Mobile marketing is a great marketing tool that should be used. It can be difficult to create the prefect plan if you do not have any experience with mobile marketing though. There are many technical aspects to sort through, so you should make sure you pick the right ones. Below are some courses of action to take, so you can create an excellent mobile marketing game plan.
Begin your efforts with the acquisition of phone numbers for your database. Use ethical techniques when adding numbers to your database. It is important to ask them for permission before you start. Get their permission by emailing the permission form, or having a page on your website where the user can opt-in.
Keep your mobile marketing simple. It is important to keep the number of required clicks to a minimum to raise the response of your efforts. Since using a mobile keypad is frustrating if it require excessive typing, do not require too much information to be given. Only ask questions that are absolutely needed and make your directions very clear.
Never hide who you are. Tell your customer up front what your business is and who you are. You should never send veiled or confusing messages to your customers. People begin to feel threatened when they do not understand what is going on, so if you forget to do this, you may alienate some of them.
Know your hours. You do not want to be messaging customers while they are sleeping or having dinner. Try to avoid bothering them on holidays or Sundays, unless it is important. Your customer does not always want to be dealing with your texts, so make sure you are only texting at good times.
Understand the regulations for mobile marketing. Mobile marketing campaigns are heavily regulated, just like anything that has to do with mobile phones. Look up your local and federal guidelines, and make sure you stay well within them. If you do not, you can face penalties that range anywhere from fines to jail time.
Target your message to the people you are sending it too. If you send your customers too many messages that do not apply to them, they are very likely to cancel any text message or e-mail subscriptions. Do not send your customer “junk” mail through their cell phones if you want to keep them interested.
Even if someone subscribes to your messages, they may still want to unsubscribe for whatever reasons, so make it easy for them to do so. In every single message that you’re sending out via mobile marketing, make sure you’re including an unsubscribe link so that people can opt out if they choose.
Your social media presence is very important in mobile marketing, but things should not appear to be random and careless. Take your time to develop a legitimate social market presence on various sites, complete with profiles and accurate information about your life and business. Don’t be a random presence on a social site.
To get the most from your mobile marketing campaign, it is important to be familiar with a wide variety of mobile devices. If you want to know what your customers are dealing with, try out the phones that they are using.
If you are going to send out text messages to your customers, do not send them out at hours that would be inconvenient for the clients. Stay away from sending anything out in the evening or early morning. Also, do not send anything on Sundays or holidays unless it is extremely important and relevant.
The fastest growing category with mobile browsers and mobile apps are social networking websites. So business must accept social networking and go where the people are. Mobile marketing success will depend upon your business making a presence on the social networking sites and using it correctly to grow your business.
Here is an tip for anyone new to mobile marketing. Go to your customers and promote in a way that matches their behavior. Many people use social networking sites or search for local products through mobile apps or mobile browsers. Advertise on the these areas to your audience better.
Be sure to lay claim to your business in each social network’s location pages. In mobile marketing, it’s all about location, location, location. Smart mobile devices, all have location awareness built into their systems, so users can tell what is around them. Make sure they can find you by claiming your page on sites, like Foursquare, Facebook Places, Gowalla and Google Places.
When using a mobile marketing camping for your business, be as transparent as you possibly can. Identify yourself as clearly as possible right in the beginning and also the brands you are associated with. People want to feel secure and trust the marketing that is coming to their personal devices so you have to be transparent and let them know who you are.
As a method of enticing customers and expanding your branding, try QR codes. QR codes allow you to easily share coupons, promotions, and discounts. Your customers can easily use these codes with their cellphones. You can contact your customers in a easy way and with good information.
Know your audience. Mobile devices are in use by a majority of the population, however not all demographics are proficient in all of the uses available. A fully featured smartphone application with all the bells and whistles is great if your targeted users are young and tech-savvy; however, it could be a waste of money if you are intending to reach an older customer base. Sometimes less is more, and a simple SMS-based campaign is the better choice. The key is knowing which approach fits your audience.
Because mobile marketing has the potential to be so important to your business, you need to understand the most that you can about it. That way, you will be better able to distinguish what will work for you. By implementing what you have learned from this article, you will give yourself a head start in mobile marketing.
