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By fblaydes | Uncategorized

Effective Tips for Getting Your Site Prepared for Mobile Marketing

By fblaydes | Uncategorized

It took a while for businesses to recognize the potential of the small mobile screen on a smart phone or cell phone. Businesses are just beginning to recognize this valuable real estate and its ability to generate greater profits.

Although the screen is much smaller than a traditional monitor for a desktop or laptop, it still has more than enough area to display important messages. The screens on mobile devices are now large enough that messages can be fully displayed without the need of zooming or scrolling on a small hand-held mobile device.

Preparing your site for a mobile marketing strategy requires you to remove any huge files or extra, unnecessary copy. Don’t make your online visitors wait very long for a page to load. If your customer cannot locate the information they are seeking quickly, they will leave the site, without ever reading that mobile marketing message you took so long crafting.

The easiest way any business can prepare for their mobile marketing strategy is to redesign their website to handle a mobile screen. The newly developed mobile-friendly HTML5 and CSS3 works best for mobile sites. Unless you are proficient in writing code, you will need to hire a developer that is highly fluent in these programming languages.

However, there are alternatives. Google Mobile Optimizer is effective software that can help the company quickly transform your original website into a simple mobile version.Adding text that is designed specifically for mobile technology is essential.

You will need to write mobile-friendly content for your mobile website. Keep this highly valuable content very short and to the point. Deliver your message using bullet points instead of large paragraphs. Reading paragraphs on a mobile screen sucks big time. Don’t make your visitors do it. On top of that you visitors will miss the mobile marketing message altogether. Be brief, clear and direct.

Make sure that all graphics displayed are small enough in design that it will load fast. Mobile technology typically loads pages at a much slower pace than the traditional laptop or desktop computer. Anytime your visitor needs to wait more than roughly 5-8 seconds for the page to load, he or she will likely just leave the site, and never view the marketing message.

Instead of just abandoning your full website to the mobile user, consider offering the user the ability to choose between the mobile version and the full version as soon as they arrive at the site. This provides your visitor the opportunity to quickly become familiar with whichever site they like best and to obtain only the essential information they are seeking.

Realize that much of the valuable information was likely cut when creating the mobile version and the user can quickly become frustrated when they are not able to locate the data they want.It’s very important to make effective use of all the available space on your mobile site. Anytime your visitor needs to zoom or scroll just to get to the call to action, you may as well not even have one.

I hope these few tips help you. If you have questions or comments, leave them below. Please share this article with people you know that it may help.

Make it a great day!

Running a Successful Mobile Marketing Campaign

By fblaydes | Uncategorized

The world of mobile marketing is totally focused on an effective way for businesses to reach

out to their potential and existing customers through a variety of avenues. These include

tweets, blogs, social networking sites, and applications designed specifically for mobile

media.

Traditional marketing was once just a one way conversation. Business simply released an

advertising message and the public hopefully received it. However, mobile marketing has

changed the way the business promotes their company on nearly every type of media

platform.

Mobile marketing now provides potential and existing customers the ability

to participate in the conversation about the products and services your company provides.

However, before beginning any type of mobile marketing campaign, it’s important to

understand how your customers react to your promotions and sales. What do they think

specifically about the products and services you provide?

Getting Started

The first step in developing a successful mobile marketing campaign is

to identify the targeted audience. These are your potential and existing customers in a

specific demographic or niche. Once you find your targeted audience, create a profile on a

blogging site that is business-oriented, especially if you sell products that are business-

to-business. Make sure your company has a business mobile page positioned on the company

website, and social networking websites including Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn,

YouTube and others.

Find the Communities

 

It’s important to get online and search for any existing community that specifically relates to your company’s niche market. Make direct contact with that community. Reach out and invite its members to become a “fan” of your service or product. This allows every member in the community to have a direct connection with your company.

Create Content

Consider creating effective content to support your mobile marketing campaign. The content should be frequently posted as an update on all of your mobile platform sites. Be sure and invite comments from everyone in the community. Respond directly in an open forum to every follower’s comments, feedback or review.

In addition, create a blog and be sure to update it with continuous posts of at least two or three times every week. Attempt to stay on topic on your blog site, concerning the products and services you sell. However, make sure that it is not just a selling site, or your visitors will quickly lose interest. Instead offer valuable content about relevant subjects concerning the products and services you provide. In addition offer links to other sites that provide interesting and relevant information.

Monitor Reactions

It’s important to monitor every one of your customers or potential customers that leave comments on your site. Be sure and write a response to both positive and negative comments to demonstrate that you are actively engaged and that you truly care about them.

