Smartphone Addiction | Why It’s Great For Mobile Marketing Pushers

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The first step of any effective mobile marketing strategy is identifying the best way to reach your consumers. A lot of companies have stuck to traditional methods such as television, radio, billboards, etc. But is that still really the best way to reach people nowadays? Think for a minute, if your radio was taken away, would you be able to cope with that? Probably. What if your television was taken away? Could you live with that? You’d probably be very unhappy, but there are other ways to watch TV in today’s digital age. But what if you were told to go without your cell phone for an entire day? That’d be a little different wouldn’t it? In fact, a majority of people would probably experience a severe feeling of emptiness or nakedness without their cell phones. Add smartphones to the mix and these feelings get even worse. In fact, according to a study done by Time Magazine, it has been found that 84% of people feel that they could not go one day without their smarthpones and 50% of Americans sleep with their phones next to them (80% of them being 18-24 year olds). It was also found that this is not an epidemic found purely in the U.S., but smartphone addiction is something that is prevalent worldwide! That means there is an entire GLOBE of people addicted to their smartphones, constantly around their smartphones, and constantly USING their smartphones. What better medium to market your company through!?!?!

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A Harvard Business School study found that 70% of people check their smartphones within an hour of waking up and 56% of people check their smartphones within an hour of going to sleep. Another study found that 40% of people check their smartphones while sitting on the toilet. Do we need to continue? The fact is that smartphone use has become so rampant and widespread that it’s hard for a lot of people to imagine life without them. This is where you come in. Knowing the above information, and that 91% of all U.S. adults have a smartphone, wouldn’t you want to market on them?! If you ask any marketing experts today, the answer would be a loud and resounding YES! Mobile marketing is THE way to market to consumers today because EVERYONE has them. Considering the fact that 90% of ALL texts are read within 3 minutes of arrival and the average user checks their smartphone 35 times a day, for about 30 seconds each time, mobile marketing isn’t just effective, it’s also amazingly efficient! Using mobile marketing, you know you are not just reaching your intended audience, but they are also opening, seeing, and responding to your marketing since it is such a personal medium. You also have an extremely low likelihood of ever annoying anyone because they always have the option to opt-out, or request you to stop sending them text messages.

But text messaging isn’t the only way you can take advantage of people’s smartphone addictions. If you have a company website, but it is not optimized for mobile, you are cheating yourself and your company. Anyone looking for your website on their smartphones can find your site, but it will be extremely irritating and frustrating for them to navigate it without mobile optimization. If they become irritated enough, they will leave your site, and they will leave it quickly. This results in lost business, which is obviously not what you want. Optimizing your website for mobile will make it much easier to navigate and end users will be much more willing to stay on your site longer, which naturally results in more purchases and more business. So why are you waiting? Optimize your company’s website today and snag those consumers who browse your site on their phones!

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We’ve already given you a number of reasons why you should start to integrate mobile marketing into your company’s marketing strategy, but realize this is a GROWING trend. Smartphones have only been around since 2001, and didn’t gain popularity until 2007 when the iPhone came out. So people are still learning how to use them and exploit their full capabilities. This is just the tip of the iceberg! If you and your company wait too long to enact a mobile marketing strategy, you will find yourselves left in the dust! Many, many companies have already seen what mobile marketing can do for them, and they could not be happier with their results. Now it’s your turn to see what mobile marketing can do for YOU!

Infographics Credit: http://www.searchcowboys.com/mobile/1950 

Is Mobile Marketing Effective? NOPE: 7 Reasons To Give Up

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Let’s face it, the internet is dead. It has been for a long time. In fact, hardly anyone has even used it, let alone learned how to use it efficiently. This new mobile fad is the same thing, we’ve put a lot of thought and research into this and can’t come up with a SINGLE reason why you should continue your mobile marketing campaign. Nothing, zip, zero, nada. BUT, we have found several reasons why you should give it up. It’s obvious! But don’t take our word for it, actually, we’re kidding. DO take our word for it. We have PLENTY of evidence that says you should give up on your mobile marketing strategy TODAY! Stop wasting your time marketing to the 91% of adults who own a smartphone. YOU DON’T NEED THEM! You are better than that! Also, disregard the fact that 271 million adults own some sort of a mobile device, 88% of users have used mobile sites to get discounted deals, and the fact that 8 trillion text messages will be sent this year. None of that’s important. At all.

But enough of that balderdash (that’s a word, look it up), here’s my 7 reasons why you need to GIVE UP your mobile marketing strategy as soon as possible!

You Have More Money Than You Need

Let’s be honest, you have more money than even Donald Trump knows what to do with. Why do you need more?!?! Considering 99% of smartphone users use their browser at least once a day, you KNOW this medium is dead. So why are you wasting your time?!?! Drop your mobile marketing campaign today, hire an accountant, and start counting your money until you die. There’s no other logical way to deal with this ridiculous influx of money into your company. If you continue your mobile marketing campaign, there’s atremendous chance you could end up earning MORE money for you and your company. Actually, you could end up earning TONS more revenue for your company. STOP THE MADNESS! You can’t handle any more money! Drop the hammer on your mobile marketing campaign ASAP before you earn even more money than you already don’t know what to do with!

