Posts Tagged ‘mcommerce’

MCommerce Black Friday-Speed is #1

November 30th, 2010 No Comments

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us and the instant results reporting available with mobile, there is one major early conclusion about MCommerce that should be noted.

Speed is King- The MCommerce sites with the fastest speed often enjoyed a faster and stronger response rate. Consumers expect the same quick, ease of use from mcommerce websites as they do with PC based sites. Mobile consumers are on-the-go, and have less time and/or patience to wait for a mobile commerce site to load. MCommerce sites that create a fast, seamless process performed the best on Black Friday.

QVC, Office Max, and Dell are a few organizations who are stand outs in MCommerce performance over this year’s Black Friday season. Take a look at their mobile sites, and note their speed.

If your mcommerce site is taking too long to load, you are probably trying to fit in too much rich content. While consumers expect, and really need to have a rich web experience on your MCommerce site, overloading your mobile site can bog it down. The best advice is to keep it simple, only putting rich content that is helpful and that your consumer wants and needs. This important step is often easier said than done. It will require a keen understanding of who your customers are, and then separating the items that are essential to the success of your mcommerce site, from the content that’s better left on your PC website. Being able to harness this very delicate balance between speed and content/functionality will make or break MCommerce sites as we move further into the mobile revolution.

Mowbi offers excellent MCommerce tools along with guidance from industry experts for all of your Mobile Commerce endeavors. Visit www.Mowbi.com to view all of our exciting mobile commerce options. Or call 1-800-985-9277. E-mail questions/comments to Bill@Mowbi.com.

Posted in Mobile Commerce Tags: , , ,

Key Insights from recent Mobile Marketing Forum

November 29th, 2010 No Comments

The Mobile Marketing Association recently held a mobile marketing forum that covered some key topics that are relevant to mobile commerce. Here are a few of the takeaways that they have identified as being “key”, and that you should definitely consider when planning your mobile marketing campaign.

EVERYONE has gone Mobile-  Sesame Worldwide has entered into the mobile game.  With cutting edge mobile websites, podcast, and mobile applications, Sesame Worldwide is confident that they are doing their best to reach 21st century kids.  The takeaway here? If even Sesame Street is placing importance on mobile, YOU should be finding ways to integrate mobile into your mix as well.

Mobile thrives on action- According to a presentation by Jamie Wells of Microsoft, seventy percent of mobile searches lead to action within one hour versus one month for 70 percent of PC search users to take action. This means that one of the greatest differences to consider between mobile and the PC is that mobile is about immediate action. Remeber this when planning your mobile campaign.

Get to Know ChaCha- According to Mobilemarketer.com, ChaCha is an SMS, application and site that has real people answering questions for users. It is taking the search function to a new, socially driven level. Its site is the fastest-growing in the comScore top 100 sites, and consumers are loving this new way to search. In fact, some users feel so strongly about ChaCha, that they are wishing it good night as they shut off their phones in the evenings. This is a growing search service that you should definitely be considering when you’re planning your mobile search campaign.

Major Purchases ARE being made via Mobile Devices-As consumer comfort level with mobile commerce grows, so does the average ticket price of items that can “work” on mobile. No longer just a place where ring tones and iTunes campaigns thrive, mobile commerce now is working for big ticket items. At the Mobile Marketing Forum, Eve Richey from Dell said that three out of five of the company’s top-selling products from a mobile device are laptops. If you think that mobile won’t work for your product or service; now may be the time to think again.

Be Bold, Don’t Fear Mistakes- At the Mobile Marketing Association’s Mobile Marketing Forum, Jeffrey Hayzlett, author and “celebrity CMO”  encouraged making mistakes if it meant taking bigger risks and learning.  According to Mobilemarketer.com,  he basically said, “be bold because at the end of the day no one is going to die. This is marketing, not the ER”. Mobile Commerce and Mobile Marketing are new terrain. As with any new medium you try, there will be hits and there will be misses. From the information presented at the Mobile Marketing Forum, it’s clear that the biggest mistake one could make is to fail to add mobile to your mix at all.

To read the full recap of the Mobile Marketing Forum, visit http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/opinion/columns/8188.html.

For mobile commerce and mobile marketing tools that you can use right NOW, visit www.Mowbi.com. OR call 1-800-985-9277. E-mail questions/comments to Bill@Mowbi.com.

Posted in Mobile Commerce Tags: , , ,

Mobile Commerce Presents Opportunity for Hotel Industry

June 10th, 2010 No Comments

Mobile commerce and mobile marketing offer spectacular opportunities across the spectrum of businesses. From Fortune 500 Companies to your local antique shop, Mobile Commerce and Mobile Marketing, can bring any business into the 21st century, quickly.