It is important use the right tools to track and analyze how everyone on the site is responding to the information you provide. Doing so can produce an effective and successful mobile marketing campaign to drive up profits, and boost the company brand.

Enter your email address in the box below or click on the Facebook button if you are logged in and I will notify you of new posts. Thanks for stopping by.

 

How Local Businesses Benefit From Text Message Marketing

By fblaydes | Uncategorized

Text Message Marketing is a real asset to business owners who use it the right way.

• Build your list through your current marketing.
• Put your text message opt-in on offer on every piece of marketing you have.
• If you are a brick and mortar store front, put you text message opt-in on the front window to get customers attention.
• Also, if you own a restaurant, put your text message opt-in on table tents and in the bathrooms.
• Strictly online? Make sure you have your text message opt-in on your website.

List building is a whole separate topic, but the goal is to promote your campaign like crazy and get your text offer in front of as many people as possible.

 

Even though text messages are a powerful tool, you can sure make people mad and annoy them if your too aggressive. Yes, they did sign up to get text messages from you because they want to hear about your business, but only within reason.

 

If people start opting out of your list in large numbers, you better start trying to figure out why. Is it because you’re spamming the crap out of them or maybe not sending messages they didn’t opt-in to get?

 

Always consult with a mobile marketing professional to learn what works best for your businesses niche.

 

Below are a few methods to drive business using text message marketing.

 

 

• When Business Is Slow: There are always days during the week that customer traffic is slow. Now you can bump up traffic. With text marketing you can message your list instantly and drive customer engagement during those slow times. If you have specific days when business is slow, you can set up messages to be sent on that day using an autoresponder. For example, if you are a restaurant owner and you know Tuesday nights are normally slow for dinner, you preset messages every Tuesday to go out at 3:30 or 4:00 when people are starting to think about dinner.

 

• Old Inventory: If you have inventory that’s just sitting around collecting dust, you can message your list informing them that you’re having a blowout sale and no reasonable offer will be refused. Sell it fast!

 

• Keep Customers Informed: Do you have an important update or an urgent message to send, message your list and let them know about it instantly.

 

• Build Referrals: We all know word of mouth is the best form of advertising. With Text Message Marketing you can make it easy for your customers to refer you just by asking them to forward the message to friends and family. Simply ask at the end of every message to forward it to 2 or 3 people.

 

• Top Of Mind Awareness: Text message marketing makes it easy to keep your business in front of customers on a regular basis, keeping your business top of mind. Even if it’s a text just to thank them for being on the list, it keeps you on their mind. It doesn’t always have to be a special or some sort of deal. However, specials and deals do drive traffic.

 

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How To Scare Off Your Prospects

By fblaydes | Uncategorized

I’m so freakin tired of seeing videos that are shot in front of a white background with perfect sound, perfect video and a total lack of any personality whatso freakin ever!!!,p>

BOOOORRRRRING!!!!,

Don’t be suckered y’all. Nobody and I mean NOBODY likes to watch a flat, no emotion, no personality video that drones on and on and on and on and on.

Give me some passion, give me a piece of your soul. Stick it in the monitor of your computer and make me feel what drives you. SHOW ME who you are!

Do the best you can, no doubt. Y’all, listen to some good ol down home wisdom….people are fed up to their eyeballs with FAKE, PHONY, BS!

Click the link below and watch the video and see what I mean….

How To Scare Away People

Quick and Easy Money Giving Away Mobile Sites

By fblaydes | Uncategorized

As technology gets more accessible, prices will continue to drop so you need the ability to set your own prices for mobile services.

Here’s a way to give away something for free and that pays you $$$$ every time you give it away.

Buy an inexpensive mobile website builder (software) and learn to use it. It’s less than $50 bucks and easy to use. Give away a free mobile website and tell your client if they want the free mobile site they have to buy a domain and hosting for it through you.

Tell them you can get a domain name and set up hosting for them for really cheap. The monthly hosting is like $2-$4 a month. Your client pays that fee every month. Most times they will say yes.

There are hosting companies that actually give away a FREE domain name when you purchase hosting through them.

The hosting company then pays you a healthy commission for bringing them a customer as an affiliate. See the pic above.

How many network marketers and direct sales people would jump on that deal like a duck on a June bug?

Now, go make some money. There are ways to upsell off of this to make a continuing income but that’s for later.

Contact me if you want to know which mobile site builder I use and which hosting companies do this.

20 Reasons to Go Mobile

By fblaydes | Uncategorized

As a small business that’s focused on attracting more customers, you’re most likely thinking of ways to get the job done in a more effective way.

Have you considered adding a mobile website to the mix yet?

