Mobile phone marketing, when used correctly, is an excellent, fast, and cost effective way to grow your business, get new customers and keep the customers you already have. There are however some common mistakes made by many business owners that I’d like to help you avoid. Here are the top 5 mistakes to avoid in Mobile Marking
1. Mistakenly thinking that mobile users and computer users should be treated equally.
Someone searching from a mobile device isn’t searching the same way as someone searching from a computer and you are making a mistake to treat them the same way. Mobile users are not searching the web doing research, downloading documents, or reading PDF’s they are usually searching for some kind of local information such as a location or telephone number of a business in their area while they are running errands and on the go. Due to the small display size on a mobile device they don’t want to scroll all around looking for the information they need and they aren’t interested in clicking all over your website to find what they want. An effective mobile website has what your mobile users are looking for. They want to find the who, what, when, how, and why. Nothing else needed!
2. Not targeting your SMS messages to the proper audience.
Using SMS (short message service) text message marketing allows you to target a very specific audience. It’s a common mistake for business owners to treat text messages like mass advertising rather than selecting the correct segment of their mobile phone marketing lists. Segmenting your mobile phone marketing list by certain demographics and/or certain behavioral information in will allow you to get your message to the exact people you want to reach with a specific message broadcast thereby targeting your message to buyers who are strongly related to the offer. This will result in both a much greater conversion rate and a much greater return on your investment.
3. Using text messages just to strong-arm your customer into a sale.
Your customers are looking for value! More than 75% of mobile phone users said that they would like to receive information and offers from the companies that they do business with BUT remember… nobody likes to be sold to. Make it easy for them to want to buy from you. Mobile phone marketing is a great strategy but if you allow your communication with your customers to include hard sales pitches or just sending too many sales pitches (nobody wants to be nagged) and you’ll find yourself with a list of UNsubscibers! Give your customers the feeling that they are getting real value from you by offering a variety of tips, news, coupons, links, pictures, surveys, videos, and special offers and you’ll keep them coming back for more!
4. Neglecting to add Mobile Phone Marketing strategies to your more traditional marketing methods.
Mobile phone marketing promotional strategies are super all on their own however, when they are used in conjunction with more tradional methods of advertising you’ve got the start of a winning marketing program in place. Mobile advertising combined with other forms of media carries a very powerful impact when used as an element of a strong all round marketing program.
Combining mobile phone marketing with online advertising, email marketing, print, radio, classified and even TV commercials can lead to a lot of traffic to your business. An example of this strategy would be using short codes or QR codes as part of your call to action in the traditional marketing and when the potential new customer (mobile user) texts a message to the short code or scans the QR code they can immediately receive a special offer for new customers only or something else of interest to them.
5. Thinking that Mobile Phone Marketing is a one-way medium.
Mobile phone marketing is not a one-way conversation but many business owners make this mistake unknowingly. Interaction is the key to engaging mobile users and this is especially true of smartphone users. Think of this as a way to connect with your customers. People like to be asked their opinions about things and they want to tell you about themselves and what they like. Mobile is an advertising medium where you can get your customers to engage with you and respond to you almost immediately. Ask questions, use surveys, let them vote, allow them to interact with you and you’ll be held much higher than your competition in the minds of your customers.
If you would like more information on how mobile phone marketing can help your business call us today for a free consultation. We look forward to discussing whether mobile phone marketing is a good fit for your business and what kind of strategies might work for you.
To your mobile phone marketing success!
P.S. Don’t forget to get your free gift “The Small Business Guide to Mobile Marketing”