The hotel and travel industry can use mobile commerce to drive reservations, to promote events, and to increase general awareness of their venue or destination. This industry is enjoying the perks of Mobile Commerce, just by the nature of their business. Consumers who travel on business are now looking for lodging on the way, via their Smartphones. In fact, one hotel chain (Omni Hotels) has seen their mobile traffic grow 85% in the past 6 months. And 1 in 4 visitors books a room- this is a 25% conversion rate in an industry that typically expects 7% on an e-commerce site.

Here are a few quick Mobile Commerce tips for anyone in the Travel/Hotel Industry:

Create a Mobile Website- This seems like the most obvious step, however, some businesses may not understand that simply making your existing website available via the mobile web is not enough to drive mobile traffic. Mobile Search Engines look for and display the most relevant mobile content when a mobile user engages in a search- so making sure that your hotel’s mobile commerce site is fully optimized is crucial for getting organic traffic. Aside from mobile bots, there is also the issue of load time to consider (note that google bots also now consider site speed in ranking). Mobile consumers are consumers on-the-move and impatient. Your traditional e-commerce website is likely to take too long to load onto a smartphone, which will result in users abandoning your page before they formally get there. With location based services (search engines that provide suggestions to consumers based on their current location) growing in popularity, if you own a hotel, you can not afford to pass on having an optimized mobile presence.

Keep Info Short & Relevant- While your mobile commerce site should be an enriching experience for your audience, keep in mind that if someone is searching for your hotel via their mobile phone, they are likely not browsing around looking at what’s offered in the continental breakfast at each hotel. They most likely need to book a room for the night, and need to know your location, rates and vacancies immediately. Be sure to place this information on your landing page. Make the content on your mobile commerce site relevant for mobile commerce users. Links to your room rates, vacancies, booking tools, and credit card payment all should be prominently featured on your mobile landing page. There can also be links or icons that demonstrate amenities such as a hotel gym, or restaurant service. The unique questions and concerns that you know your customers have, should all be clearly and easily accessible on your mobile commerce website.

Make it Fully Functional- Don’t just have rates, directions, and contact info on your mobile commerce site. Take full advantage of mobile technology and allow consumers the ability to reserve their room or conference center via their smartphone. It is crucial that you have the ability to accept credit cards via mobile phone. A good mobile shopping cart can help you do this in a simple, secure manner. Customers should be able to reserve their room or conference center, and even complete their check in/check out paperwork via their mobile phone. If you have a hotel lounge or restaurant, let consumers make reservations. You could set up a strategic alliance with local restaurants in your area, and allow guests to make reservations their via your mobile site. The opportunities are endless.

SMS Marketing- Hotels can and should be using text messaging as part of their marketing plan. It is important to make sure guests are opted-in. The way to do this is by offering services to them that are truly valuable. Reservation Reminders/Confirmation texts are services that guests are likely to find useful. Pre-Arrival texts that have final check in reminders, info about special events or shows going on at/near your hotel are likely to be welcomed and appreciated. Text Alerts on inclement weather, traffic or air delays, anything that might impact your guest getting to your hotel, are all texts that many consumers would welcome. Post Stay texts, that have a short survey on overall guest experience are useful for consumers and also for your own knowledge. When you use SMS messaging to send truly useful information to your guests, you can build a quality list to send promotional texts to like special room rates, or special services (spa, massage, etc) being offered. Mobile Commerce and Mobile Marketing are all about building relationships with your customers. Use the unique position of the hotel industry to create loyal guests.

If you are in the hotel industry, and you’d like to start your m-commerce initiatives, give us a call to talk about Mowbi; the powerful new platform that is an all in one mobile commerce business tool . 800-985-9277. Or E-Mail Bill@mowbi.com or Jordan@mowbi.com

Posted in Mobile Commerce Tags: , , ,

5 Key Mobile SEO Tips

May 20th, 2010 No Comments

An important aspect of your Mobile Commerce site is that it must be optimized for the mobile web.

Here are a few key tips for Mobile Website SEO

1. When creating your title tags and meta descriptions, make sure to add the word “mobile” to your copy. This will ensure that Google bots read your mobile website as pages created specifically for the mobile web.

2. Submit your Mobile Commerce Website to every directory, just as you would do for a traditional e-commerce website. Be sure to include your local directories as well- especially if your business is based locally.