Your Business Doesn’t Need Customers

Congratulations! You did it! No more dealing with customers, clients, or ANY HUMAN! Your business has become so successful that you literally do not need another customer to walk through your door. Right now, all you are doing is wasting your precious time and energy to deal with people that you do not need! Drop them! Lock your doors! Lock your windows! Hide your kids! Hide your wife! Okay, maybe that’s a bit too much, but you get my point.

On top of this, you can now completely disregard Facebook, Twitter, and any other social networking site. Facebook has over 1 billion people using its site, that’s 1 billion people too many. You don’t need any of them, not even that Zuckerberg guy. Remember, you have more money than him. Twitter? Psh, please! Twitter only has 500 million users. That’s 500 million people that you don’t need money from!

You’ve Gained 100% Market Share

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Let’s put it this way, the market was your baby, and you just put it in a corner. All of it. Actually, our team conducted extensive research and found out that LITERALLY 100% of businesses in ALL FIELDS AND INDUSTRIES come to you for their needs. You are THE PLACE to go if anyone wants to buy or sell anything. Going anywhere else would be virtual suicide, and there are several bankrupted companies to prove it. Your market IS the market. Literally, in it’s entirety. Everyone else has cried ,”Uncle!”   

There’s No Need To Interact With The Outside World Anymore

We’ve been over this. Your company no longer needs people. WHY would you bother interacting with them? It’s not like anything is changing. Plus, you’ve beaten everyone. Every company in the world looks up to you and the standard you’ve set. Remember, only LOSERS interact with their customers. If you keep interacting with your customers, they might think you are actually interested in what they have to say and they might start, dare I say it, wanting to do business with you?!?

Your Company Is Already The Largest In The World

Let’s face it, your company is ENORMOUS! Walmart reports to you. NASA looks to you for guidance. You’ve managed to overtake and buy out every single company in the technological, financial, industrial, and commercial fields. You have ZERO competition and a monopoly on EVERY INDUSTRY! Everyone else has gone bankrupt due to your company’s GENIUS management. No more competing with the millions upon millions of companies who are on Facebook and Twitter. They don’t even exist anymore!

Your Brand Awareness Is An Entitlement Handed Down By Birth

When people see your company’s logo anywhere in the world, they are thinking one thing; the best. In fact, all other logos have ceased to exist. No one even KNOWS of another logo besides your company’s. It so enlightening, so inspiring, so…perfect, that everyone has completely forgotten that any other logo has ever existed. You alone stand at the top of the mountain, and there’s not even anyone trying to climb it and knock you down. They’re all dead at the bottom. Why? Because you put them there with your genius management and ridiculously recognizable brand. You win!

Mobile Marketing Is A Fad

Let’s be honest, NO ONE is going to be using mobile phones 5 years from now, or even 3 years from now. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised if you just decide to throw you cell phone in the trash can right now. Nobody likes them, they’re useless, and they’re terrible to market on. The fact that 300 thousand mobile apps have been developed should tell you that app developers are deluded. They have no idea what they’re doing. They’re marketing to a measly 99% of the U.S. population, 97% of whom are within 3 feet of their phones 24 hours a day. How in the world do they expect to get any return from that? Mobile marketing is a fad, get out before the entire market collapses and you are sucked into its black hole!

Mobile Marketing Predictions for 2013 “Here Comes the BOOM!”

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Have you ever taken a quiz or a survey of any sort and they ask you a question pertaining to your “theme” song? For example, “If you were to pick any song and label it your theme song, which song would you choose?” I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many times I have been asked this question in the communications field. People like to know about you and believe it or not, your favorite song or “theme” song says more about you than you think.

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For Mobile Web and Mobile media though, I believe if they were to pick a theme song they would choose a song by P.O.D. Many of you probably already know which song I’m talking about too. It goes a little like this… “Here comes the Boom! Ready or not, how you like me now?” Yes, Boom! by P.O.D. would be their theme song.

Yahoo! News recently released content titled “5 Predictions for Mobile Tech in 2013.” The first paragraph of this article states, “if denial isn’t just a river in Egypt, then mobile isn’t just a city in Alabama. And if 2012 proved one thing, it’s that there’s no denying mobile is the present and future of technology.” The article goes on to explain it’s five predictions, about brand wars (Apple vs. Samsung), “wearable” tech, flexibility, future of cameras, and “e-wallets.”

Here are a few predictions for the coming year:

-More than half of emails will be opened through a mobile device.

-Worldwide email accounts are expected to rise form 3.1 billion to 3.6 billion in just two years.

-Mobile devices will become the most common web access tool, passing up PC’s.

-80% of retailers will invest in mobile commerce.

-Every 2 seconds a sale on eBay comes from a mobile phone.

-Consumers will by over 230 million tablets, of those users 71% will be iPad users.

-Twitter will boost to over one billion registered users. 53% access through a mobile device.

-42.8% of marketing executives plan on increasing their mobile marketing spending budget in 2013

-31% of all mobile users have activated Foursquare and use it regularly.

-51% of Google+ unique views come from a mobile device.

-In 2011 there were a total of $241 billion mobile transactions, that number is expected to double by 2015.