If not, you’re overlooking one of the most powerful business tools that will help you attract more leads and ultimately customers. In fact, if your business doesn’t have at least mobile-friendly website, you’re literally blocking potential customers from having access to your business. Preferably, you have a fully mobile version of you site also.

I’m sure running off customers is the LAST thing you want to do. Chances are, you simply don’t understand yet just how important a mobile website really is to the success of your business today.

You’ve probably noticed that the world has gone crazy over “mobile” the past few years. Smart phone sales and mobile tablet sales have gone through the roof and is this trend is not expected to slow down any time soon.

Because of this, consumers are using their smart phones and tablets to perform all kinds of daily tasks; surfing the web, using social media, reading product reviews, shopping, and a whole heck of a lot more.

This massive shift in consumer behavior toward mobile devices is forcing businesses all over the world to implement mobile marketing strategies. You simply must implement these strategies now to help your business to stay in front of your target audience.

As I mentioned before, one of the most vital tools that make this change possible is a mobile website. This allows mobile users to easily access your products and services.

Mobile Internet searches via smart phones and tablets is one of the fastest-growing mobile activities of all times. Mobiles searches are expected to grow in number in the coming years. Mobile technology is literally crowding out most other types of searches.

Here is a massive problem for YOU if your website was designed for the Internet and not the mobile web. Mobile users are being directed to websites that were designed for laptops and desktop computers. These websites take forever to load, are virtually impossible to navigate and impossible to read with any comfort. If you do this to your customer, you might as well say bye-bye to sales. In this day and age, your company needs to have a mobile website if you want to have any chance of connecting with consumers.

Let me give you 20 statistics about mobile usage and how they will impact your business. All statistics are sourced at the end of this article.

1. There are approximately 6.8 billion mobile subscriptions today:
• This statistic pretty much speaks for itself; this is 96% of the world population. Mobile usage is definitely not going away anytime soon. This means that your business must be implementing mobile strategies now that will help you capitalize on this massive audience. Every day that you delay implementing and adapting to this, you are losing money, period.

2. Mobile marketing is growing 8 TIMES faster than the Internet grew in the early 1990’s:
• You’ve probably noticed how fast the Internet grew over the last 20 years. Thanks to the Internet, small businesses have been able to implement strategies that allow them to generate more leads and customers than ever before. However, mobile marketing is growing 8 times faster than the Internet, which means if your business is not “mobilized,” you are losing money right now.

3. Mobile Internet searches have grown by 500% over the past two years:
• This is simply proof of just how fast mobile Internet search is growing. With the massive amount of new mobile subscriptions and smartphone purchases by consumers, the growth rate of mobile search is not expected to slow down. Mobile search will continue to grow every year as more people become comfortable using their smart phones and other mobile devices to perform not only online searches but online purchases also.

4. 50% of all local searches are performed on mobile devices
• Out of all the searches performed by people who are looking for “local” businesses, products, and services, one-half of them are performed on mobile devices instead of desktop computers. Again, this shows just how much consumers depend on their mobile devices to find local information.

5. 33% of mobile Internet searches are for “local” products and services
• More than 1/3 of all Internet searches performed on mobile devices are for “local” products and services. In a nutshell, this means that these consumers are searching for local businesses in their area that can provide what they want right now. As a local business, this means if you do not have a mobile website, your chances of connecting with local mobile consumers is slim to none.

6. 94% of smart phone owners look for local information on their phone
• As I have already shown you, consumers today own smart phones and tablets. Nearly all of them use these devices to find “local” information. Smart phones contain several capabilities to make our lives easier; one of those capabilities is online search. If you don’t have a mobile website, many of these smartphone and tablet owners won’t be able to connect with your business at all and if they can see your site it’s going to be a bad experience for them and a lost sale for you.

7. 61% of users call a business after finding them on their smart phone
• Mobile users are ready to take action when searching for local businesses. This means these are HOT, ready-to-spend customers. As a local business owner, your success depends on the number of customers that walk into your store. How many new customers did you lose today because your current website is not mobile friendly? 10, 20, more?

8. 59% of users visit a business after finding them on their smartphone
• Again these are HOT leads ready to buy from you. Mobile conversion rates are much higher than any other type of marketing or advertising. Without a mobile website you’re missing out on these potential new customers.

9. 71% of smart phone users that see TV ads, printed ads, or online ads, do a mobile search for more information
• If your business is using other types of advertising, mobile is still a major factor in converting those “prospective” customers into paying customers. Let’s say you’re running a TV ad, there are a lot of people that will use their mobile devices to find out more information about your company, your products, or services as soon as they see that ad. They need to be met with a mobile site when doing their research to give them the best experience possible. Without a good experience on the smart phone, your chance for making a sale to them is zero.

