Mobile Marketing for Small to Medium Sized Businesses
Mobile Marketing for Small to Medium Sized Businesses
During more difficult economic times, many small business owners convince themselves that in order to cut costs they must cease their marketing activities. However with rival businesses fighting tooth and nail for each potential customer, it is in actual fact more important that ever before to have an efficient marketing function. So instead of cutting out their marketing efforts they should in fact be refocusing on the people who are most likely to buy from them. In short they should be concentrating on getting the maximum possible ROI for every marketing and advertising euro spent.
Many businesses went through the boom years not knowing which of their marketing activities were working the best. They had a marketing budget, they spent it on various activities and customers were streaming in the door... times were good. All they knew was that something was working so it didn't really matter which.
These days it's crucial that business owners know precisely who they're marketing to and how successful it is being. They must keep themselves front and centre of their 'perfect prospects' more consistently and nourish that relationship as it is these 'perfect prospects' that will get a business through these credit crunch times.
So who are these 'perfect prospects'?
Is it the people in the car passing by the neon billboard?
Is it the person listening to their radio while at the gym?
Is it the guy muting the adverts during the nightly news?
Or is it the girl scanning through her favourite glossy magazine?
Truth be told, it could be any of these people but then again it generally never is. It is however the people who have given you permission to personally market to them, through the medium of their most on hand possession - their mobile phone.
By running a mobile club business owners are marketing to their 'perfect prospects' 100% of the time. These are people who are giving you permission to market to them with special offers and insider deals. What other marketing medium can offer a business this level of targeted marketing to such a captive audience?
According to the 2011 Trend Watching report one of the emerging trends of 2011 will be Price Pandemonium. This means that increasingly, consumers will demand to be a part of exclusive networks and groups that receive special offers. So in 2011 consumers are going to demand value like never before and joining special offer clubs will become as common place as being a member of a social network. Businesses need to be at the forefront of this trend and not rowing in behind their competitors when it's already an established practice.
The following are the basic steps to starting and growing a mobile marketing club for your business:
1) Chose your mobile marketing agency carefully. They will need to be experienced with running text campaigns and offer you advice on all aspects of the process.
2) Secure and maintain a database of opt-ins. This is a highly important step and is the process of gathering the mobile phone numbers of the customers who have consented to receive marketing texts.
Real World Example - A pizza business placed a flyer inside every pizza sent out for delivery with instructions printed that allowed the customer to enter a competition to win "FREE PIZZA FOR LIFE" if they texted in and agreed to join their mobile club.
3) Always calculate your ROI before running the campaign, this will allow you to sculpt your offer around the potential response rate. Any mobile marketing agency worth its salt will be able to guide you on the expected response rate based on the perceived value of the offer.
4) Ensure a clear opt-out process is available. Customers must feel that they are in control and can opt out at any time. In a recent survey 70% of UK consumers said they were happy to receive mobile marketing messages if they were incentivized and in control.
5) Be creative, be original and be memorable. Use humor where appropriate and try to reflect the qualities and characteristics of your brand.
6) Be reactive and use the medium in and around events of national or local interests.
Real World Example - On the day of the 2010 budget a Dublin restaurant offered every member of their mobile club a free bottle of wine with any meal for two to "Drown out the sorrow".
7) Always include an offer and avoid bland run of the mill advertising. Opt-in's only want to hear about special deals and discounts that only members of the club can receive. They will opt out very quickly if they feel they are not getting real value.
There are more people with a cell phone than a television, computer, internet or any other media you can think of! So to not use this medium to speak to your customers would seem like a missed opportunity. A good mobile marketing agency will be able to have you up and running with a SMS campaign for a very modest outlay. Added to this the very low cost of text messages when bought in bulk, it really is the most cost effective form of marketing you are likely to ever experience.
Need to cut your marketing and advertising costs? Need to concentrate on your target market? Want to maximize your ROI for every marketing euro spent? Want to nourish the relationship with your existing customers by offering them discounts and special deals? Mobile Marketing through a mobile club is the perfect vehicle for all of this.
There is no time like the present. Start a mobile club today and see the real difference it will make to your business.
Brian Stephenson
Build Your Own Home Based Business! Inventive Ways To Make Extra Cash The Most effective Locations in Portugal For Realty Small business How to write a smoothie and juice bar business plan Writing a curio shop business plan Writing a beauty salon business plan Writing a 24 hour DVD hire business plan Writing a home inspector business plan How to write a home health agency business plan How to write a cafe cinema business plan How to write a telemarketing agency business plan Writing a cafe bar business plan How to write a carpentry business plan