SMS Mobile Coupons On The Rise Says Report

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According to a recent report from RadiumOne, 42.3 percent of customers would rather receive SMS-based mobile coupons than scan barcodes or use push notifications. The report, titled “Improving the Performance of Mobile Coupons”, found that 61,9 percent of people are using mobile coupons at grocery stores and retailers while51.5 percent of smartphone users choose to use mobile coupons over the 23.8 percent that use scanning-based methods.

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“Based on our results, we can make the assumption that people prefer to have control over the mobile coupon process and want to have mobile coupons readily available anytime on their mobile device,” said Vice President of RadiumOne, Kamal Kaur. “Consumers also view push notifications as more invasive than SMS, which is another reason why SMS coupons are preferred.”

The report was also able to highlight how women are using mobile coupons for their household purchases, especially women among the 35-54 year old demographic. “When presented with a sales opportunity or coupon,” continured Kaur. “The in-ad options allow women to engage with a brand’s content with great autonomy and choice – a method most preferred and appreciated by this particular demographic.”

Couple this with the rise in social media and mobile and this new information revelas a very promising opportunity with women consumers for businesses and companies that still has yet to be fully taken advantage of. “A demographic, that for the most part, continues to feel misunderstood by advertisers,” said Kaur.

So we know that mobile coupons are preferred by mobile users, especially by women, so that means, naturally, mobile coupon use is also growing. Smartphones are responsible for most of the mobile coupon use, but mobile coupons are text-based so you can send mobile coupons to virtually any phone that is SMS capable.

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RadiumOne’s report examined how customers engage with mobile coupons on their mobile devices while also staying aware of which digital promotions are best designed to fit the desires of customers. As mentioned before, women between 35-54 years of age are the fastest growing mobile coupon demographic since mobile coupons are so easy for them to use. Because of this,marketers and advertisers have been given an opportunity to grow their relationships with these customers.

The report shows that users are valuing efficiency, utility, and ease-of-use with mobile coupons. They especially liked SMS-based coupons and when they were alerted about their coupons through push notifications.

The beauty of mobile coupons is that users can use them four different ways. They can scan them with a 2D barcode, check-in on a mobile app, tap their phones at a point-of-sale terminal, or use a digital loyalty card.

RaduimOne discovered a number of key marketer best practices when dealing with mobile coupons during the course of the study. They recommended multi-step redemption processes, tailoring mobile coupon offers for everyday products, pushing appropriate offers to mobile shoppers through text messaging, and taking advantage of in-app loyalty programs which will automatically redeem mobile coupon offers.

“The ability for brands to identify consumer behavior and understand when people are most likely to interact with brands on their handheld devices is critical when designing a multi-channel media strategy that may include in-store digital promotions,” noted Kaur. “According to survey findings, the top three most frequently redeemed coupon categories included groceries, retail goods and food and drink. Along with that, retailers are currently delivering coupons in four different ways including: scanning a QR code, checking-in on a mobile application, tapping their phone on a point-of-sales terminal or redeeming coupons via digital loyalty cards.”

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So as you can see, mobile coupons are not only growing in popularity, but they are also being used more and marketers are learning how to use them more efficiently. Mobile coupons should be considered by ANY company if they want to bring in more traffic, more leads, and generate more conversions. But you need to hop on the trend now before it leaves you, and your company, in the dust.

Will Google Glass Replace the Smart Phone?

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How would you feel wearing a device over your eyes that looks like glasses? Subtract the lenses and add a small device over your right eye. This is Google Glass. Experts predict that Google Glass can ultimately be a game-changer along the lines of phones. One that could change the landscape all across the advertising, entertainment, gaming, commerce, and media worlds.

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Google has recently released a video that details the headwear’s digitally-enhanced technological advancements. Many consumers think that Google Glass could make a run for the top spot against the iPhone, Android, and other mobile devices. Researchers state “in this tech-loving world, it may become numerous consumers go-to mechanism for many things they certainly do on smart phones.”

