well....I am :)

Re: How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

Hi JToneyUK, thanks for your questions, save some for others, lol. Noticed your questions on the post about someone marketing to churches also, good to see you getting in there and contributing. In answer to your questions, (hope I don't miss any since was a few).

1. To find clients is the easy part, but its a case of what kind of clients do you want. I mean you just need to purchase your local paper for your city in the UK or other country and see who is advertising in the classifieds section, the same people advertise week after week and you won't notice them tracking the ads with any codes, so they have no idea of who is coming from the paper.

In the UK an average national ad will cost you £150 per show for a classified, local ads in cities always tend to cost more, but work with £150 per week as a businesses ad spend and they are throwing away £600 a month on newspaper ads that aint working. You can approach them and offer mobile services cheaper. To find out what businesses are spending on their ad to know how much you can price, get the rate card for the ad sizes in the paper.

Another way for finding clients is to keep a box of the flyers that drop through your door marketing services, you know the fast food ones with menus, every single one doesn't have a mobile web site, no QR codes directing to a facebook page or mobile page, no use of short code. These are all services you can pitch to food places sending flyer because by helping them grow a text optin list from those people they mail REPEATEDLY week after week, they save money by being able to just send a text in slow periods.

Again in the UK businesses spend £35 - £40 per 1000 flyers they have posted plus they have to pay for the cost of actually having the flyers printed. A couple of businesses are on facebook now and have a few hundred fans, so set up the business a short code and then have them promote it on their facebook pages to get the mobile numbers, then you have created them a text optin list really quickly which you can run campaigns for them.

Any shop that hasn't got a QR Code in the window is also somewhere you can offer mobile services, you can offer to link up QR Codes to their facebook page or have a QR Code set so that people can check in to a business which will notify their friends in newsfeed and generate free exposure.

One place for lots of FREE leads is the good old BIG G search engine. Just hit a business type into it, followed by your city name afterwards and hit places on the left of the screen and it will show you all the businesses of that type in your city. There you have endless leads to offer mobile services too.

Last quick way of getting people to market mobile services too is to simply buy them, in the UK there is a place where you can buy names of businesses with their full business details, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, contact in business who controls the money, their position within the business etc. I just grabbed myself a list a week ago for my city and got over 52,000 businesses to be hitting, yet in my city less than 100 businesses actually use facebook and the only places that do mobile marketing are night clubs and mainly hair dressors, but they only use it to remind people of appointments.

2. I have been using mobile marketing over a year for my own online marketing, growing lists etc and decided to offer my services to local businesses since its a nice cheap, high response way for them to actually promote.

3. In regards to what services to offer local businesses there are loads you can offer them, you can offer local businesses the following:

1. Text Message Marketing And Management
2. QR Codes
3. Mobile Web Sites
4. Listing Their Business On Google Places
5. Running Mobile Ads
6. Setting Up And Managing Bluetooth Marketing

So there are lots of services you can offer local businesses, but you do not want them to know all about those to start or their heads will explode. I suggest offering businesses text message marketing as your lead in, as your frontend if you will because it builds the foundation for which everything else will revolve around. You can then offer QR Codes which will help grow the text optin list, followed by a mobile website later, then listing the mobile website on PLACES, etc.

4. The only businesses who will have any objections to mobile and how it can help them are the ones not advertising at the moment, do not approach people not spending money on advertising or any service is too expensive and they only see a cost, they are not looking at it as a way to generate more business.

If you mention text message marketing most people will instantly think that it is something they can do themselves and have no need for you to do for them. So its always nice to show a real life example rather than talk to people trying to convince them of how text can help them.

I like to tell people to text the word MAKE SALES to 60777 where they instantly get a text response back that I have set up. They then see an example of how a coupon could be sent to passers by their business telling them to bring the text in within 3 days and get a discount or some free offer.

I also demonstrate a mobile phone viewable website by having that included in the text the texter receives, again demonstrating rather than explaining what I can do for the business.

I think I answered all your questions above, best to keep it to one or two questions though as my answers do tend to be detailed. ;-) I hope these help.

Re: How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

Thanks for your thorough post, it was very useful. I'll be sure to follow this thread to see what other people have to say about their experiences.

Re: How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

Glad I could help. ;)

Re: How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

I hope this is the right place to ask this.

I am about to start my mobile marketing business here in the UK, I have been in a sales roll in the past, but was hopeless.
So, I want to take on a commission only sales person to do the sales side.

Does any uk warrior have an agreement form that the salesperson signs, that I could amend to my info?

I am starting this biz living on benefit, so can't afford to get a solicitor to do it for me, and I can't afford to waste time on the sales side of things myself.

Also, do I need to take out any kind of business insurance?

Re: How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

Thanks to JToneyUK for asking and Simeon for such a detailed answer.

I've bought wsos with less substance.

Perhaps Simeon might consider putting together a wso on mobile marketing in the UK covering the key areas he mentioned

1. Text Message Marketing And Management
2. QR Codes
3. Mobile Web Sites
4. Listing Their Business On Google Places
5. Running Mobile Ads
6. Setting Up And Managing Bluetooth Marketing

In the meantime may I inquire

- what sms service providers do you recommend, and

- are QR codes really used in the UK? What percentage of phones sold in UK are capable of reading a QR code?

PS can either of you two guys give me a link to the discussion on marketing to churches. Thanks.

Re: How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

"- are QR codes really used in the UK? What percentage of phones sold in UK are capable of reading a QR code?"

I think all SmartPhones have the capability, you just need to download a free app to do it.

It seems they are beginning to catch on in the UK and as more and more Estate Agents use them, the curiosity factor will add momentum.

It's a shame this thread has gone quiet - anybody out there?

Ray

Re: How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

I am iinterested in this thread to as I lieve in the UK and was pleased to have UK specific info. I hope Simeon and others come back.

I got the report on marketing to churches nnut have not actioned it yet as have not found an affordable sms service that does not cost an arm and a leg to start. would be glad to hear what services others are using.

Re: How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

Hi Ray, yes still here, lots of companies in the UK use QR Codes now, Dominoes has them on their flyers now, virgin trains has them, car companies, they are getting about now and I would expect them on TV soon along with companies FB links or even to direct to their business pages.

My nokia N95 8GB from 3 years ago which I only replaced this year had QR code capabilities as most do with cameras, its just about getting an app for the task.

All the best,

Sim

Re: How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

Hi Lorraine2, google txt local, its free to set up with, they provide a short code, qr codes that people can scan to optin to a text list and are the cheapest company in the UK for SMS.

All the best,

Sim

Re: How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

Thanks simeon I will check it out. Are you related to Elston Tuitt? We went tpt school together. If you are related say hello.

Re: How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

Hi Simeon,
This is an area Inhave just started investigating. You definitely seem to have some knowledge about this area and I would like to contact you to get more insist. Can you pm your email address.
Thanks

Re: How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

Hi solae, thanks for your message, click the SKYPE icon under my name in the thread and you can send me a message directly through there.

Re: How To Do Mobile Marketing In The UK, Share Your Tips, Ideas And Ask Mobile Marketing Questions
 

Hi Simeon,

Great post thanks for sharing but I have a question what methods do you use to contact potential clients?

Thanks

JJ