Today there are more than 100 million mobile phone users in the U.S. who access the internet on their devices. This number will only continue to rise, especially if you think more on a global scale. Smart phones are becoming less expensive and more prevalent which makes marketing to mobile users much easier than ever before. However, smart phones are not necessarily required when we’re talking about text marketing. The beauty in embracing mobile marketing and as a new opportunity means you can make more sales, gain more customers, or simply offer deals to existing customers to solidify loyalty.
While SMS text messaging is certainly effective, it’s not the only avenue to take when it comes to maximizing your advertising dollar. Below we’ll describe a few other methods to consider to help bolster your marketing message across the mobile domain.
1) Mobile Advertisements – Similar to Adwords, also known as Cost Per Click advertising, there are different mobile advertising platforms where a business can promote text links or banners ads to mobile users. You can send those who click your ads to your mobile website, ask them to opt in to get a freebie or discount on your products or services, and build a list of responsive prospects. Ad platforms will naturally offer you tracking and other relevant statistics to help you gain better insight into who you should be targeting.
2) Location Based Marketing – One company to consider using is Foursquare, a company that allows users to receive coupons, win points, but also allows companies to use their services and reach to promote products and services. Using companies like Foursquare can help a business build brand awareness while offering the potential to have their ads or offers go viral as many folks use their mobile phones to share content on Twitter and Facebook. Location Based Marketing is an avenue worth consdiering.
3) QR Codes – We’ve all seen them, even if we didn’t know what they were. Essentially, they are bar codes but, much more powerful. When a mobile phone user scans the bar code with their smart phone, they can be redirected to a sales page, a promo page, a mobile website, almost anywhere. It doesn’t matter if you run a small 1 or 2 person business or a Fortune 500 company, QR codes are great ways to take advantage of mobile users by giving the advertiser more control over where they send potential prospects and customers.
Mobile marketing is truly still in its infancy when it comes to methods of advertising on one of the most used deviced world wide – the mobile phone. If you haven’t yet, it’s time to seriously consider mobile marketing today.