Google Glass is all about bringing together two technology favorites, the smart phone and tablet to a pair of glasses. These glasses happen to be sight and voice controlled as well. The Google X team strategy was to bring the sci-fi technology to life. The display over the right eye can provide you information about the world around you, the small camera can snap photos and also shoot video all while being voiced controlled.

With Google Glass it can give you up-to-date weather reports just by looking out a window, show you a text and allow you to reply with voice activation, it may inform you of underground transportation being halted and give you step by step instructions to your destination. What Google Glass is not though is a phone. It is an expansion of our everyday phones like a Bluetooth headset for our eyes.

Ian Schafer CEO of Deep Focus stated, “it’ll be an opportunity to get information that users currently would find on their phone. They can actually pull it out of thin air.” When you think of your smart phone and the accustomed information you get from it is instant satisfaction from an information standpoint.

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From a marketing standpoint Schafer stated, “it could make augmented reality worth more advertising spend.” Greg Stuart CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association stated, “Google Glass could evolve advertising in unforeseen ways.” Similar to using your iOS or Android tablet as a window we get a sense of what advertising for Google Glass will look like. The small gold coins that imitate what we see on Super Mario Bros grants real world rewards.

Google Glass can also prove to be very vital and valuable production from a creative standpoint. Filmmakers and videographers can utilize this device to create theatrical footage.

So the million dollar question, will Google Glass replace the phone? To keep it short and sweet the answer is no. At least not right now, since the phone still has to depend on integration with an Android or iPhone to function properly.

Go Mobile or Die, 8 Reasons Why It Should Be In Your Marketing Plan

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How many of you have a Facebook or Twitter account? How many of you access that account from a device other than a PC? If you do, are you using your smartphone or tablet? If so, you are considered “part of the norm.” Over two thirds of facebook and twitter traffic already comes from mobile devices. Most of you are probably reading this blog post from a mobile device.

We’ve officially entered a world where having a PC is no longer part of the norm. We can access the web from almost any handheld device and from almost any part of the world. Mobile is no longer a “wanted” support medium, it’s now a necessity. Mobile has became the GO TO medium of today’s world. george_bernard_shaw

With the ever so rising demand of mobile technology, we as humans must adjust to the fundemental shift that comes along with it. We must make and take new innovative approaches to understand and adapt to the new uses. North Social states, “without your brand promotions being accessible from any device (smartphone, tablet, or PC) you’re failing to reach 60-70% of just your social media users.”

If companies don’t adjust and accomodate a mobile strategic plan into their business plan now, then they are failing with the mobile wave opportunity. Consumers who are not happy or do not have a great experience with an accessible and well thoughout mobile site will bail and head straight to your competitor giving them the edge over you. Companies can no longer go without having a mobile plan in place, it’s now essential to succeed.

Have I convinced you mobile is the way to go? Have you realized mobile is here and its here to stay? If not, I understand. Here are 8 more reasons why marketers must add mobile to their strategy in 2013.

1. Accessibility = Intreaction

The average American spends 94 minutes per day using mobile applications versus the 72 minutes of web-based consumption. The number is growing rapidly, while the percentage of web traffic in the United States is 7.96% that number skyrockets in Asia where the web traffic there is at 17.84%. Many have stated it’s only a matter of time before mobile usage surpasses television as the go to access point for media and I mean ALL media. Most consumers access Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn through a mobile device.

2. Statistics can prove anything – even the truth.

Just like in the business world, where numbers are key. The same goes for the communication world. We thrive off numbers and statistics.

  • There are over 1.2 Billion people accessing the web from their mobiles
  • 1.08 of the world’s 4 billion mobile phones are smartphones
  • 91% of all smartphone users have their phone within arm’s reach 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
  • 60% of Facebook’s 1 billion users access Facebook through a mobile device. These people are twice as active on the social media site than those who do not have mobile access.
  • Facebook has 543 million monthly active users on mobile
  • By 2016 mobile marketing will account for more than 15.2% of global online ad spending.

