Going Green with SMS Marketing

Why would a business want to adopt an SMS marketing strategy? The main reason that I can see companies being interested in this type of marketing is because it works. There are almost 6 billion cell phone subscriptions worldwide, and as texting continues to become the primary way consumers communication, text messages will become a more important way for businesses to connect with their customers.

One way to get the public on board with this type of mobile marketing would be to emphasize that it is a “green” means of advertising. Electronic messages being sent to a device that the recipient already owns means that a company does not have to go to the time and expense to produce paper advertising materials and assume the cost of having it distributed to potential buyers.

SMS messages are a much more effective way to share messages with customers. They are short, to the point, and can be directed at a specific target market. With sending out paper flyers, a good portion of recipients will simply discard them without even reading them. SMS messages, in contrast, have a 99% open rate with recipients. If getting the potential buyer to read the message is half the battle, I can see the conversion rates will be much higher using this technique.

Not only is it a green way to attract buyers, but SMS marketing is a method that gets results. This is truly a win-win situation for business owners.

SMS Marketing Strategies that Work

SMS Marketing is a commonly used strategy for modern businesses. How common is it? Recently, researchers reported an estimated eight trillion SMS messages were sent in 2011. The Mobile Marketing Association released a report stating that the vast majority (97 percent) of SMS messages are opened by the recipient.

Business owners who want to use this strategy to their benefit should plan to use it in several ways. Since SMS messages are brief, they can be used to engage with customers in bite-sized communications. Items such as asking the customer to answer a question of the week or to participate in a brief poll would work well with this type of message.

It can also be used quite effectively as a local marketing tool. Since businesses are taking the time to get to know their customers more than ever before, it makes sense to send targeted messages directly to them with timely offers that encourage shopping on certain days or in conjunction with local events.

SMSmarketing also works well for companies participating in conventions, trade shows and other similar events. The messages can be forwarded to attendees to provide them with schedule changes or locations for specific presentations.

With a little creativity, a savvy marketer will be able to come up with other ways to use these text messages to communicate with customers in short bursts of information. This strategy can help to maintain relationships and boost sales.

Cell Phone Marketing Turns Devices into Mobile Billboards

Location-based mobile phone marketing is going to become even more popular over time. Many people consider their phone phones to be an essential accessory and they carry them wherever they go. It makes perfect sense to me that business owners will use this medium as a way to reach out to potential buyers.

To make the advertising messages more meaningful to potential customers, businesses will be able to use location-specific marketing. A company can set up an electronic radius of approximately 300 feet around its entrance. Anyone who has a Bluetooth-equipped mobile phone passing within this area will see a special tile appear on its screen.

Along with the tile, the customer will see a message asking for permission to share an ad. To encourage the recipient to opt in and say, “Yes," a coupon or a special offer may accompany the message. I can see that a certain percentage of consumers will agree to receive the message out of sheer curiosity, and this can be an effective way to extend an immediate invitation to the consumer to go into a store or other type of business to learn more about its products and services.

This strategy can also be used by large retailers who want to drive in-store traffic to certain areas and drive sales. Consumers who are curious about the messages they are receiving through mobile phone marketing are likely to be intrigued once they see the offer and may decide to act on it.

When to Build Mobile Websites for Business

The number of smartphone users in the U.S. continues to rise exponentially. As of November of 2011, over 91 million people owned one of these mobile communication devices. This figure represents an eight percent increase in just a few months. If this rate of growth continues, the number of smartphone users could reach 100 million by March of 2012.

In addition to smartphone adoption, the number of feature phone owners that are accessing mobile websites continues to rise. In general, consumers are using their mobile devices as the "go-to" access to the internet. This poses the question of when to build mobile websites for your business? If your business has an existing website that is getting traffic from customers who are using mobile devices, then setting up a mobile website can make sense.A business owner can easily gauge where their traffic is being driven by looking at Google or Bing analytics on their websites. Most will find a large amount of traffic is coming from mobile devices.

Businesses that have customers that are likely to make impulse purchases can greatly benefit from a true mobile website as well. A mobile site can provide additional information which can help a customer make a choice, suggest related items to go with the one being considered, or allow customers to purchase directly from their mobile phones.

Desktop computer users have different needs than people who are accessing mobile websites. I would suggest that companies which are interested in setting up a mobile site consider what the customer on the go would need from it to have a positive experience. The site will need to load onto the mobile device quickly and have a simple menu which is easy to navigate. 

With mobile access for research and shopping becoming increasingly popular, I can see that more businesses will make the decision to build a mobile website to help boost sales.

Smartphone Users Not Implementing Security Measures

As we look in depth at the state of mobile security, I was very surprised to learn of the disconnect between smartphone users' knowledge that they should be taking steps to protect themselves from mobile security threats and their actions. An online survey conducted by the National Cyber Security Alliance found that approximately 75 percent of respondents knew that there was a risk to their smartphones from hackers, but they were not being proactive about protecting themselves.

