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Posts Tagged ‘mobile marketing’

Find Your Pot of Gold with Mobile Marketing

March 17th, 2011 No Comments

In the spirit of today’s holiday (St. Patrick’s Day), here are two key mobile marketing insights to help anyone find their pot of gold with Mobile.

Plan your Campaign-Since mobile marketing is relatively new to the scene, it may be tempting for business owners to jump into a mobile campaign without properly planning, which can harm results and learnings. For example, before launching a text messaging campaign, the metrics by which success will be measured should be established. The items being promoted should be in-stock, all links should be live and tested. If you’re driving customers to mobile, your mobile site must be optimized for the mobile web. If you’re running a location based campaign, be sure to have the software in place to track “check ins”. Make sure you’re listed correctly in mobile directories, and that once in your establishment, it’s clear what users are supposed to do from there.

Another planning point that can easily be ignored at the peril of any company is the follow up plan of action. Once the active part of a mobile marketing campaign is complete, it’s important to follow up with your customers. Mobile audiences expect a high level of interaction. If the only time they hear from you is when you’re selling something, then you could be in danger of facing a dwindling opt-in list. It should always be a part of your plan to follow up after every campaign. You can send a survey, poll, text, drive users to a mobile site with questions. You can even use mobile social networking to follow up with your audience to get their important feedback and interaction. No matter what stage of the process you’re in, remember not to make the mistake of jumping into the execution stage of a mobile marketing campaign without proper planning.

Test & Learn- The great thing about mobile marketing, is that results are extremely trackable and accurate. You decide what you want to learn about your audience, product, service, or offer, and with mobile marketing, you get clear, measurable results virtually instantly. No matter what form of mobile you choose, make sure to have an understanding of not only what your goals are, but of what questions you hope to answer. Also keep in mind, that the insight gained from mobile campaigns can cross over to other channels in your marketing mix.

For more ways to find your pot of gold with mobile marketing, visit www.mowbi.com or call 800-985-9277. E-mail WBouton@mowbi.com or Bill@mowbi.com.

Posted in Mobile Commerce

Tags: location based marketing, location marketing, mobile campaign, mobile marketing, mobile social networking, SMS, SMS Messaging, Text Club, Text clubs, Text Messaging

More Mobile Marketing Tips for Local Businesses

March 10th, 2011 No Comments

There have been many technological advancements since the last post with mobile marketing tips for local businesses. In 2011, there are several options to consider while planning a mobile campaign. Now, there is so much more than text clubs, optimized mobile presence, and a mobile commerce site available for local businesses to use as a strong marketing tool. Here are a few new mobile marketing tips and ideas for local businesses.

Engage in Mobile Social Commerce – According to the website “Social Commerce Today” , there are 3 basic types of social commerce. Social Intelligence, which is when purchase choices are influenced by friends/other users; Social Capital, which helps consumers enhance their social status by connecting with a given brand; and Social Buying, which is when consumers form/join clubs together and gain access to deals and incentives for buying. The lightening fast speed, and high consumer interaction make social commerce and mobile commerce a match made in heaven. Mobile Social Commerce allows you to have an open conversation with your customers while they’re engaging in their every day lives. It gives local businesses the chance to almost effortlessly become a part of your customer’s daily thoughts and the ability to interact with users at levels that have never before been experienced.

Mobile Directories- Becoming a part of, or creating a mobile directory has many advantages for local businesses. One instant benefit is that a directory listing puts you “on the map” in the mobile realm – meaning, customers will be able to find you more easily. Another benefit of a mobile directory is that it supports a companies mobile Internet optimization efforts. This also greatly supports your visibility on the mobile web. Mowbi Mobile Directories take the mobile directory concept even further, by allowing businesses to monetize their directory. Not only can a local business become a part of a directory, but they can also start their own directory and let other companies join them. This presents all of the benefits listed above and also the chance to increase your revenue significantly.

Location Based Marketing – This is another take on mobile social networking. Location based marketing is based on mobile social networks that are based on the location of users. Networks such as Foursquare or Gowalla, allow users to “check in” when they arrive at their destination. This gives friends and other users the details on where a person has been and is heading to. Many retail businesses, restaurants, and night clubs give users incentive to check in regularly, by making them “mayor” or giving them special discounts. Location based marketing presents unlimited opportunity for local businesses, as you’re able to market to consumers as they are in close proximity to your establishment. Another interesting aspect that will likely become popular, is location based ads. An example of this would be a customer who checks in at a record store receiving an invitation to book tickets for a 15% discount at a nearby theater. This mobile marketing technology will allow companies to reach out to consumers literally at the point where the consumer would be most receptive to the advertiser’s message.

For more information about Mobile Marketing or Mowbi Mobile Directories, visit www.mowbi.com. Or call 1-800-985-9277. E-mail Wbouton@mowbi.com or Bill@mowbi.com.

Posted in Mobile Commerce

Tags: location based marketing, Mobile Directories, mobile marketing, mobile social commerce, mowbi mobile directory

Mobile…Dating?