3. Maturity takes time

Imagine putting together a fundraiser. You just throw your fundraiser out there and nobody shows up. You put the whole thing together but forgot one crucial step. Promoting and awareness. Same thing with brand promotions. You cannot just create a brand and toss it out in to the world and hope people visit. You have to plan and campaign your brand. Promote it and get people aware of what you are all about.

The good thing about this is that the mobile ad market it no longer “immature.” There is such a large inventory out there of the tools companies have access too. They are able to target and connect their messages to their consumers this way. For example, Facebook. This company has gone all in. They put all their eggs in one basket and it has paid off. In 2011 Facebook had a big goose egg on the board in the mobile ad revenue area. Where in 2013 they’re expected to pull in an outstanding $850 million for mobile ads.

4. So, Lo, Mo – Repeat it till you remember it.

Social, Local, Mobile. Remember social is mobile, local is mobile, mobile is social and local. As stated earlier, 60% of Facebook traffic is mobile and growing rapidly. Then we have twitter where most of their user base is mobile. Throw in Foursquare where the location-based service allows users to inform friends where they’re eating, drinking or gathering at right now – this confirms that mobile and social make great partners. Social media has the power to bring people all over the world together.

5. Flow Easily

Have you ever woke up at dawn to go skiing out on the lake, when its the most calm almost and has a glassy like look to it. It’s the best time to go skiing, right? That’s what you want it to be like when you launch a promotion. If it goes smooth and easy most likely it will be successful. You never want to go skiing on memorial day weekend at two in the afternoon. The more waves you hit the more likely you are to fall. Same goes for promotions. The more hoops you have to jump through in order to participate in a brand experience the more likely you are to fail.

So what about QR Codes (aka Quick Response Codes). These are nauseating just like the your fathers flag shirt that he wore in the 70’s. (Every dad is entitled to one ugly shirt though.) Any person in the communication sphere especially brand marketers need a reality check when it comes to QR Codes. It may look good but it’s not inviting to a perspective client whatsoever.

6. Rapid Response, Rapid Reward

I’m like a little kid when it comes to prizes in cereal boxes and Cracker Jacks. I just want to know right away what the special prize is. Smart mobile apps allow you (the business) to collect data from your consumer and turn around and hit your customer with rapid response emails. These emails can include coupons, lines, certificates and more. The way business play the distribute and redeem game has changed, because our consumer behavior has changed. All because of mobile. Statistics show mobile coupons are ten times more likely to be redeemed than traditional coupons.

7. Why is a Smartphone called a Smartphone?

I often find myself asking this question a lot and no it’s not because I’m a blonde. I often wonder how many things get their names. The reason a smartphone is called a smartphone is because it is the “brain” of you as the customer. We use mobile phones for essentially everything. Whether it be entertainment, exercise to even googling ptential purchases. North Social states, “71% of mobile consumer do research on their smartphones after being served a captivating television or mobile ad? … while more than 59% of B2B purchase decision makers and influencers turn to their smartphones to gather intel when purchasing products or services.”

8. There is no failure, only feedback

To be successful you want and need to know how your consumer likes your product. Brands are constantly in communication with their consumers picking their brains to find out exactly what they want and how they can improve their business. To get a large ROI from your consumer you must partake in certain initiatives.

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  • Properly incent them
  • Quick and convient feedback
  • Understand your target
  • Measure customer awareness
  • Learn more about the customer and their specific buying habit

Inorder for a customer to get a discount on a future purchase, ask them to give you instant feedback. I quarantee it will outpreform a traditional survey via email every time.

Have I convinced you now? Good. I hope so. If your a little worried about being jumping into the mobile world, dont worry. It’s always good to be late then never there. Just follow the steps and slowly ease your way in. I promise you, you will be glad you did it.

Mobile Web Strategy for Small Business

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Let’s play a game of pictionary here. Let’s say you are a local business and you want to produce a mobile site to draw bigger business in. What do you do?

Do you place more ad’s in the local paper? Do you make calls to your local radio station? What about more television commercials? What about a mobile website?

Aha, there’s that light bulb I’ve been waiting to see. Let me tell you how a mobile website can help your small business and help you gain more customers than you could ever imagine.