With nine out of ten smartphone users storing personal information on their handheld devices and over 80 percent of users indicating they were concerned about security issues, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me that consumers are not taking action. I also found it surprising that men were savvier about mobile security issues, while women were more focused on concerns about their privacy and potential threats.

The main area of concern for most smartphone owners (78 percent) was the phone getting lost or stolen and having its contents used for inappropriate purposes. Owners were also quite concerned about losing their password data, and most respondents stated that they would be willing to add security to their phone so that their banking and other sensitive information was protected.

Location tracking is another potential area for mobile security concern, and half of respondents stated that they knew how to turn off permissions for remote tracking. Almost all of those surveyed (95 percent) said that they believed that their location could be tracked by at least one entity while the phone is on.

Mobile Marketers Need to Keep Target Audience in Mind

With the mobile marketing wave continuing to gain momentum, I thought it would be prudent to take a moment to focus on how businesses should always keep the consumers' needs in mind when they are developing a mobile engagement strategy. This method of reaching out to customers gives businesses access to the buying public like never before, but it is not without its pitfalls.

One thing that business owners and marketing types need to keep in mind is that mobile marketing is different from traditional web marketing. Unlike trying to connect with your customer base through a console, this type of marketing must be directed to the person on the go. How can you make the experience unique and engaging for the customer? This is where you must to focus your attention if you plan to develop an effective mobile marketing strategy.

Since mobile devices are meant to be carried by the customer, you need to consider where your customer will be when he or she receives your message and how you can entice the customer to visit your brick and mortar store or mobile site.

Mobile devices also make it easy for your customer base to share information with friends. The effective mobile marketing campaign should include something that the customer will want to share with others right on the spot, which means the message needs to be catchy and relevant.

Keeping these ideas in mind will help you develop an effective mobile marketing campaign.

Why Banks Should Adopt Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing strategies are not just for retailers and other types of consumer product businesses. If banks want to remain competitive, I think they should be seriously considering adopting them as well. 

By now, most banks have an iPhone app. The next step in the plan is to make sure that the bank's website is mobile device friendly. Consumers want to be able to get information and advice on the go, and they are not going to wait until they can sit down at a desktop unit to check out the bank's website.

I think that the iPhone app is more likely to be used by existing customers. While this is an important feature that the banks definitely need to be offering, they also need to be mindful of the needs of new customers. Someone who may be thinking of changing banks is going to consider several factors, including whether they can get information about products and services that they need without waiting.

In this age where instant access to information is something that consumers prize, all service industries, including banks, need to be ready to meet their customers' needs. Not only does the banks website need to be mobile friendly, but it also must be easy to navigate when using a portable device. The banks that will continue to do well in the customer service arena will be the ones who anticipate their customers’ needs and take steps to meet them.

Choose Keywords Carefully for Mobile Marketing Success

I know that I have discussed mobile marketing strategies at length recently, and that's because this is the advertising wave of the future. Part of developing a mobile marketing strategy is choosing the right keywords. What works for desktop internet searches does not translate well to the mobile marketing sphere.

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 Whereas an internet user working from a desktop computer may not necessarily be looking for local results in a search, consumers using smart phones or tablets to search for information are looking for businesses that are close by.  When choosing keywords for mobile devices, I would suggest including the name of the city or town in the keyword phrase to make it easier for consumers to find your business.

Long-tail keywords, which worked very well for desktop internet users, are probably not the best choice if you want to target the mobile market. People using handheld devices or tablets to look for information want to find what they need quickly and efficiently, with as few words as possible. You will need to come up with some phrases that can direct consumers to your business without being overly wordy.

Make sure you include some common misspellings your keyword phrase. When someone is using a device with a smaller keyboard than the standard desktop model, the potential for making errors increases dramatically.

US Online Holiday Spending Up 15 Percent Over 2010

If there was any doubt about the popularity of online shopping during the holiday season, the figures released by comScore confirms that consumers are embracing mobile commerce like never before. I knew that online shopping was very popular, but I didn't realize that it accounts for $35.3 billion. This number is a full 15 percent above the figures released for 2010.

Approximately $1.25 billion in spending took place after on November 28, which is referred to as "Cyber Monday.” I can understand why consumers are interested in shopping this way. Online buying has become much easier with e-readers, tablets, and even smart phones. These items are very popular as gifts, and it makes sense that recipients will use them for shopping and other purposes.

During the 2011 holiday shopping season (November 1-December 26), digital content and subscriptions made up 2.8 percent of retail e-commerce sales. On Christmas Day, this category jumped to 20 percent of sales.

Given these figures, I can see that mobile technology being used for shopping is here to stay. As consumers become more comfortable shopping electronically and they realize the benefits of doing so, online store sales will continue to grow. I can't predict whether online shopping will overtake visiting a store in person, but I do know that consumers like to have a choice about what buying methods will work best for them.