3. Create a Mobile Sitemap. Google developed specific bots to crawl mobile websites. To make sure your mobile commerce site doesn’t get mistaken for your PC website, it is extremely important to create a mobile sitemap. Google will display mobile pages that it decides are the most relevant to any particular mobile search. This makes it crucial for most businesses to have a mobile sitemap (along with a fully optimized mobile site) with their Mobile commerce site. Failure to do this can result in your mobile site not appearing in organic searches- making it impossible for your customers to find you.

4. Submit your site to all major mobile search engines. This is a must if you want your mobile website to be crawled at all. Here is a list of mobile search engines you should definitely consider:

Google XHTML http://www.google.com/xhtml

Google Mobile http://www.google.com/mobile/

Yahoo Mobile http://mobile.yahoo.com/search

MSN/Bing http://home.mobile.live.com/Home.mvc

AOL Mobile http://mobile.aolsearch.com

ABPHONE http://www.abphone.com

5. Speed is important. Google has announced that site speed will now be taken into consideration for Google ranking. For now, it is safe to assume that mobile users are on a slow connection, so be sure to follow the appropriate guidelines for creating your mobile site, to ensure you are up to speed (no pun intended). Another way to be sure you are getting a fast mobile commerce site is to leave it to professionals who are well versed in mobile internet. Give us a call for a FREE DEMO and let us help you create an effective, optimized mobile site. Call 800-985-9277 or e-mail bill@mowbi.com or Jordan@mowbi.com

Posted in Mobile Commerce Tags: , , , ,

Mobile Commerce- Mobile Website Design Tips

May 18th, 2010 No Comments

As we’ve covered in past posts, Mobile Commerce is poised to explode in popularity. Whether your company is large or small, anyone who owns and/or operates a business needs to get a mobile website ready right away. Here are a few tips on setting up a successful Mobile Commerce website:

Do NOT include content deeper than three links- The mobile audience is on the go and does not have the time (or attention span) to browse in the same manner that desktop users do. Keep content fresh, relevant, to the point, and interesting.

Unless your primary target is in developing countries (where basic model cell phones still have popularity), use XHTML for your mark-up language.

Develop a mobile sitemap that makes it clear to Google that this is your Mobile Commerce website- not your E-Commerce site.

Don’t Forget the Phone- There are many mobile phone options available to consumers. When thinking about design for your mobile commerce site, don’t forget to consider the different screen sizes, resolutions, and overall phone shapes that your mobile site will appear on. There are high end, and low end phones- wide screens, small screens, and phones that are middle of the road. Designing for specific mobile devices can seem daunting, however, the simple marketing principle of knowing your target will help you out greatly. Who your audience is should tell you what kinds of mobile devices they are likely to carry, which will then dictate the specs for your mobile commerce site. Be sure to share this information with your mobile website developers.

Do NOT use Pop-Ups- they are likely to confuse your audience and cause their service to slow down.

Limit Scrolling- Keep the page scrolling to one-direction-only. Again, the mobile audience is time pressed, and impatient. Don’t make them scroll up-down-side-side.

Check out Amazon’s take on a mobile commerce website. Their mobile site has many features that you can and should consider when thinking about design for your own mobile commerce site.

Give us a call to discuss your company’s future in Mobile Commerce. We can help you design and develop a fully optimized, functioning mobile commerce site. Call us today and ask about how to get your FREE DEMO. Call 800-985-9277 or e-mail bill@mowbi.com or jordan@mowbi.com

Posted in Mobile Application Development, Mobile Commerce Tags: , , ,

Top 5 Text Marketing Tips

May 8th, 2010 No Comments

One of the many excellent options available via Mobile Marketing is Text Marketing, or SMS (short message service). According to the New York Times, 97% of all SMS messages sent to consumers were opened in 2009. 83% of these messages were opened within an hour of being received. Right now is a great time to begin a Text Marketing campaign because the mobile channel is virtually clutter-free and hasn’t be over-run with spammers. Here are the Top 5 tips for running a successful Text Marketing campaign:

1. Choose the right service provider- While Text Marketing is still getting it’s legs, there are industry standards that must be followed. For instance, automated dialers (that hack into national SMS structure and blast messages to thousands of consumers) are to be avoided. Hiring a service that employs this kind of tactic for your business can result in stiff penalties, and could cause you to be blacklisted in the mobile sphere. Text Marketing can be a powerful marketing tool. Put your best foot forward by hiring a reputable company to get your campaign off the ground. Give App Publishing a call at 800-985-9277 or e-mail  jordan@mowbi.com to discuss how we can help you launch a successful mobile marketing campaign.