February 14th, 2011 No Comments

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow and many people will be spending time with someone special or are in the market to find someone special to share the national day of romance with. As with shopping, directions, and social networking, many cell phone users are turning to mobile technology to find their next date. In fact a Juniper Reasearch Report Summary listed on Techcrunch, indicated that the mobile dating market is slated to expand to a $1.4 billion dollar market by 2013. Mobile Dating websites and Mobile Dating applications have exploded in popularity as comfort with mobile technology continues to rise. Mobile Dating sites can present great marketing opportunities for restaurants, movie cinemas, traditional theaters, and florists, as singles look to connect with new people and places.

An easy way for a company to tap into the marketing power of mobile dating, is to form strategic relationships with mobile dating websites. Get your cafe listed in a mobile dating app’s directory. Have your live flower delivery service offered as a way for users to send gifts or “flirt” with each other in real life. Work with a mobile dating site to allow their users to make reservations at your fine dining restaurant as they secure a date.

Another way to take advantage of the mobile dating concept would be to start your very own directory of mobile dating sites. Mobile Dating sites would pay a membership fee to be listed, and you would simply have to create a strong mobile presence for your directory.

If you haven’t seen or heard of mobile dating sites yet, take a look at the following sites to get an idea of what they’re all about. While browsing, think of how your business could fit into the mobile dating scene. Don’t forget to visit www.mowbi.com for more innovative mobile marketing tools and ideas.

Meet Moi- This is a location based mobile dating service that sends users alerts when other singles are in their area.

Dating.Mobi - This also is location based mobile dating, but offers mobile chat rooms and mobile social networking.

Dates Near Me - This site is another take on location based dating, that specifically taps into Facebook to help find and facilitate connections.

Posted in Mobile Commerce

Tags: Mobile Dating, Mobile Directories, mobile marketing, New Mobile Ideas, Valentine's Day

About the New Mowbi President – Wendy Bouton

January 27th, 2011 No Comments

Wendy Bouton is the new President of Mowbi, LLC, the Maine based software development company that created a groundbreaking suite of mobile commerce and mobile marketing tools unlike anything available on the market today.

Creators of the revolutionary Mowbi Mobile Site Maker, Mowbi Mobile Invoicer, Mowbi Mobile Directories, and Mowbi Connect, Mowbi helps local and national companies enter into and become successful in the M-Commerce and Mobile Marketing realms.

Wendy comes to Mowbi with fifteen years experience in the areas of small business operations, employee management and outside business-to-business sales. She was an integral part of Winter People Image Marketing located in Freeport, Maine beginning during the start-up phase up to 25 employees. While growing an impressive book of business, Wendy led a productive sales team and managed call center operations. Wendy is a strong believer in a “team” effort approach to delivering the highest level of client satisfaction.

Since 1993, Wendy and her husband Clay have owned and managed investment properties in Maine. Her hobbies include alpine skiing, hiking, running and renovating residential homes & investment properties. Wendy resides in Yarmouth with her husband and two children.

The Mowbi team is looking forward to the exciting things to come with Wendy on board.

Posted in Mowbi

Tags: Bill Broadbent, Mobile Commerce, mobile marketing, Mowbi, mowbi connect, mowbi directory, Wendy Bouton

Top 5 Mobile Marketing Ideas for Nightclubs

December 29th, 2010 No Comments

New Year’s Eve is almost here and if you own a bar, lounge, or nightclub; chances are, you’ve been planning ahead for this coming Friday (New Year’s Eve), as retailers planned for Black Friday, a few weeks ago. New Year’s Eve can be a huge holiday revenue-wise for nightclubs nation wide, as consumers step out to say farewell to the year past and usher in a year of new beginnings. And mobile technology presents exciting mobile marketing opportunities for nightclub owners who want to drive traffic to their establishments on this upbeat holiday. Here is a list of the Top 5 Mobile Marketing Ideas for Nightclubs. Whether you try one, or try them all, mobile marketing tools can greatly increase traffic to your venue this New Year’s Eve.

Text Message Marketing- This is the chance to make the opt-in list you’ve worked all year long to build, pay off big time. There are numerous ways nightclubs can use text messaging as a marketing tool this New Year’s Eve. One great idea is to text an exclusive drink special to your opt-in list. For example, you could text about a free pre-ball drop champagne toast going on at your venue in the next 20 minutes. Not only will this be an exciting moment for everyone in your nightclub, but it can also tempt customers on your opt-in list who are not in your club, to get there ASAP., in order to take part in the festivities. Another SMS Message that could give you immediate traffic, is a text that announces a waived cover charge for the next ten people to show up, and mention they saw the text. There are so many different ways for nightclubs to use text message marketing. A combination of knowing your audience, and creative brainstorming can set you up for an extremely successful texting campaign.