10. 45% of users between 18 and 29 use mobile search daily

• These consumers search the Internet from their mobile devices every single day. That’s a big number of “buying age” consumers who could be potentially trying to access your website, but can’t; which means lost profits for your business.

11. 44% of mobile users read reviews and product information

• Mobile users like to see what others have to say about a company before they do business with them. They also like to get as much information as possible about products and services before making a buying decision. Make it easy for them to find out everything your company has to offer by having a mobile version of your website.

12. Local mobile searches are projected to exceed desktop searches for the first time in 2015
• Currently, most Internet searches are performed on desktop computers. Within a few years, most Internet searches will be performed from mobile devices. This means that most people will rely on their smart phones and tablets to find local products, services, and businesses. If you do not have a mobile website yet, it’s not too late to get one. This will put you way ahead of the mad rush when average business owners realize they are losing money to you. Capturing more leads and customers is a piece of cake via mobile.

13. 74% of consumers will wait 5 seconds for a web page to load on their mobile device before abandoning the site

• If your business does not have a mobile-friendly website, it probably takes much longer than 5 seconds to load for mobile users. Sorry, your site is too slow…See ya! Consumers today move fast and don’t have the patience to wait more than several seconds for a website to load on their mobile devices.

14. 40% of mobile users have turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience.
• If you think it’s bad that mobile users can’t properly view your website, it gets even worse. Most of them immediately leave your site to a competitor’s mobile-friendly website. Not only does your website block them from reaching you, but it pushes them directly into your closest competitor’s open and waiting arms. This is like committing business suicide.

15. 46% of mobile users say they WILL NOT return to a website they had trouble accessing from their phone
• If consumers experience slow loading times… or have a problem finding information they need on your site while using their mobile devices, they get impatient and leave. Many of them make a vow to never “try” to view your website again from their mobile phone. These leads and prospects are lost forever. What is the lifetime value of one customer to your business? Can you afford to lose them?

16. 61% of people have a better opinion of brands when they offer a good mobile experience.
• When consumers can whip out their mobile devices, quickly pull up a website, and easily find the information they’re looking for, it’s a real treat. Why? Because most businesses are still living in the “90’s or early 2000’s. So when they come across your company that actually caters to their needs by having mobile-friendly website, they tend think “Here is a company that has its act together.”

17. 53% of shoppers compare in-store prices to online prices while shopping.

• While shopping, consumers want to make sure they’re getting the best bang for their buck. So they use their mobile devices to compare in-store pricing to online prices. This proves that consumers are serious about using their mobile phones to help them make buying decisions. A mobile-friendly website makes it easy for consumers to check your products and pricing.

18. Mobile searchers are 51% more likely to make a purchase than desktop searchers
• When mobile users perform Internet searches, they are going to take some type of action right away, usually within an hour or two. Whereas desktop users are usually doing more “surfing.” This means that businesses that do not have a mobile-friendly website are losing these potential customers to their competitors. No one wants to wait until they get home to get in front of their desktop computer to search for information that they need right now. Save your customers time and effort, Go Mobile.

19. 74%, have used their phones to get directions to store locations and other business information
• Most mobile users search for local information while out running errands (spending money). Imagine that a potential customer is looking for your phone number or directions to your store while out running those errands. Well, if they can’t access your website to get your phone number, directions, hours of operation, or other information, that customer is pretty much lost.

20. 48% use them for promotions and coupons
• Consumers today love discounts and coupons, as evident by this statistic. When consumers are looking for coupons and promotional offers for your company in particular, the first place they will go is to your website. However, if your website is not mobile-friendly, they will be met with a slow-loading, hard to navigate site instead of a great coupon that they can redeem immediately.

I hope this has helped you to get a better picture of what your business is missing out on if you are not mobile friendly.

 

Sources:

http://www.luxurydaily.com/54pc-of-u-s-consumers-crave-in-store-digital-mobile-touch-points-cisco/

http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Mobile-Spurs-Digital-Coupon-User-Growth/1009639#VtDzxL6QcVIG76xo.99

http://pewInternet.org/Reports/2013/Smartphone-Ownership-2013/Findings.aspx

http://www.ridgemarketing.com/mobile-solutions-13-key-mobile-statistics-to-know-for-2013.html
http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats/a#subscribers
http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats/b#mobilebroadband
http://www.mobify.com/blog/13-stats-to-convince-your-boss-to-invest-in-mobile-in-2013/
http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats

http://www.ridgemarketing.com/mobile-solutions-13-key-mobile-statistics-to-know-for-2013.html

http://www.vocus.com/blog/50-mobile-search-stats-and-why-you-should-care/

http://www.localytics.com/blog/2013/mobile-statistics/

http://www.tnooz.com/2013/06/04/news/show-these-mobile-usage-stats-to-any-travel-executive-resisting-change/

http://savvypanda.com/Joomla-Mobile-Websites/statistics-mobile-websites.html

Text Message Marketing Pt 3

By fblaydes | Uncategorized

Different Types of Text Message Marketing Campaigns

Alrighty then! In Pt 2 of Text Message Marketing we covered a really wide range of ways that Text Messages can be used to generate new business.