For starters, small businesses haven’t quite grasp the concept of creating a mobile presence for their business. Many reasons include, the non-realization of consumers changing their purchasing ways, business owners of small companies don’t understand how mobile marketing functions and how those functions work. They also are not aware of the effect of mobile marketing and what it can do for their company.

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Statistics show, out of all the mobile searches, one in three is of local intent. 61% of smartphone users search for local content. 52% of the local searches result in calls made by the customer. While 59% of customers who search on the mobile web for local places, end up visiting the store they searched for.

Just like pictionary, begin with an objective in mind. How are you going to portray your “secret?” For your business, what do you want to do? Do you just want to bring more customers in? Do you want to get involved with your company and the community more? Generate calls to your business? Have a goal in mind, even if its small. Start small and end big.

Next, create a resolution and design it. How are you going to act out this clue? How are you going to make your goal achievable? Lay it out, create a template or design on what you want included on your mobile site. Now remember, it must be clear content, contrasted correctly, simple to read, easy to load, etc. Have keywords listed, so your company will be easy to find. Make sure your address, phone number, email, etc., is easy to access. Remember a happy customer means a happy owner.

Thirdly, in pictionary you want it to be easy to view (read) so the guesser can figure it out quickly. Same thing with designing a mobile website. You want your site to look great on a small hand held device. Code it so content is visible easily, and updated regularly.

Lastly, in three-two-one LAUNCH that thing. Promote your site so the likely increase of customers visiting increases. With good search content and (SEO) your site will be found more and more over time. The more people who visit and see your site the more likely it is to arrive at the top of a search page. As I said in an earlier blog post, reputation is everything.

Many small business owners have taken such help hints like the ones listed above and have already applied them to their mobile marketing strategy. They are finding rather quickly that results are positive. 69% of small business owners are crediting mobile sites for their business growth and believe that number will rise in the next few years.

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But, what goes up must come down. Unfortunately there is a wide gap seen today between small business who do have a mobile site to those who do not. Over 61% of small business currently do not have a mobile strategy made and are missing out on the consumers that are searching for what they may offer on a mobile device.

Owners are realizing that having a mobile-friendly site provides better service to their customer, attracts more customers even more local customers over time, and they gain a competitive advantage over all other competing stores.

There is hope though, I, and hopefully you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 64% of small business have said that they have spent more money in 2012 than any other year towards a mobile web strategy. That number is expected to rise drastically by 2015.

We’re getting there fellow mobile friends, we’re getting there.

Mobile Web Statistics and Trends 2013 | A Mobile New Years Resolution

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The calendar recently changed from 2012 to 2013 which means you should be too. Did you know out of the four billion mobile phones in the world 1.08 are smartphones? How many times a day do you access the Internet through your mobile device, smartphone or tablet? I bet it’s a lot, right?

Every time you access the world wide web through one of these devices you’re using this thing called a “Mobile Web.” These sites you come across on a daily basis, believe it or not are created specifically for the mobile web. Having a site that is mobile-friendly can do numerous things for your business. Whether you want to connect with customers, build a better brand, increase sales, etc. There are so many great possibilities out there. The downfall though, if a customer has a bad experience with your site you drive them straight to your competitor.

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Many of your customers already have a mobile device, today’s world is so technology advanced that Google states “there will be one mobile device for every person on earth by 2015.” I know what you’re probably thinking, “No way, thats crazy. 2015 is only two years away.” When you think about it though since 2010, mobile searches havequadrupled. This year (2013) its predicted that more people will use their mobile phones rather than a PC to get on-line. Times are changing in the technology world, PC’s are leaving and an array of mobile devices are arriving.

When users do use their PC to access your website they may find this amazing well planned and thought out site. Now, when they go and visit your site from a mobile device, you sure well better believe they are expecting to see an amazing, planned and thought out mobile site. Google’s statistics show 66% of customers really like a brand or company, they visit the mobile site but when they have a bad experience they leave disappointed. 52% say “a bad mobile experience makes (me) less likely to engage with a company.”

Reputation is everything.