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Random Mobile Facts:

-Out of the six billion people in the world, 4.8 own a form of mobile device, while only 4.2 own a toothbrush. Really people?

-We interact on our mobile device 40-80 times a day on average.

-The United States has the greatest number of active iOS and Andriod devices (181 million) while China is second (167 million) and Great Britain is third with (35 million).

-China has the fastest growing mobile smartphone market. Grossing over 293% from 2011 to 2012.

-Mobile web access will overtake PC and continue their dominance.

Many have stated that 2009 to 2012 was ruled by the Social Media world, and now 2013 to 2015 will be known as the Mobile world. The rate at which the mobile industry is growing is outstanding, it’s almost at the point where it’s unheard of. The total amount of Internet traffic from mobile devices is around 10% right now, where in 2009 it was a measly 1%. Meaning mobile devices are popular and people are using and responding well with using a smartphone along with other devices that have access to web-based content.

With the rising mobile web usage the total number of Internet user’s globally will grow from 2 billion in 2010 to roughly 2.7 billion in 2015. An estimated 40% of the worlds population will then have access to the Internet’s vast amount of resources.

With the predictions provided how can we deny Mobile web it’s opportunity.

Go Mobile or Die, 8 Reasons Why It Should Be In Your Marketing Plan

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How many of you have a Facebook or Twitter account? How many of you access that account from a device other than a PC? If you do, are you using your smartphone or tablet? If so, you are considered “part of the norm.” Over two thirds of facebook and twitter traffic already comes from mobile devices. Most of you are probably reading this blog post from a mobile device.

We’ve officially entered a world where having a PC is no longer part of the norm. We can access the web from almost any handheld device and from almost any part of the world. Mobile is no longer a “wanted” support medium, it’s now a necessity. Mobile has became the GO TO medium of today’s world. george_bernard_shaw

With the ever so rising demand of mobile technology, we as humans must adjust to the fundemental shift that comes along with it. We must make and take new innovative approaches to understand and adapt to the new uses. North Social states, “without your brand promotions being accessible from any device (smartphone, tablet, or PC) you’re failing to reach 60-70% of just your social media users.”

If companies don’t adjust and accomodate a mobile strategic plan into their business plan now, then they are failing with the mobile wave opportunity. Consumers who are not happy or do not have a great experience with an accessible and well thoughout mobile site will bail and head straight to your competitor giving them the edge over you. Companies can no longer go without having a mobile plan in place, it’s now essential to succeed.

Have I convinced you mobile is the way to go? Have you realized mobile is here and its here to stay? If not, I understand. Here are 8 more reasons why marketers must add mobile to their strategy in 2013.

1. Accessibility = Intreaction

The average American spends 94 minutes per day using mobile applications versus the 72 minutes of web-based consumption. The number is growing rapidly, while the percentage of web traffic in the United States is 7.96% that number skyrockets in Asia where the web traffic there is at 17.84%. Many have stated it’s only a matter of time before mobile usage surpasses television as the go to access point for media and I mean ALL media. Most consumers access Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn through a mobile device.

2. Statistics can prove anything – even the truth.

Just like in the business world, where numbers are key. The same goes for the communication world. We thrive off numbers and statistics.

  • There are over 1.2 Billion people accessing the web from their mobiles
  • 1.08 of the world’s 4 billion mobile phones are smartphones
  • 91% of all smartphone users have their phone within arm’s reach 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
  • 60% of Facebook’s 1 billion users access Facebook through a mobile device. These people are twice as active on the social media site than those who do not have mobile access.
  • Facebook has 543 million monthly active users on mobile
  • By 2016 mobile marketing will account for more than 15.2% of global online ad spending.

3. Maturity takes time

Imagine putting together a fundraiser. You just throw your fundraiser out there and nobody shows up. You put the whole thing together but forgot one crucial step. Promoting and awareness. Same thing with brand promotions. You cannot just create a brand and toss it out in to the world and hope people visit. You have to plan and campaign your brand. Promote it and get people aware of what you are all about.

The good thing about this is that the mobile ad market it no longer “immature.” There is such a large inventory out there of the tools companies have access too. They are able to target and connect their messages to their consumers this way. For example, Facebook. This company has gone all in. They put all their eggs in one basket and it has paid off. In 2011 Facebook had a big goose egg on the board in the mobile ad revenue area. Where in 2013 they’re expected to pull in an outstanding $850 million for mobile ads.

4. So, Lo, Mo – Repeat it till you remember it.

Social, Local, Mobile. Remember social is mobile, local is mobile, mobile is social and local. As stated earlier, 60% of Facebook traffic is mobile and growing rapidly. Then we have twitter where most of their user base is mobile. Throw in Foursquare where the location-based service allows users to inform friends where they’re eating, drinking or gathering at right now – this confirms that mobile and social make great partners. Social media has the power to bring people all over the world together.

5. Flow Easily

Have you ever woke up at dawn to go skiing out on the lake, when its the most calm almost and has a glassy like look to it. It’s the best time to go skiing, right? That’s what you want it to be like when you launch a promotion. If it goes smooth and easy most likely it will be successful. You never want to go skiing on memorial day weekend at two in the afternoon. The more waves you hit the more likely you are to fall. Same goes for promotions. The more hoops you have to jump through in order to participate in a brand experience the more likely you are to fail.