In today’s post we are going to cover 4 specific types of text message campaigns and finish this series off with the top 3 mistakes made in Text Message Marketing. So here we go…

 

·         “Save More” Campaigns – These offers influence your customers to come and buy from you so they can take advantage of your special offer. Everyone loves to save these days.

 

• Example:  “Show this text to receive 20% off of any hamburger combo at Hamburger Spot. EXP 5/15”

 

• “Spend More” Campaigns – These offers influence your customers to “spend more money” than they usually would so they can take advantage of a discount.

 

• Example:  “Spend $25 or more at Hamburger Spot and receive $5 OFF when you show this text. EXP 5/15”

 

• “Purchase More” Campaigns – These offers influence your customers to “purchase more items” so they can take advantage of a discount.

 

• Example:  “Purchase a large fry at Hamburger Spot and get $1 OFF of a regular milkshake. EXP 5/15”

 

• “Get Something for Free” Campaigns – These offers influence your customers to buy something so they can take advantage of a free offer.

 

• Example:  “Purchase two Kid’s Meals at Hamburger Spot and receive two cookies for FREE.  EXP 5/15”

How You Can Use QR Codes

 

·         Send Users Directly to Your Website with One Click – Direct your QR code to your website so your mobile visitors don’t have to type in your web address on their small phones.

 

 

 

• Send Users to a Live Video Tour of Your Business – Prospects and customers love to see live footage of businesses that they’re considering doing business with. In addition to tours of your business, you can shoot commercial-style videos, product or service demo videos, “how-to” tutorial videos, etc. Did you scan this one? Need a scanner? Get one in any app store. I like QRReader.
  

 

• Create an Instant Mobile Take Out Menu – Restaurants, hotels, and other establishments that serve food can put QR codes on their menus. But even better…put up a big sign inside of their establishment that says “Want Our Take-out Menu at Your Fingertips at All Times? Scan This to Store in Your Phone”

• Send Users to Your Photos and Social Media Sites – QR codes are a great way to gain even more exposure by sending your audience directly to your digital real estate.

• Send Them to Your Coupons and Discount Offers – Use QR codes to send your customers to a mobile web page with a coupon. You can even put QR codes on your coupons to send them to other destinations.

• Put Your QR Codes on ALL Marketing Materials – This includes your website, flyers, brochures, business cards, takeout menus, signs, and anywhere you think that people will see it and scan it.

• Put QR Codes on Your Receipts – On the back of their receipts, many businesses are asking people to go to their websites and enter a chance to win a special giveaway or offer. Most people forget or don’t even bother to wait until they get in front of a computer. Instead, put your QR code on the back of your receipts so they can enter on the spot.

• Business Location and Other Information – Use QR codes to direct people to your Google Maps, where they can find your address, phone number, website, hours of operation, and more.

 

Text Message Appointment Reminder Service

 

“No-Shows” are costing your business money; there’s no denying that. When people fail to show up for their appointments and don’t bother to call, that is lost revenue that you could have filled with another customers. There are some online businesses that exclusively offer reminder services.

·       Reduce “No-Shows” – Implement a system where you use text messaging 1 day and 1 hour in advance to remind your customers of their appointments. If they need to cancel, they will send you a text right back immediately. Gone are the days that you have to leave a message on their phone and hope they check their voicemail.

 

• Ability to Fill More Canceled Appointments – If people do need to cancel or reschedule, they will let you know so you have a chance to fill it. Most people only need an hour or two notice, and they’d be happy to fill a canceled appointment. 

 

• Lowers Lost Revenue –Text reminders will give you a chance to fill appointments if someone cancels, which improves your overall revenue.

 

• Saves Staff Some Time – Your staff no longer has to make call after call to confirm appointments. Most people are too busy to even answer their phones these days. Not to mention checking their voice mail. So text messaging is a hands-free way to confirm appointments while your staff works on something more important.