From 2009 to 2012 we were living in a “social” world. All these social media sites were popping up all over the place and we just had to join every one so we could be social. Well just as the time changes so does the world we live in. 2012 to 2015 maybe well known as the “mobile” world. Right now at the beginning of 2013 may just be the best time to jump right on in and explore what the mobile web has to offer. Go ahead, I dare you! 

Develop an understanding, get benchmarks, explore, learn. Most users find mobile sites through search engines such as Google and Bing. If they don’t like what they find, they either go back and search somewhere else or they jump ship and abandon the task altogether. The easiest and best practices to have a successful mobile site include: Keep it quick, simplify, localize, visible, and accessible at the least.

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Many people are short on time and are in a hurry to find things. Help them, help you. Make your site super easy and quick to load. “74% of consumers will wait 5 seconds for a web page to lead on their mobile device before abandoning the site”(Eridon). Prioritize contents and features. Keep images small and use bullet points to minimize large text areas. Simplify, simplify, simplify! Say it with me “simplifying is key!” If I’m confused in the first few moments I access a site, I jump ship immediately. Don’t confuse the customer, minimize scrolling, use clear navigation, use minimal links (less than seven is best), and HAVE a search box. Many uses for the mobile web are to find local things and information. Have your store locater on the home page, use maps, directions and GPS for easy access. “One half of all local searches are performed on mobile devices” (Eridon). Make the site visible and easy to read for customers, create contrast, make sure content fits, use different sizes and color to indicate certain things. Lastly, make it accessible. There is nothing more frustrating then being somewhere and you need information fast and you’re stuck waiting to get nothing! Your site should be available and work all across any mobile device and handsets.

Google recently released more statistics quoting “57% of users say they wont recommend a business with a poorly-designed mobile site.” Small business though have taken these practices listed above and applied them to their sites. They are adopting the idea “design for mobile first.” Make sure when consumers type your URL in their browser from their mobile phone your website should recognize and redirect them to your mobile site and not your desktop site.

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In North America alone, mobile share of web traffic has increased from 4.7% to 7.9% from 2010 to 2012, that’s a 69% increase in two years. 86% of mobile Internet users are using their devices while watching TV. The average American spends 2.7 hours a day socializing on a mobile device. 86% of adults own a mobile phone, while only 53% use their phone to access the Internet. Many have stated they use their mobile phones more often for Internet access is because its easier, more convenient and they always have it with them. For when they need go to information fast.

Kind of like social network’s a good mobile site focuses on the user. Probably the most important thing when building a mobile strategy is to listen to the customer, learn from what they have to say (is it good or is it bad), and take their input and advice and iterate it into your mobile web site. You want the customer to be happy, right? Its a long and ongoing process everyday with testing and new optimizations but I’m telling you, it’s worth it.

Mobile Marketing Statistics 2012

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Gone are the days of traditional marketing techniques as the only means of attracting clients and customers. Sure, traditional marketing still definitely has its place in the world, but marketing companies have seen huge growth in marketing by way of mobile marketing. Not so sure? Come check out our Mobile Marketing Statistics 2012 and see for yourself. Even if you’re not quite ready to take the jump into mobile marketing, these stats are sure to help you see just how big mobile marketing has gotten, and the fact that it’s not going anywhere but up.

According to Hubspot, almost half of all U.S. businesses (more specifically 45%) are using some form of mobile marketing. Of all marketing agencies out there, about 47% of them plan to step up their mobile game in 2013. The most common forms of mobile marketing are as follows: Mobile websites come in first at 70%, Mobile Applications come in second at 55%, and QR Codes come in a close third with 49%. Mobile marketing is expected to account for roughly 25% of overall E-commerce revenues by the end of 2017. By the year 2016, mobile marketing advertising revenue worldwide is expected to expand by over 3.5 times it’s current size.

So how does it work?
For starters, you’ve gotta have that little gadget that everyone is so attached to–that no one can leave home without : their cell phone. Of the four billion cell phones out there (yes, you read that right, four billion), over a quarter of these are smartphones. Of those one billion smartphones, roughly 75% of those are either iPhones or Android powered phones. Over 75% of those total phones have text messaging (sms messaging) enabled.

