Mobile marketing has become an integral part of any business plan, but knowing how to approach it effectively can be tricky. There are a lot of codes, formats and techniques that you will need to decipher and choose from when you are attempting mobile marketing. Here are some steps you can take to ensure you create a great mobile marketing plan.
Use dedicated short code. The can be pricey, but they insure that you keep your brand intact. Avoid shared short codes if you are a larger company. Not only because you want people to recognize your own code, but there may be some legal consequences if the other company sharing the same code abuses the system.
Be prompt with your messages. This goes along perfectly with being relevant. You can send out an email about something happening, but it doesn’t always translate when you need to send a text message. Don’t be too early or too late with your messages. For example, you can announce a sale minutes before the store opens, versus days.
Include messaging about standard message costs to any mobile marketing enrollment form. Many consumers now have unlimited messaging plans, but for those paying by the message or with a specific monthly limit, providing this message ensures they know they may see charges related to the messages they elect to receive from your business.
Understand that mobile marketing is necessary for your business. You need to have a direct method of communication with your customers, and mobile marketing is an immediate way to do it. Setting up mobile marketing is also a great way to truly understand what your customers are interested in, and how to cater to that.
Try not to add files to your message. If possible, you should only include a link. Adding large files, like pictures, to a message will only frustrate the customer, because you are adding to the download time. Also, you may be costing them extra money just to be able to view what you have sent.
Negative impressions of your brand can spread like wildfire over the internet, so you want to attempt to jump out in front of negative buzz with a positive spin. Mobile marketing reaches a lot of people, and things can become popular or unpopular in a hurry. If something’s becoming unpopular, fix it before it catches on.
If you are sending out text messages or any other type of materials to customers via your mobile marketing campaign, make sure that you keep the file sizes as small as possible. Some people have serious bandwidth limitations and cannot receive or store large file sizes. Anything that is too big will just be ignored.
You might know that you should be using mobile marketing to drive people to your main site, but you should also use your main site to drive people to mobile marketing. The idea here is to retain customers and to keep in contact with them while they’re using mobile devices.
Getting a webcam and setting up a Skype account to have a face-to-face with your customers is a great way to handle mobile marketing if this fits your business. Not every person out there wants to be that personable in business, but if you have affiliates working for you or some seriously loyal customers, this is a good move to stay in contact with them, in a personal way.
Try conducting a usability test prior to actually launching your mobile ad campaign to make sure it goes smoothly! Send the ad in a small test circle to include yourself and trusted friends or family. Ask for the honest input of everyone and ask yourself if you like the ad and would be persuaded by it!
Because users will be viewing them on small screens, mobile advertising messages need to be brief, clear and express urgency. Every ad should focus on a call to action that tells the market to do something. Forgetting to include a call to action in your mobile advertising messages is a common mistake that beginners often make.
It is important to remember that not all people use the same mobile platform. In a world where people use cellphones, tablets, laptops, and other mobile devices, it is absolutely necessary to make your advertisements span across multiple platforms. This way you will be able to reach more people.
Before you launch your mobile marketing campaign, it is important to conduct a test to make sure that everything runs like it should. Find some friends or family that all have different phones to be your testers and send them texts. Have them give you feedback on how everything looked and if it was quick and to the point.
Take advantage of mobile applications that many mobile consumers already use and are very popular, like Google Maps. Google has a Local Business Center that will list your your business on their Google Maps for that region. This way, your business will be targeted to the audience local to your area.
Make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. Your mobile-friendly site should not be cluttered with graphics, and should only include basic but important information about your business that a mobile user can quickly get to. Mobile users do things quickly, and your site must display efficiently on their mobile devices if you want them to visit you often.
As you can see, mobile marketing is extremely important to your business, for now and for the future; it is essential that you understanding its different aspects. Understanding all the techniques for mobile marketing will help you decide which ones can fulfill the needs of your business. These tips should help you get started.