 

• Easy – No Software or Technical Knowledge Required. Although it may sound hard, running a Text Marketing campaign is really easy. As long as you’re comfortable with a computer.

 

• Reduced Expenses – Text marketing doesn’t require any ink, stamps, printing, paper, or anything like that. It’s all digital and can be accomplished within just a few minutes. It’s one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing around today.

 

Text Message Marketing Tips

• Tell List Subscribers What to Expect as Soon as They Join – Let them know that they will receive special offers and discounts from your business from time to time. This way, there will be no surprises and they will understand what to expect.

• Implement “Forward to a Friend” Text Campaigns – Offer your customers freebies or discounts for forwarding your text messages to their family and friends. This makes your message go “viral” with no additional efforts on your part. This is a powerful, hands-free form of marketing.

• Always Include Your Business’s Name in Your Messages – When people receive text messages, they will only see a short code phone number.  So it’s extremely important to include your business’s name in the message so they know who sent it. That way, they won’t “opt-out” or forget about you the next time they receive a text message. Branding is still important even though it’s mobile.

• Respect Your Customers; Make it Easy for Them to Opt-Out of Your Mobile List – To avoid complaints, be sure to tell your subscribers exactly how they can opt-out of your list (as bad as you “don’t” want that, it’s going to happen so make it easy for them).
  • Most businesses simply set things up in a way that allows their subscribers to text STOP to their short code.
    • Example:  “Reply STOP to Opt-Out”

• Notify Consumers of Potential Text Message Costs – Most mobile carriers require that you notify consumers of the cost of text messaging. For instance, if you are running a standard rate campaign, all call-to-action and opt-in messages should let consumers know that “message and data rates may apply.”
  • Example:  “Msg&data rates may apply.”

• Remember to include an expiration date on your offers to increase urgency.

Text Message Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

• Sending Out Sporadic Messages – Don’t start out sending one message every two weeks and then cut back to one message every two months. Train your list to expect to hear from you on a frequent basis. Otherwise, you risk more “opt-outs.” Your customers will be more receptive if you tell them how many messages they may expect to receive in a week.
  

• Sending Out Spam – Opt-in mobile list building is the safest way to go. Sending messages to people who did not opt-in to be on your list is considered spam. DO NOT purchase purchase mobile phone lists and things of that nature because you never know the source. Take a little time and build your own, authentic list. It will be way more effective anyway because most of them will be existing customers.

• Only Sending Out “Promotions” – Limit the number of promotional offers that you send out to your list. Once per week is good for most businesses. At all other times, be sure to send out some useful content that your list would appreciate. You want to make sure they’re looking forward to your next text message!

 

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me. Should you need to start a campaign I will be more than happy to consult with you. At GorillaMobile we have the ability to simply consult or we can do the whole campaign for you. The choice is yours. The bottom line is Text Message Marketing can help your business bring in sales. Will you take advantage of it?

 

[ez_optin_form]

 

Text Message Marketing Pt 2

By fblaydes | Uncategorized

Text Message Marketing

The King Of Mobile Marketing

 

In Part 1 of the Text Message Marketing article we learned about what  text message marketing is all about, why we should be using it, what some of the benefits are and some ways to start building your mobile list.    You can find that article here.    In Part 2 we are going to learn some specific ideas about using text message marketing.    Buckle up, here we go….oh yeah, click on the picture to your left, there is a lot of good info there.

 

Text Message Marketing Ideas:

 

 

• Offer Mobile Coupons and Discounts – Most of your customers will love to receive mobile notifications about special offers from your business. In the coming weeks I will be writing an article about how to use coupons and mobile.   This is a very effective strategy to keep customers coming in the door.

 

• Send Text Message to Increase Traffic on Slow Days – Most businesses have a day that’s normally slower than others.   On these days implement a campaign to drive more traffic through the doors on those days.    It only takes a few minutes to write and send a text message and the effect is nothing short of amazing.    Many businesses are seeing an increase in sales just by using this method alone.

 

• Send Reservation Reminders or “Table Ready” Notifications – If you offer reservations, send text messages to confirm reservations.    This will decrease wasted table space and make you more money.    You can send text messages to let your waiting customers know when their tables are ready.    They will get their table notification no matter where they are.    You will get rid of the costly flashing, buzzing and vibrating reminder discs.

 

• Send Appointment Reminders – Reduce “no-shows.” Your staff should send reminders by using the power of text messaging a few hours in advance of the appointment. That way, if someone has to cancel, you have time to fill that appointment with another customer. Each missed appointment means lost revenue.
  

 

• Send Service Reminders – Easily increase sales by simply reminding your customers that it’s time for service.    Sometimes, all it takes it a little reminder and most people will take action.