Think about that for a minute: over 3 billion people can send and receive SMS messages at any time, day or night. What that means for you: the marketing messages you’re trying to get out there could be sent to almost half the world in mere seconds. Another perk of SMS marketing is that those messages are going directly to your clients and customers instead of possibly being filtered off into a spam folder, tossed out, or ignored like some traditional advertising outlets can be.

So with four billion mobile phones out there, what are their owners doing with them? Aside from just talking on them, many cell phone users are browsing the web, checking email, and using apps and mobile codes to help them shop.

Mobile web usage is up almost 70% from where it was in 2010. In the United States, about 8% of all web traffic comes from mobile users, up from 4.7%. Specifically, 14.6% of that mobile internet traffic is from smartphones, and 5.6% is from other mobile devices, such as tablets. Worldwide, mobile web traffic is up to 10%, over 160% more than where it was in 2010.

Of all local searches performed today, about half are done via mobile. Customers also shop around using their phone–either by a search, or by a native application. They’re checking online reviews and doing price checks while in store. One in five smartphone users said they would scan product barcodes, one in eight uses an application to do price comparisons. 29% of mobile users said they would scan a mobile tag, text in a keyword, or scan a QR code to receive coupons or discounts from a company.

Speaking of QR codes: 50% of smartphone users said that they have scanned a QR code. 80% of Americans can identify a QR code when they see one. QR code scans are up to almost 20%, up from under 14% (where they were at in April of 2011) in the United States alone.

Any company can benefit from mobile marketing, and these stats definitely go to show that mobile is here to stay. Hopefully they showed you that you should consider adding mobile marketing to your marketing plans today!

Optimizing Your Site For Mobile

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Mobile, Mobile, Mobile

If you haven’t already learned this by now, mobile is important. Yet, even though a lot of people know this, a majority of websites are not mobile optimized. In fact, only 10 percent of all websites are mobile friendly, 16 percent of marketers have developed a strategy for mobile, and only 14 percent of that 16 percent stated that they were satisfied with how their mobile strategy is working.

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So why is this happening? Why are companies having trouble taking advantage of what is obviously the most important thing to marketing? Well, it seems that people are becoming overwhelmed with all this information and don’t even know where to start. Mobile marketing is still very new territory after all, so it’s a good idea to prioritize what’s important to you and your company before making any mobile marketing decisions. Because not only can taking on everything at once become overwhelming, but not all companies have the money and resources to do all of this at once.

How To Prioritize

The 5 choices you have to prioritize are mobile SEO, mobile site optimization, mobile email optimization, mobile applications, and SMS. The key to prioritizing these is remembering what you are trying to accomplish as an individual and as a company.

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The first option is prioritizing mobile SEO.
This is a great option to start with if people are in large part using search engines such as Google to find your site. This doesn’t always mean they are just looking for your specific company, but they can also be searching for a problem that your company can solve for them. The 3 main ways people search for content on the internet is through branded queries(the searcher knows your name, but they need more information to push them over the hump to make a transaction), interrogative queries (the searcher doesn’t know your name, but they want what your company is offering; this is why you want to show up first on Google), andtransactional queries (the searcher knows your name and knows what you offer, but they don’t know where to go or where to get it.) All 3 of these types of searches are reasons why you would want to optimize your mobile site’s SEO. Because if you’re showing up at the top of these search results, people are clicking on your site, your site traffic goes up, and you are generating more leads.

The next option is mobile site optimization.
This is a good option to prioritize if people are already visiting your site regularly without using a search engine to find you. You can measure this in the amount of direct traffic your site is generating. Direct traffic is anyone who is visiting your site without the assistance of a search engine. Usually companies who focus on mobile site optimization are 1 of 3 types. They are either an ecommerce company that primarily conducts its business through the internet, a company that sells event-based material such as movie and concert tickets, or a company that stores information on its site that people would want to access on the go. Examples of this would be banks (people like to check their balances on the go) or airline companies (people like to check their flight information.) Again, prioritizing mobile site optimization is best for companies that are already getting direct traffic on their sites.