2. Use Traditional Marketing- You can supplement your Text Marketing campaign using traditional channels such as print, or outdoor signage. Macy’s and drugstore giant CVS both have used print and display ads to drive mobile traffic. When using traditional media to drive texts, be sure to make the call to action extremely clear, with the text displayed prominently. The text number itself should be short, memorable, and one of your mobile keywords.

3. Build Relationships- Don’t use Text Marketing as a one-shot blast and disappear. You’ll miss out on the true opportunities that text marketing presents and you won’t grow your opt in list. Instead, use Text Marketing to build relationships with your customers. Send them valuable coupons, and notices. Armani , a large national retailer was able to effectively intergrate text marketing into their brand identity. Their SMS text information is displayed right next to their name and logo. They send valuable coupons to their opt in list, and they recently had an exclusive sale for their text message customers only. They are using text marketing to build a culture around their brand. This is the kind of relationship building you should be thinking of, when planning your Text Marketing campaign.

4. Always Remain Professional- With  new technology like text marketing and mobile commerce, it can be tempting to tailor messages to a youthful audience. Even if your company’s demo skews younger, do not make the mistake of using slang or teenage texting ”shorthand” (words like, gr8 , 4u, lol, etc). Business’s such as Adidas have found that consumers are wary of text messages that use this kind of language. Your text marketing campaign can be playful and fun (if that messaging works with your audience), but it should always present your company in a professional, legitimate light.

5. Make it Enticing- If you’re using traditional media to drive mobile traffic, or if you’re sending SMS messages out asking for clicks or click-to-calls, it is extremely important to give your audience a compelling reason to take action. The first thing your customer will think when they receive your WXYZ marketing text is WIIFM- What’s In it For Me? The best incentive for most consumers is a free offer. This is often the dance of a successful text marketing campaign- you give the consumer something for free and in exchange, they agree to receive text marketing messages from you (ie, they opt-in). Do not under estimate the power of a free offer. Yes,  joining the opt in list to your favorite local pizza place for sales updates is nice and maybe you’ll get around to doing it next time they text. But if that same pizza place is going to give you  free breadsticks if you opt in NOW and this offer expires at 3pm today- you’re likely to get around to that opt in list a lot more quickly. Just like with any traditional call to action, text marketing messages must have a strong offer. And what do consumers like better than free?

Call us at 800-985-9277 to give your Text Marketing initiatives a strong start. We’d love to discuss your mobile marketing ideas live. Ask how to get your Free Demo- We’ll show you exactly how mobile marketing can increase your company’s bottom line- The demo is absolutely free, so there’s nothing to lose. Call 1-800-985-9277 or e-mail bill@mowbi.com or jordan@mowbi.com.

Posted in Mobile Commerce Tags: , , , , ,

MCommerce-Mobile Marketing Lesson from Macy’s

May 5th, 2010 No Comments

As MCommerce becomes more mainstream, major businesses are taking notice-and taking part in the marketing opportunities. There was an interesting case study involving retail giant Macy’s that offers valuable lessons in Mobile Marketing. Here is are the highlights of the study and points you may want to take note of-

Background

Macy’s added mobile marketing to their marketing mix with hopes of increasing web traffic, retail traffic, mobile subscriptions (all in effort to increase sales) and to promote the overall Macy’s brand.

Promotion

Promotion using traditional media to drive consumers to text in order to win a shopping spree with a popular cable network celebrity.

Outcome

The creative was ineffective in driving texts, because the text instructions were in very small print in the call to action, and the vanity text (MACYS) was not a powerful keyword.

Rebound

Macy’s was able to make a strong comeback with their future mobile attempts, including clear ctas in traditional media, opt in lists, keywords and vanity texts incorporated into traditional media calls to action, and providing incentive for contacting Macy’s via mobile device (such as coupons, sweepstakes, etc).

Take-Aways

MCommerce & Mobile Marketing can be extremely effective as a part of your traditional marketing mix. It is important to keep the rules of Mcommerce in mind when using traditional media to drive traffic to your mobile campaign. Some ways that Macy was able to effectively blend traditional and mobile media (which you can think about and incorporate into your business plan) are:

Strong call to action- Be sure the requested action (texting via mobile device) is clear, and easy to understand when being expressed in traditional media. For example, a print ad or bill board should NOT have Text instructions in fine print at the bottom of the copy. This information is possibly the most crucial aspect of your message- you may want to put the CTA in a colorful star burst where consumer’s eyes are likely to be drawn in an ad.

Text Info Matters- Not only is calling attention to the text info important, but making it as easy as possible for the consumer to recall that number is equally imperative.  A great way to do this is by using a memorable vanity text. You can get even more bang for your buck if that vanity text also happens to be one of your keywords.