So what about QR Codes (aka Quick Response Codes). These are nauseating just like the your fathers flag shirt that he wore in the 70’s. (Every dad is entitled to one ugly shirt though.) Any person in the communication sphere especially brand marketers need a reality check when it comes to QR Codes. It may look good but it’s not inviting to a perspective client whatsoever.

6. Rapid Response, Rapid Reward

I’m like a little kid when it comes to prizes in cereal boxes and Cracker Jacks. I just want to know right away what the special prize is. Smart mobile apps allow you (the business) to collect data from your consumer and turn around and hit your customer with rapid response emails. These emails can include coupons, lines, certificates and more. The way business play the distribute and redeem game has changed, because our consumer behavior has changed. All because of mobile. Statistics show mobile coupons are ten times more likely to be redeemed than traditional coupons.

7. Why is a Smartphone called a Smartphone?

I often find myself asking this question a lot and no it’s not because I’m a blonde. I often wonder how many things get their names. The reason a smartphone is called a smartphone is because it is the “brain” of you as the customer. We use mobile phones for essentially everything. Whether it be entertainment, exercise to even googling ptential purchases. North Social states, “71% of mobile consumer do research on their smartphones after being served a captivating television or mobile ad? … while more than 59% of B2B purchase decision makers and influencers turn to their smartphones to gather intel when purchasing products or services.”

8. There is no failure, only feedback

To be successful you want and need to know how your consumer likes your product. Brands are constantly in communication with their consumers picking their brains to find out exactly what they want and how they can improve their business. To get a large ROI from your consumer you must partake in certain initiatives.

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  • Properly incent them
  • Quick and convient feedback
  • Understand your target
  • Measure customer awareness
  • Learn more about the customer and their specific buying habit

Inorder for a customer to get a discount on a future purchase, ask them to give you instant feedback. I quarantee it will outpreform a traditional survey via email every time.

Have I convinced you now? Good. I hope so. If your a little worried about being jumping into the mobile world, dont worry. It’s always good to be late then never there. Just follow the steps and slowly ease your way in. I promise you, you will be glad you did it.

Mobile Marketing Statistics 2013 That Will Blow Your Mind!!!

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What if someone were to offer you a marketing method which would allow you to advertise directly towards your customers and potential customers instantly, in real time? What if this same method was significantly cheaper than traditional marketing, and guaranteed that you will reach the exact target demographic you want reach? On top of this, you would easily be able to track your results and adjust your marketing campaign accordingly with the click of a button. Sounds good doesn’t it? Well this type of marketing isn’t a pipe dream anymore, it actually exists! It’s called mobile marketing, and anyone in the advertising industry right now will tell you that it’s here to stay.

Due to its vast enormity and sheer size, it is hard for a lot of people to wrap their minds around exactly howbig the mobile market is right now. To put it one way, the mobile market is exponentially bigger now than when you started reading this sentence. Hard to believe? Well so is pretty much everything else about mobile and mobile marketing. If you want to understand and fully take advantage of this extremely powerful new tool in advertising and marketing, you need to approach it with open eyes, open ears, and an open mind. Anyone in the advertising industry right now will tell you that mobile marketing is here to stay! But don’t take their word for it, or even ours. Let us show you just how big and powerful this new instrument in marketing and advertising is.


Mobile Marketing By The Numbers

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–91% of all adults have a cell phone. (Tweet This!)

–271 million adults in the U.S. own some type of a mobile device. (Tweet This!)

–90% of all text messages are read within 3 minutes. (Tweet This!)

–88% of mobile users have used sites to get discounted deals. (Tweet This!)

–70% of all people in the U.S. said they would like to receive offers on their mobile phones. (Tweet This!)

–75% of mobile users use their mobile device for shopping. (Tweet This!)

–95% of mobile users use their devices for local search. (Tweet This!)

–50% of travel or restaurant mobile queries result in a purchase. (Tweet This!)

–9 out of 10 mobile phone searches result in a purchase or visit. (Tweet This!)

–70% of all mobile actions will take place within 1 hour. (Tweet This!)

–$20 billion is spent on mobile advertising every year in the U.S. (Tweet This!)

–$172 billion was spent paying for mobile this year. (Tweet This!)

–300 thousand mobile apps have been developed. (Tweet This!)

–8 trillion text messages will be sent this year. (Tweet This!)

–99% of smartphone owners use their mobile browser at least once a day. (Tweet This!)

–46% of consumers will NOT return to a mobile site that is not working properly. (Tweet This!)

–74% of mobile users use their devices to check their email. (Tweet This!)

–200 million YouTube videos are seen on mobile devices every day. (Tweet This!)

–By 2014, mobile internet usage will overtake desktop internet usage. (Tweet This!)

-On average, it takes 90 minutes for people to respond to an email, but only 90 seconds to respond to a text message. (Tweet This!)

–3 out of every 5 searches are conducted on a mobile device. (Tweet This!)

–86% of mobile internet users use their device while watching TV. (Tweet This!)

–52% of adult mobile phone owners use their devices while in a store to get help with purchasing decisions. (Tweet This!)

-Adults spend more time on mobile media than they do on newspapers and magazines combined. (Tweet This!)