 

• Send Important Alerts – Schools, for example, can text parents about important reminders, meetings, conferences, truancy issues, and other emergencies.    Schools, sports teams and professional associations can communicate with their entire memberships in a matter of minutes.

 

• Send Important Updates – Retail businesses should send text messages to let their customers know the status of their orders as well as shipping details.

 

• Implement a “Frequent Dining” Program – Restaurants that reward their loyal customers by offering them some type of discount based on how often they come in build a loyal clientele. For instance, you could offer a digital dining punch card that rewards them with a free meal after so many visits/punches.

 

• Send Event Reminders to Increase Attendance – Having a special event at your business?    Your customers would probably want to know about it so send them a quick reminder and watch the attendance go up.

 

• Alert Customers About New Menu Items – Adding a new dish to the menu?    Your customers will want to try it out, so shoot them a text message and let them know about it.

 

• Implement Use Of QR Codes – QR codes are barcodes that can send your mobile audience digitally wherever you want them to go – instantly.    For example, you have a QR code directed to the menu on your website so your mobile customers can simply scan the code and the menu will pull up on their mobile devices (your site should be mobile-friendly for effectiveness).    You also use QR codes to send people to online videos, your Google Maps page, and a hundred other uses.    Put your QR codes on all of your marketing materials and anywhere else your target market will see them.

 

• Hold Contests – Contests allow you to engage with your customers in a way that they enjoy and they have a chance to win something cool.    If you have something kind of cool promotional item that your customers would like to have, they will participate to get it for free or at a discount.    This is really powerful for keeping your list involved and looking forward to your messages.

 

• Notify Customers of Sales and Other Events – Text messaging is a quick way to remind your customers about special sales and events to help bring in more traffic.    With so many businesses out there today, this is just another great avenue to stay in front of your customers and remind them that you exist.

 

• Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Polls – Send a quick text message to your customers to find out what they think about your business. They love to give you that information – both the happy ones and the not-so-happy ones.    This feedback helps you improve your Business’s overall performance.

 

• Display Real Estate Property Information – Put a short code on your properties’ for sale signs. This instantly gives prospects more information.    This also helps you make more efficient use of your time by reducing calls from prospects asking for basic property details. In addition, this is convenient for your buyers.   They have the convenience of getting this information instantly instead of having to track you down or listening to a recording.

 

• Send “Thank You” Messages – If you really want to improve customer loyalty, send occasional messages to your customer list simply to tell them “Thank You” for being a valued customer. Simply showing them that you care is powerful.   It keeps them coming back to your business to enjoy your products or services that they love.

 

•  Communicate Efficiently with Staff – Text marketing is not only good for communicating with your customers; it the perfect tool for communicating with your staff members as well.    Again, everybody is glued to their cell phones these days including your staff members.    So it’s a fast, convenient, and reliable way to get in touch with them when you need to.

So until next time, I hope you got a lot of valuable information from this article.    In my next article we will cover the different types of Text Message marketing Campaigns.    I hope you learned something that will help you move your business forward.    Please comment and share this article if you found it valuable.

 

Until next time,

Adios!

 

 

Text Message Marketing 101- Pt 1

By fblaydes | Uncategorized

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Hey what up Y’all?   Are you ready to learn the basics of Text Message Marketing?    Great! Let’s get at it then…

What is Text Message Marketing?
              

SMS (Short Message Service).    Text Message Marketing is the ability to send “permission-based” text messages to a group of people who have opted-in to your mobile list.    Dang it hurts to talk like that.    Texts messages may be short but they sure do pack a punch. 160 characters is quite possibly the most powerful marketing tool available for ANY business today.

 

Did you know that literally trillions of text messages have been sent over the past few years?    Consumers have adapted to this method of communication really quick and are extremely well versed in using it.    Not only have they adapted to it, but they are somewhat “addicted” to it.

 

Some studies have even showed that most folks prefer text messages to talking on the phone.    Saves time in most cases.    I use a bunch of statistics in this article.    All the statistics used in this article are referenced from http://MobiThinking.com unless I list another source.

 

The convenience and effectiveness of Text Marketing has made a very profitable impact on those businesses that have put it to work properly.    It simply makes staying in touch with your target market easier. As business owners we know that that ultimately translates into more sales.

 

Text Message Marketing is very straightforward and to the point; it’s a simple way to send out your company’s latest marketing message to your list of mobile phone numbers.

Why Text Message Marketing?

