Mobile marketing is one of the newest and most important aspects of a digital marketing strategy. From website optimization to new opportunities for delivering your brand to an on-the-go customer via text and more, mobile marketing presents a number of exciting opportunities.
Effective marketing begins with a strategy, and this is true for mobile marketing as well. However, many businesses are unaware of the scope of mobile marketing, and before strategizing, it is necessary to know what some of the available tools are. Here are some ideas to keep in mind as you plan your mobile campaign.
1. Optimize for Mobile
This means using responsive design. Responsive design ensures that your site’s layout will automatically conform to the size of the mobile user’s screen. Good web designers should be able to include responsive design for mobile in the website build.
2. Predictive Analytics
Websites can also be designed with predictive analytics that can guess what customers are likely to do next based on data gathered and make sales suggestions. Studies already show that mobile customers are more likely to buy and spend more money than other customers. Predictive analytics can push those sales even higher by speeding up the search process and offering discounts tailored especially for the customer.
3. Location Features
One basic mobile marketing technique every business with a physical location that customers or clients visit should have, is a listing with Google Local or Google Business. This allows customers to quickly map the business’s location while on the move.
There is also a range of location-based apps that can be used to reach out to customers on the move. Targeting customers using geo-location based information is an area that is set to increase as brands look to ‘push’ location based services to the consumer.
4. The Importance of Text
Text messaging can be a powerful tool in mobile marketing. There are a few key points to note to use it effectively however.
Text messaging should always be opt-in; customers should never be spammed if they have not signed up to be updated in this manner. Text messaging should also focus on sending something of value each time. This can include coupon codes or scan coupons, information about upcoming sales and promotions or vital news about products.
Information about customers who would like to opt-in can be gathered via responses to online forms and emails or on an offline sign-up list if the business has a brick-and-mortar location.
5. Mobile Apps
Not every business has the resources or expertise to develop them, but apps can be a great way to increase customer engagement. Apps should add a value to the mobile experience that simply visiting the website cannot. There are companies that specialize in delivering an entire customer experience that can develop these kinds of apps as well as work with your business on other aspects of mobile marketing.
6. QR codes
QR codes on print advertising link a business’s offline marketing with mobile marketing. The codes can be scanned by smart phones to get information, discounts and more. QR codes have a number of advantages including being easy to track for analytical purposes and cost-effective. They can be printed on everything from business cards to mailers, newsletters, posters and more.
Marketers cannot underestimate the importance of mobile marketing as more and more people rely on their mobile devices for shopping and information. The sooner a business gets a mobile strategy in place, the faster they will be able to take advantage of these exciting new marketing technologies
This article first appeared on Business 2 Community