-The global mobile market will grow from $3.4 billion in 2010, to $22 billion in 2016. (Tweet This!)

Whew! Okay, that’s about a fraction of the numbers we could’ve given you, but alas, there is only so much information we can fit in one blog. But as you can see, mobile marketing is taking over the advertising industry because of its power and its ease. Smartphones have been the rage ever since the first iPhone came out in June of 2007, and people have quickly been learning how to take advantage of all of its uses and capabilities ever since. This is where you come in! Now that you know people are using and interacting with their smartphones, you know that is where they are. The amazing fact about this is that everyone brings their mobile phones everywhere! That means when you integrate mobile marketing into your marketing strategy, you will be reaching people wherever they are! Gone are the days where you would put all your money into traditional advertising and hope people see it. With mobile marketing you know people are seeing it. How can you lose?!?!

Traditional marketing is still here, but it is not what it used to be. Not even close. Make sure you and your company take advantage of this unbelievably powerful and dominating new tool in marketing and watch your revenue grow!

The past is gone…

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SMS Mobile Marketing Best Practices

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It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned SMS mobile marketing expert, or you are just beginning, you MUST be aware of the DOs and the DON’Ts of mobile marketing. Yes, we know every marketing campaign is unique unto itself, but you will either fail or get in trouble if you do not follow these guidelines.

DO NOT Send Messages Without Permission

Never, ever, ever, EVER send a message to someone without first getting their permission first. This is the GOLDEN RULE! People need to opt-in to your text messaging service before you can start messaging them. Not only will you upset the people you messaged without permission, but it is non-compliant with regulations.

But don’t look at this as a bad thing. SMS is powerful because you have to get permission. By texting only people who have opted-in to your service, you now know you are messaging people who want to hear what you have to say! So not only will you know people are opening and reading your messages, but you will get responses and interaction from them. This only strengthens and enhances the business to customer relationship, which makes them more willing to spend their money with you!

DO Advertise Your Keyword Call-To-Action

You’re probably asking yourself, “How do I get people to opt-in to my service?” This is simple. You want to market and advertise your short code (this is your call-to-action) on any and all print materials, social media, and if you’re still traditionally marketing, on all of your TV and radio spots.

A call-to-action (CTA) looks like this: Text SHOES to 54896 for Coupons & More from Sally’s Shoe Shop!

You’ll notice there was an offer included with the short code so people have added incentive to opt-in to your service. Remember, you want to also include at the bottom of your texts a way for subscribers to opt-out of your service.

An opt-out instruction would look like this: Msg & Data rates may apply. Text STOP to opt-out.

This is good for you because it gives freedom to your subscribers. If you text them without including the opt-out at the bottom, you will not only irritate your subscribers, but this is also non-compliant. Giving subscribers freedom to opt-out of your service will make them happier and, believe it or not, less likely to opt-out of your service. Why? Because you are giving them the choice.

     DO Add Incentive To Your CTAs

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This was mentioned earlier, but this cannot be stressed enough. People really have no reason not to opt-in to your service if you are giving them something.

For example, a GREAT way to incentivize your opt-in text would be like this: Text SHOES to 54896 to get 25% of your next pair of shoes at Sally’s Shoe Shop!

Who doesn’t want a discount? On another note, the BEST way to get people to opt-in to your service is to offer FREE stuff. Now this isn’t always feasible, but it’s something to keep in mind. Always remember that incentivizing your CTAs brings guaranteed results!

DO NOT Send Text Messages Without Value

Text messaging can be the most powerful tool you use in your marketing strategy, but you need to be careful. Since SMS is such a personal and immediate medium, it can be easy to become annoying or aggravating to your subscribers. You want to remember that a lot of people still pay per text, and no one wants to be bombarded by constant texts every second of every day. This is a SURE way to lose all of your subscribers. Don’t do this! You worked hard for your opt-ins, don’t just give them up for worthless text messages. Make sure you have something to offer in EVERY text you send, or you are wasting your time and your subscribers’ time. A good guideline for sending messages out is 4-5 messages a month.

DO Make Opting-Out Easy

You may be wondering why in the world you would want to do this, but hear us out. Remember, SMS marketing is permission based. A majority of people who subscribe to your service are only doing it because they know they can opt-out at any time. You also want to note that you still spend per text (yes, it’s pennies per text, but this can add up!), so you don’t want to be sending messages to people who don’t want to hear what you have to offer. Don’t waste your money on people who are never going to listen to you, make opting-out easy!

DO Track Your Results

Don’t just run a campaign without tracking your results! You are spending money so you want to make sure you are reaching the people you want to reach. If you get the right mobile marketing platform, you can measure when’s the best time to send messages, what content is intriguing your subscribers the most, and who you are getting the most responses from. If you’re including web links in your campaign, be sure to use a link shortener such as “bit.ly” that allows you to track who is clicking on your links.

These guidelines may sound like a lot to digest right now, but in actuality they really aren’t that hard to implement. We just want to make sure that you are aware of these rules and make sure that you are compliant, while at the same time running a successful SMS mobile marketing campaign.

Godsend mobile marketers!

Mobile Web Strategy for Small Business

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Let’s play a game of pictionary here. Let’s say you are a local business and you want to produce a mobile site to draw bigger business in. What do you do?