The third option is mobile email optimization.
Mobile email optimization is for companies that already have their customers in the middle of the sales funnel. The customer has already visited your site and has probably done business with you in some shape or form. Now you want to nurture your lead by sending your customers emails to remind them of the products, services, and possibly event special events your company if offering. The key to optimizing your mobile email is to ensure that your emails look good across all mobile platforms (smartphones, tablets, etc.) You also want to keep your subject line at or under 20 characters, make sure the message is clear and interesting, it’s being sent in both plain text and HTML, there’s limited images in the email, and it doesn’t necessitate excessive scrolling and pinching to read it. You also want to remember if you are directing people to landing pages on your website, that these web pages are mobile friendly and easy to read on a mobile device.

The next option is mobile applications, or mobile apps for short.
Firstly, before you even think about focusing on this, make sure you have a good idea. It’s been proven that for every 4 apps downloaded on a mobile phone, only 1 will be used again after that initial use. Remember, the best and most useful apps are ones that help your current and potential clients do something better or easier. Examples of this would be placing orders for purchases, calculating common industry calculations, or getting alerts for problems or opportunities. Using “fun little ideas” for mobile apps is a waste of time and will not achieve the goals you and your company have set.

Another option to focus on is SMS.
SMS optimization is perfect if you are wanting to focus on optimizing your current customers’ experience. This isn’t a bad idea since so many companies focus so much on getting newleads that they forget the ones they already have. SMS optimization includes providing service alerts, reminders, making service sign-up quicker and easier, and communicating with active customers. If you are wanting to focus on any of these facets, then SMS optimization should be your priority.

Focusing In

Of course, it would be great if you could do all 5 of these at once, but most companies do not have the money or resources to do that. Focusing on one of these methods is a great place to start, especially if your company is at that particular stage in acquiring clients.

Mobile Marketing Trends & Ideas for Small Business

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Mobile Marketing on the Rise

A recent report shows that Mobile Marketing is increasingly being adopted by small business. It is for this reason that our company is experiencing incredible growth as marketing companies and consultants are seeking to quickly become Mobile Marketing Experts. They want to provide strategy, software and campaign support to the small businesses that rely on them for marketing and advertising guidance.

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There are many ways a small business can increase traffic and sales using the mobile channel. These include SMS Marketing, QR Codes, Mobile Web Sites, Mobile Coupons, Apps and more. Each one brings it’s own unique benefits and challenges but together they create a mobile strategy that if tied to Social Media strategy is a very, very lucrative endevour.

“SMS Mobile Marketing” began trending in only February 2007 and has has seen a sharp increase in demand since then!

Saying that SMS is the workhorse of mobile marketing, a title from a recent blog post, is entirely true.  At the core of every small business mobile strategy should be SMS.  A mobile strategy without text message marketing is like a social media campaign without a “LIKE” or “FOLLOW” button – Pretty useless!

Consumer mobile coupon use is also on the rise.  People WANT to use their phones as coupons.  People WANT to scan QR CODES and see ‘what’s on the other side”, and those same people EXPECT your website to be mobile friendly when they visit it on their smartphone. For these reasons, it is no surprise that Mobile Couponing and Developing Mobile Web Sites are on the top of the “to-do” list at most small businesses. People love convenience and most smartphone users would prefer coupons and offers at their fingertips, on a device that is constantly on their persons, rather than in a binder or an envelope that commonly gets forgotten on the kitchen counter.

Today, the buyer has the power.

It is the power of selective consumption and the power of data driven decision.  This power comes through the convergence of Social Media, Search Engines and Mobile Technology.  Small businesses need to get found and convert mobile customers.  Once they are customers, good customer service will make them “fans” of the business.  You know, that old 80/20 rule, where 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers.  Those customers in the 20% are your “fans”.  They are the ones that will like you on Facebook, follow you on Twitter or subscribe to your SMS Keyword by texting it to a short code. These fans are loyalist and they love to be rewarded for their loyalty. And along with loyalty, they also offer word-of-mouth references to others who are looking for services or products like the ones your company offers. Once you prove yourself to one customer, you’re opening the door for them to pass your name along to their friends and family. How many times have you found an app you really like and when you hear someone else mention needing something like it, you give your personal testimony about the app and then they download it for themselves?