• Over 2.1 BILLION Mobile Subscribers (29.5% of the World Population)
• Text messaging is the most-used mobile service – it is the King of Mobile Marketing
• Almost all mobile users send and receive text messages daily
• More than 4 billion texts are sent daily in the U.S alone
• More than one-half of U.S. mobile spending is LOCAL
• Consumers ALWAYS have their mobile devices with them

Benefits of Text Message Marketing

• Extremely targeted – Your text messaging campaigns are specifically targeted to your customers and prospects. There is simply no other form of marketing that can give you this type of instant access to buyers.
• Permission-based opt-in marketing – Text messaging is not spam because your list opted-in to receive your messages. As long as you make it easy for them opt-out, there is no problem. Your messages are welcome.
• Reliable, Instant Reach – Reach your entire target market at the push of a button. Most text messages are delivered, so your campaigns will reach almost all of your intended parties.
• High Open Rates – Most will read the message within minutes of receiving it. More than 98% of text messages are read within the first 4 minutes.
• Higher Redemption Rates – Text message offers are redeemed 10 times more often than traditional marketing offers. This alone leads to higher profits and revenue.
• Reduce Advertising Costs – Text messaging services are low cost; this, coupled with the high response rate is the perfect recipe to boost your ROI.
• Personalized Communication – Communicating with customers one-on-one makes them feel special, which leads to a long-term relationship.
• Builds Customer Loyalty – Loyal customers stick around for a long time. When people do business with those they like and trust, they become life-long customers.
• Can Go Viral – Your customers will forward your messages to their family and friends… and they will forward them to their family and friends… building your list even further and you didn’t have to do anything extra to get that exposure.

Ways to Build Your Mobile Marketing List

• Text-to-Join  This method uses mobile keywords and short codes, what you do is have people text your keyword to your short code and they are added to your list. This is called an “opt-in,” which means they are giving you permission to send them text messages. I personally use a double opt-in so there are never any questions. Learn about double opt-ins here: http://tinyurl.com/dx6wwe9

• Works best when giving away something of value – Contests to win prizes, surveys, newsletter sign-ups, opinion polls, promotions, discounts

• Target Existing and Potential Customers – You want as many people as possible to join your list, so start with those who are already doing business with you.    However, don’t forget to utilize the power of Mobile marketing to grab new customers as well.    Text messaging campaigns are great for customer retention.

• Setup an Immediate Response When Someone Joins – It is good practice to have a message setup to go out immediately to welcome new people to your list.    It’s also a good idea to give them a gift right away to give them that “instant gratification feeling” as well to reduce opt-outs.    Some text campaigns also use autoreponders to initiate mobile email campaigns.

For example: Customer texts “good food” to 55555, they receive an automated text message back saying something like: “Thank you for joining the Hamburger Spot mobile list! Show this text to receive 30% off of your next combo meal”

• Advertise your mobile short codes on all of your marketing materials including:

• Inside Your Business Establishment
• On Your Company Vehicles
• Flyers
• Business Cards
• Radio
• TV Commercials
• Billboards
• T-shirts
• Posters
• Banners
• Anywhere else your target market will see!

• Website Sign-up – Add a mobile sign-up form to your website and make it visible to your website visitors.    Ask them to join your mobile list in exchange for an incentive.    You can also create stand-alone mobile squeeze pages just for this purpose.    If you choose to use squeeze pages make certain that they are optimized for mobile use.    I learned the hard way.

• Email Your List – Email your existing email list and tell them about your new mobile club.    Again, ask them to join – most of them would love to because they will get your promotions right away instead of waiting until they check their email at home again.

• Social Media Sign-Up – Send a call to action to your social media followers asking them to join your mobile list.    Most social platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter have list-building applications and widgets that you can use to build a list or you can send them right to your website’s mobile sign-up page.

• Birthday Club Rewards Program Sign-up – Put a form on your website to have people sign-up to your mobile Birthday Club Rewards Program.    For instance, while customers are visiting your business, you can have them join while they’re there.     After joining, they receive special offers before other customers, as well as receive something for FREE on their birthday.    Everybody loves being remembered on their birthday.

• Manual Sign-up – Your staff can offer your customers the option of joining your mobile list and give them an incentive for doing so.    You then enter their phone numbers into your website sign-up form manually, with their permission of course.    Be sure to have your customers double opt-in.

There is so much to cover in the topic of SMS Text Marketing so I need to cut this post into 2 or 3 parts. Don’t worry, I’m already working on part 2. There are so many stats I hope this post wasn’t to boring because it does feel like you’re reading a “text” book. No pun intended…well maybe a little.    🙂    I really hope y’all got some value out of this.

Contact me if you have any questions or would like further information about how Text Message Marketing can help your business bring in sales. See you in Part 2.