Do you place more ad’s in the local paper? Do you make calls to your local radio station? What about more television commercials? What about a mobile website?

Aha, there’s that light bulb I’ve been waiting to see. Let me tell you how a mobile website can help your small business and help you gain more customers than you could ever imagine.

For starters, small businesses haven’t quite grasp the concept of creating a mobile presence for their business. Many reasons include, the non-realization of consumers changing their purchasing ways, business owners of small companies don’t understand how mobile marketing functions and how those functions work. They also are not aware of the effect of mobile marketing and what it can do for their company.

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Statistics show, out of all the mobile searches, one in three is of local intent. 61% of smartphone users search for local content. 52% of the local searches result in calls made by the customer. While 59% of customers who search on the mobile web for local places, end up visiting the store they searched for.

Just like pictionary, begin with an objective in mind. How are you going to portray your “secret?” For your business, what do you want to do? Do you just want to bring more customers in? Do you want to get involved with your company and the community more? Generate calls to your business? Have a goal in mind, even if its small. Start small and end big.

Next, create a resolution and design it. How are you going to act out this clue? How are you going to make your goal achievable? Lay it out, create a template or design on what you want included on your mobile site. Now remember, it must be clear content, contrasted correctly, simple to read, easy to load, etc. Have keywords listed, so your company will be easy to find. Make sure your address, phone number, email, etc., is easy to access. Remember a happy customer means a happy owner.

Thirdly, in pictionary you want it to be easy to view (read) so the guesser can figure it out quickly. Same thing with designing a mobile website. You want your site to look great on a small hand held device. Code it so content is visible easily, and updated regularly.

Lastly, in three-two-one LAUNCH that thing. Promote your site so the likely increase of customers visiting increases. With good search content and (SEO) your site will be found more and more over time. The more people who visit and see your site the more likely it is to arrive at the top of a search page. As I said in an earlier blog post, reputation is everything.

Many small business owners have taken such help hints like the ones listed above and have already applied them to their mobile marketing strategy. They are finding rather quickly that results are positive. 69% of small business owners are crediting mobile sites for their business growth and believe that number will rise in the next few years.

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But, what goes up must come down. Unfortunately there is a wide gap seen today between small business who do have a mobile site to those who do not. Over 61% of small business currently do not have a mobile strategy made and are missing out on the consumers that are searching for what they may offer on a mobile device.

Owners are realizing that having a mobile-friendly site provides better service to their customer, attracts more customers even more local customers over time, and they gain a competitive advantage over all other competing stores.

There is hope though, I, and hopefully you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 64% of small business have said that they have spent more money in 2012 than any other year towards a mobile web strategy. That number is expected to rise drastically by 2015.

We’re getting there fellow mobile friends, we’re getting there.

Mobile Web Statistics and Trends 2013 | A Mobile New Years Resolution

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The calendar recently changed from 2012 to 2013 which means you should be too. Did you know out of the four billion mobile phones in the world 1.08 are smartphones? How many times a day do you access the Internet through your mobile device, smartphone or tablet? I bet it’s a lot, right?

Every time you access the world wide web through one of these devices you’re using this thing called a “Mobile Web.” These sites you come across on a daily basis, believe it or not are created specifically for the mobile web. Having a site that is mobile-friendly can do numerous things for your business. Whether you want to connect with customers, build a better brand, increase sales, etc. There are so many great possibilities out there. The downfall though, if a customer has a bad experience with your site you drive them straight to your competitor.

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Many of your customers already have a mobile device, today’s world is so technology advanced that Google states “there will be one mobile device for every person on earth by 2015.” I know what you’re probably thinking, “No way, thats crazy. 2015 is only two years away.” When you think about it though since 2010, mobile searches havequadrupled. This year (2013) its predicted that more people will use their mobile phones rather than a PC to get on-line. Times are changing in the technology world, PC’s are leaving and an array of mobile devices are arriving.

When users do use their PC to access your website they may find this amazing well planned and thought out site. Now, when they go and visit your site from a mobile device, you sure well better believe they are expecting to see an amazing, planned and thought out mobile site. Google’s statistics show 66% of customers really like a brand or company, they visit the mobile site but when they have a bad experience they leave disappointed. 52% say “a bad mobile experience makes (me) less likely to engage with a company.”

Reputation is everything.

From 2009 to 2012 we were living in a “social” world. All these social media sites were popping up all over the place and we just had to join every one so we could be social. Well just as the time changes so does the world we live in. 2012 to 2015 maybe well known as the “mobile” world. Right now at the beginning of 2013 may just be the best time to jump right on in and explore what the mobile web has to offer. Go ahead, I dare you! 

Develop an understanding, get benchmarks, explore, learn. Most users find mobile sites through search engines such as Google and Bing. If they don’t like what they find, they either go back and search somewhere else or they jump ship and abandon the task altogether. The easiest and best practices to have a successful mobile site include: Keep it quick, simplify, localize, visible, and accessible at the least.