Make it Worth It- When you’re using traditional media to drive mobile traffic, you need to give the consumer  extra incentive- a reward for going out of their way to remember your text number, and then actually type it into their phone. Special discounts, coupons, and special sales events are effective in driving consumer interest. Contests and sweepstakes also offer excellent incentive for a mobile visit.

If you’re thinking about intergrating mobile incentives into your marketing mix, give us a call to discuss your options. 800-985-9277 or e-mail bill@mowbi.com or jordan@mowbi.com

Posted in Mobile Commerce Tags: , , ,

Advertising Tips for Mobile Commerce

May 4th, 2010 No Comments

Our past posts have discussed mobile commerce and mobile marketing as a whole, from pricing, placement, and promotion standpoints. Here are a few great tips for strictly for advertising on a mobile scale.

Have a strong call to action- It is important to have a strong CTA no matter what media channel, but it is absolutely crucial to have a strong, clear, easy to follow call to action as a part of any mobile advertising campaign. Direct listeners to call, click, or stop by “today”. Put a limited time aspect in the mix, such as, “offer ends Friday” or “limited to the first 50 visitors”. Make the action needed to complete the sale as easy and as clear as possible- and also make sure you express why it is important to act right now.

Micro Target- One of the great aspects of mobile marketing is the ability to heavily target your audience to deliver a powerful message that is streamlined to a particular demographic. When creating mobile advertisements, be sure to take advantage of the ability to reach very specific demographics. You can create an ad targeting middle aged women in New York City who are two blocks from Macy’s at noon. You can create a mobile message for college aged men in Texas who are in downtown Dallas at 8pm on any given Friday night. You have the ability to speak to very specific target audiences- make sure your copy and design does this effectively.

Keep Copy Concise-Smart phone screens are much smaller than a stationary PC, Print Ad or Billboard, so it goes without saying- you’re working with limited space. Also, consumers who are receiving messages via mobile device, are likely to be on-the-go, meaning they do not have time to read through a lengthy SMS or mobile e-mail blast. It is important to keep your advertising copy short, pithy, and to the point (in most cases, the “point” will be the offer and the CTA).

Be Creative- Just because you’re working on a smaller screen, doesn’t mean that consumers will expect anything less in the creativity department. Mobile commerce websites have the capability to be full color, interactive, rich, and interactive. Take advantage of everything a mobile commerce site or advertisement can be with help from a pro if needed. While the potential to make an impression is still great, as more companies come on board, mobile clutter will be just as hard to break through as it is with any other medium. Have a great idea for a mobile app or mobile commerce site?   Call us at 800-985-9277 to discuss your ideas or e-mail bill@mowbi.com or jordan@mowbi.com

Posted in Mobile Commerce Tags: , , ,

Measuring Success from your Mobile Marketing Campaign

May 2nd, 2010 No Comments

A well known benefit of Mobile Commerce is that it allows for marketers to reach audiences on a micro-targeted level. Yet, companies should not forget that another great aspect of mobile marketing and mobile advertising is the ability to track detailed results per campaign. The ability to track response not only gives you an idea of a message or offers effectiveness; it also can give you insight on your audience, offers, price points, and the overall messaging strategy. Being able to send advertising messages that are heavily targeted with measurable results is immensely important to any marketing campaign.

Here are a few ways to measure response from your mobile marketing efforts:

Direct Response (DR) Metrics- These are metrics that you are likely already familiar with like CPC, Click-through Rate and Impressions Rendered. You can also track response by conversion rate, opt-in rate, and Click-to Call rate. No matter which DR metric you use to measure success of your mobile campaign, it’s good to know that most mobile advertisements have been proven to generate a much higher click through rate than traditional internet ads or email advertising.

Branding Metrics- These are metrics that measure results such as brand recall, overall awareness of your advertising message, and future intent to purchase. An important mobile advertising method for a branding campaign is texting- the opportunity for reach is huge. Almost every mobile phone can receive text messages, so you can open your market to everyone in the United States with a mobile phone. With text you’ll be able to cultivate and build a valuable list that can yield profitable and measurable results.

Give us a call at 1-800-985-9277 to discuss how we can help bring success to your mobile commerce efforts. Our innovative applications will put everything from text message marketing to mobile social media, to a full blown mobile commerce site literally at your fingertips (at rates so reasonable, you need to hear them yourself to believe) Call 1-800-985-9277 today to take advantage of the unique mcommerce opportunities.

Posted in Mobile Commerce Tags: , , , , , ,
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