Not only do you want to GET followers, likes and fans, but you want to GIVE them something as well. Having mobile rewards programs, mobile coupons, SMS vouchers for FREE gifts, and other CRMs are all great ways to keep your top customers engaged and in love with your marketing.

So by opening your company up to Mobile Marketing, you are able to draw in more customers, who then use your products and services, spread the positive feedback and attract more customers. You’re giving customers what they want – easy access to your companies website, rewards and convenience at their fingertips! What are you waiting for? Join the movement and get started with mobile marketing today!

Mobile Web Site Bounce Rate Case Study | HTML5 J query Mobile

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Your website’s bounce rate, which is a number or percentage that represents how many people are exiting your site once they visit the main page rather than continuing deeper into your site, affects the amount of leads your company will get. When your bounce rate is high, and high is usually considered anything over 50% by industry professionals, that means people are leaving your site rather quickly after visiting it. So a high bounce rate results in a low conversion rate, and a low conversion rate means you are getting fewer leads than you should be.

 So if your bounce rate is high and your conversion rate is low, how can you fix this? Well we here at Anchor Mobile have found a startlingly powerful, yet simple, solution to this problem. The power of this solution lies in how consumers are now mobile and your company is not. If you’re not mobile, your site is not reaching near the effectiveness it could be.

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With today’s new “thumb friendly” technology becoming increasingly widespread in everyday life, going mobile with your website is moving from something that was once something considered supplementary to your business, to something that is now a MUST have for your business. Customers are relying less and less on their home, personal, and work computers to initiate searches and, instead, are using their mobile devices, such as tablets and smart phones, to search for what it is they’re looking for.

AnchorMobile’s CEO and thought leader TJ Kirgin, recognized this trend in the marketing industry and decided to conduct analytics on a certain website and see how installing an HTML5 web app for one’s site can affect the site’s bounce rate. The results were nothing short of stunning with the bounce rate of the particular site dropping well below 50% after the HTML5 app installation. Anchor Mobile’s resulting case study titled “Mobile Web App Bounce Rate Case Study”, is designed to show you how simply installing an HTML5 JQuery Mobile web app for your site can significantly change the way customers view your company online, while also increasing your site’s traffic, the number of leads you are gathering, and ultimately the number of customers coming through your door which contributes to your company’s revenue.

How To Price Mobile Web Sites for Maximum Profits

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It’s up to you whether you’re using an Enterprise Mobile Site tool to crank out sites, or you’re coding them by hand.

If you are using a tool like ours that has no activation fee, and just a low monthly fee of $8 per HTML5 mobile site, then you will want to price a low activation fee of $200-$400 up front and a monthly fee for the HOSTING and CMS that is more than the $8 you will pay each month.

So a good example is $299 for design and coding, followed by $19.95 per month for CMS and hosting. Using this model, your first 12-month cost for this package is $96 and your gross sales for this same time period is $538.40.

That means you have earned a profit margin of over 560%! Talk about maximum profits!

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If you are coding them by hand using a template that you have previously created, it should take no longer than 6-8 hours to create the HTML5 Mobile Site. It also takes NO SKILL! If you are using a template, a lower-level, $9/hr employee or intern can do the heavy lifting with just a little training, Dreamweaver, and an FTP Client.

In this case, you can choose to sell the source code of the site as a one-time venture, starting at $500 (Duda Mobile backed by Google charges $499, so they set the market).

However, if you can upsell to the client with more bells and whistles that help achieve the goal of the mobile strategy that you help them create, you can charge MUCH MORE. Let’s say you get $800 for the project, your intern does the work at $9/hr and the project takes 6 hours. Your total cost is $54, and your profit margin is over 1400%!

Think you can live with that?