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Many people are short on time and are in a hurry to find things. Help them, help you. Make your site super easy and quick to load. “74% of consumers will wait 5 seconds for a web page to lead on their mobile device before abandoning the site”(Eridon). Prioritize contents and features. Keep images small and use bullet points to minimize large text areas. Simplify, simplify, simplify! Say it with me “simplifying is key!” If I’m confused in the first few moments I access a site, I jump ship immediately. Don’t confuse the customer, minimize scrolling, use clear navigation, use minimal links (less than seven is best), and HAVE a search box. Many uses for the mobile web are to find local things and information. Have your store locater on the home page, use maps, directions and GPS for easy access. “One half of all local searches are performed on mobile devices” (Eridon). Make the site visible and easy to read for customers, create contrast, make sure content fits, use different sizes and color to indicate certain things. Lastly, make it accessible. There is nothing more frustrating then being somewhere and you need information fast and you’re stuck waiting to get nothing! Your site should be available and work all across any mobile device and handsets.

Google recently released more statistics quoting “57% of users say they wont recommend a business with a poorly-designed mobile site.” Small business though have taken these practices listed above and applied them to their sites. They are adopting the idea “design for mobile first.” Make sure when consumers type your URL in their browser from their mobile phone your website should recognize and redirect them to your mobile site and not your desktop site.

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In North America alone, mobile share of web traffic has increased from 4.7% to 7.9% from 2010 to 2012, that’s a 69% increase in two years. 86% of mobile Internet users are using their devices while watching TV. The average American spends 2.7 hours a day socializing on a mobile device. 86% of adults own a mobile phone, while only 53% use their phone to access the Internet. Many have stated they use their mobile phones more often for Internet access is because its easier, more convenient and they always have it with them. For when they need go to information fast.

Kind of like social network’s a good mobile site focuses on the user. Probably the most important thing when building a mobile strategy is to listen to the customer, learn from what they have to say (is it good or is it bad), and take their input and advice and iterate it into your mobile web site. You want the customer to be happy, right? Its a long and ongoing process everyday with testing and new optimizations but I’m telling you, it’s worth it.

Why SMS Mobile Marketing Is Here To Stay

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The secret is out, and has been for awhile now; SMS mobile marketing is here to stay. If you haven’t heard of SMS mobile marketing, or have heard of it but don’t know anything about it, then you must have been living under a rock lately. If we were to say that the SMS text message market is growing at an astounding rate, we still feel we would be making an understatement. The fact is that SMS mobile marketing is EXPLODING, and it is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The most important thing to gather from this article is that SMS is not just a flash in the pan type thing, statistics and analytics have shown that SMS marketing has, and will continue to thrive in the coming years. So if you’re not marketing at all using SMS mobile marketing, you better start before all the companies who are already using it pass you up and leave you in the dust. Don’t believe us? Let us prove it.

Consider this; 83% of all U.S. adults own a mobile phone, a third of them prefer text messages over phone calls, and 95% of all text messages are opened within 4 minutes of arrival. However, marketing emails are only responded to 6% of the time, ever. This means a shocking majority, or 94%, of all the marketing emails you are sending are not being read at all. It’s obvious that SMS marketing has a higher response rate than email. In fact, almost 50% of all marketing text messages are not just read, but responded to. Statistics also show that the demand for SMS short codes, MMS, and instant messaging is constantly growing. It’s also important to remember that about half of the U.S. population has smartphones right now, so that means half of them don’t. So if you’re using a mobile marketing campaign that only targets people who use smartphones, you are only reaching half of the population. Using SMS mobile marketing, which simply sends texts that can be received by any mobile phone, means you will be reaching at least 83% of the population, rather than just half. The numbers don’t lie, with SMS mobile marketing, you cannot lose! 

Now the numbers we mentioned deal with just people who own mobile phones. The 13% of people who don’t own mobile phones is very small, but you can still reach them using SMS mobile marketing. How? Think about this; every person you text has an inner circle of friends, family members, and significant others. This means when you text someone and they like what they’ve received, they can easily share your information with their thousands of Facebook friends, hundreds of Twitter followers, and dozens of Pinterest followers. You also can never underestimate the power of word of mouth. Now, with just one text, you’ve reached all these people, while spending pennies for your advertising. Compare that to the thousands of dollars you could’ve spent on advertising in magazines or newspapers, or the tens of thousands you could’ve spent advertising on television or radio, and it’s clear that SMS marketing is the cheapest and most effective way to reach the people you want to reach. And since SMS marketing is an opt-in service, that means the subscribers you are getting are people who want to hear what you have to say and what you have to offer. Can you honestly think of anything a marketer dreams of more than thousands of people who are listening to them with open ears? Well SMS marketing does this exact thing!

This point cannot be made more clear; there has not been a better time to get you and your company started on an SMS mobile marketing campaign. The numbers show it, the results show it, the returns on investments show it, and several companies who have already incorporated SMS mobile marketing into their marketing strategy can vouch for SMS’ unparalleled success and efficiency. The best part of all of this?

It’s EASY!

SMS Marketing Tips & Ideas

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With the continuous improvements and rampant use of mobile technologies such as the smartphone and the tablet, SMS marketing has surged to the forefront of any and all types of mobile marketing campaigns. The fact that 98% of all text messages are opened and read, and the fact that these messages are read within mere minutes of their arrival, should tell you that mobile marketing is not just the future of marketing, it is the NOW of marketing. However, efficiently managing your mobile marketing campaign can be tricky. Simply having an SMS mobile marketing strategy is not good enough, you want to be smart about it; but no worries, we’re here to help! We’ve compiled a list of ten things that are important to remember when constructing your SMS mobile marketing campaign.

Conduct an SMS Poll

Sometimes simply orchestrating an SMS poll, whether it be a multiple choice poll or an open vote poll, can be much more effective than you think. An SMS poll doesn’t just engage your SMS subscribers by asking their opinion on something, but it allows them to let their voices be heard and gives them a sense of power and control when it comes to your product or service; subscribers love this. If you feel like you’re not getting enough participation, offer a coupon or reward to subscribers to entice them into participating in your poll. There are also platforms where you can post the poll results live on your website or blog so subscribers can get more immediate feedback. SMS polls are generally great ways to increase brand recognition with your customers, get feedback from them, and generate excitement and interest around your product or brand.

Attach Media to Your Texts

If you want to increase the odds of people engaging in your text, you will want to attach media links to them. This can be a simple photo to spice up your text, or it can be something more sophisticated such as a link to a landing page with more information, or a video explaining how to do something. Sometimes, just posting some fun media that’s related to your business will generate buzz around your company or product, even if it isn’t necessarily directly related.

Create a Social Media Widget

Integrating your texts with social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, is probably one of the best things you can do for your SMS campaign. A lot of SMS marketing platforms offer easy-to-use social networking widgets that you can simply copy and paste into your texts, as well as your website’s HTML code. Adding a widget like this will allow your SMS subscribers to easily access your social networking pages, announces any poll you conduct on the social network as well as through text, and makes it much easier to add more people to your customer database.

Keep the Texting Lingo for High Schoolers

Sometimes conductors of SMS marketing campaigns fool themselves into believing that if they text their subscribers in the modern day lingo that is common with text messaging, they will connect more with their subscribers. This is not true! Most of the people you will be reaching out to are not teenagers (unless you are directly marketing to that demographic, then this is appropriate), but they are adults with cash to spend. Today’s text lingo such as “OMG”, “TTYL”, and “BRB” will come across as childish and immature to adults, and will most likely end up hurting you more than you think it will help you. You will have time to construct your text messages before sending them out, make it sound like you took the time.

Keep Your Message Simple and Singular

It can be tempting to mention several different promotions, sales, or offers in one message, but this can confuse your customers. Remember, you only have 160 characters to work with (140 if you’re posting through Twitter); don’t try to cram too much into one message. Keep your scope limited to one central idea per text. If you want to mention 3 different sales that your company has going this week, then construct 3 different text messages, one for each sale. This will make things much simpler for your subscribers and you will be much less likely to lose customers through either sheer confusion or just annoyance.

Efficiently Time Your Text Messages

Just blasting subscribers with a plethora of text messages at all times of the day and night is a recipe for disaster. You want to make sure you time your messages effectively so that you can get more people reading and responding to them. Traditionally, it has been found that SMS messages get the most responses when they are sent in the late afternoon, early evening, or any time during the day on weekends.

Keep Purchasing Simple and Easy

This is probably the most important thing to remember when constructing an SMS message. Make sure it is easy for customers to make purchases using your texts! If the buying process become too complicated, or is too many steps, most potential customers will just give up and leave you hanging without making the sale. Also, when making promotional codes, make sure they are easy to remember. Remembering the code “SHOE25” is much easier than remembering “SHOE85763652”. Using a simple code like “SHOE25” is especially effective if you are offering 25% off of shoes for any customer that shows the text to participating retailers. It’s easier to remember and reminds customers of the deal they are getting.

Begin Messages With Action Words

Beginning your text with an action word, or verb, is a great way to get customers moving while also livening up your text messages. Action words generate action on the part of the consumer and also help shorten what would otherwise be long and lengthy sentence that can put you over the 140 or 160 character limit. Words like “buy”, “sell”, “jump”, “run”, “save”, “spend”, “purchase”, and “stop” are all great action words to start your messages with. Rule of thumb: whatever you want your customers to do as a result of your text, start with that word.

Use Short Sentences

Writing long, lengthy, and descriptive sentences will not only cause you to go over your character limit, but it will also bore subscribers before they bother finishing reading your message. Short sentences allow your subscribers to forward your messages to other people; they cannot do this if your long sentences take up the entire 140-160 character limit. Short sentences also improve your writing and force you to cut to the chase much quicker and more efficiently. Not only will this make constructing SMS messages easier for you, but your customers will have a much easier time reading them.

Don’t Overdo Capitalization

This rule goes hand in hand with text lingo, but there are instances where capitalization is important. Using it in text lingo, such as “UR”, is a no-no. But if you’re trying to emphasize an event like a sale or promotion, using capitalization is a great way to ensure your customers see the event in the message, as well asremember it. But keep your capitalization to a minimum; overdoing it will confuse your customers, or just make them look down on you.

Using these ten tips will dramatically help your SMS mobile marketing campaign and make it more efficient. A lot of companies have already jumped on the SMS marketing campaign train, so when you do, you want to make sure that you stand out from the crowd. Using these tips will help you do just that!