Location Marketing-This exciting form of mobile marketing allows businesses to communicate with consumers based on the consumer’s location. This is a huge opportunity for locally based companies, such as bars and nightclubs. As a local business, you should definitely be sure that you’re a part of the Mobile Directories that are key for your area, as well as major mobile search engines. This way, when people search for nightclubs in your specific city- your club appears in the search. Another way for nightclubs to use Location Based Marketing is by giving special drinks, VIP Passes, etc to people who “check-in” at your establishment. You can partner with an app like FourSquare to run this promotion, or be a little more creative. Is there a special act performing on New Year’s Eve? An ice sculpture on the bar? Have consumers take a picture of something unique about your establishment to check-in.

Mobile Social Networking- When you interact with customers via social networks, like Facebook or Twitter, don’t forget that the large social networks are all mobile- therefore, your messages should be tailored to a mobile audience. Did a local or national celebrity just walk into your nightclub? Tweet about it or post it on Facebook, with pictures. Mobile Social Networking provides real time conversation between you and your customers. Keep them up to date on the latest and greatest going on at your nightclub, and they’ll be more likely to remember you this New Year’s. Another way to use Mobile Social Networking is to give free VIP Passes to the first 5 people to “like” a post, or the first 10 people to re-tweet your promotional message.

Rich Media- Mobile technology has come a long way, and this includes the capability to incorporate rich media into your mobile webpage. You can post a Youtube video of your headlining band warming up, or post a podcast of an interview with the local or national celebrities who are attending your New Year’s Eve event. You can have ringtones or Mp3s featuring music from your house or guest DJ available to download. As more and more consumers turn to the mobile web, consumer expectations have risen. People expect a rich, entertaining experience with the mobile web- this holds especially true if your business is entertainment.

Key Part of Marketing Mix-You can incorporate any of the mobile marketing ideas for nightclubs listed above or more, by simply adding them to your traditional marketing efforts. For example, your fliers could have a call to action that drives texts or mobile url visits. Your radio commercial can announce your check-in promotion. Your newspaper ad can drive users to your Facebook page.

No matter which mobile marketing option you choose, it’s a smart move for nightclub owners to add mobile to your mix this New Year’s Eve, and into 2011. For cutting edge mobile tools that will help you reach your customers, year-round visit www.mowbi.com. Or call 800-985-9277. E-mail Bill@mowbi.com.

Posted in Mobile Commerce

Tags: ideas, Location Based Targetting, location marketing, Mobile Advertising, mobile marketing, mobile social networking, nightclubs, SMS, Texting

Must-Try Mobile Marketing Ideas for 2011

December 14th, 2010 No Comments

2010 is coming to a close, and along with personally resolutions, many marketers and business owners are setting professional goals for 2011. One resolution that all business owners and marketers should make for the upcoming year, is integrating mobile into their marketing mix. There are numerous ways to incorporate mobile technology into your mix. Here are a few Mobile Marketing ideas to consider for 2011.

Mobile Social Commerce- With consumers being plugged in more and more each day, Mobile Social Commerce has started to gain real momentum in 2010. Consumers are now able to look to their peers for help in buying decisions, literally as they’re at the point of purchase. Review sites, Group Couponing Sites, and even traditional Social Networking sites like Twitter & Facebook are all becoming a popular part of the consumer buying process. In the upcoming year, this phenomenon is slated to grow even more popular. A great way to join the mobile marketing game, is by participating in Mobile Social Commerce. You could submit a deal or limited time promotion to a Group Coupon site, like Groupon.com, announce a sale on Twitter that’s only good for the first 20 customers who call/text/visit your store; the possibilities are endless.

Location Based Marketing- With the explosion in popularity of check in apps like FourSquare and Gowalla in 2010, it’s only natural that a mobile marketing idea to try in 2011 is location based marketing. Check in apps give users points, and special deals for “checking-in” at various locations. Location based marketing offers unlimited opportunity to get a spike in sales, and is an excellent marketing tool for retail stores, restaurants, hotels, etc. One location based marketing idea to try: The first X amount of people to check-in to your establishment on Foursquare, will receive X amount off their purchase that day.

Mobile Directories- Depending on your business model, you can either participate in mobile directories by having your mobile site included, or you can create a mobile directory, and sell memberships to your customers. Mowbi Mobile Directories is a great mobile directory tool that you can use to start your own mobile directory. No matter which option you choose, in order to be competitive in mobile search marketing, it is important to make sure you’re listed in mobile directories.

These ideas only scratch the surface of the exciting mobile marketing opportunities that lay ahead. For more information about mobile tools available for any marketing plan- anytime, visit www.mowbi.com. Or call 1-800-985-9277. E-mail questions/ideas to Bill@mowbi.com .

Posted in Mobile Commerce

Tags: Location Based Targetting, Mobile Directory, mobile marketing, mobile marketing ideas, mobile social commerce, mobile social networking, mowbi mobile directory

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: mcommerce, Mobile Commerce, mobile marketing, mobile marketing association

More Holiday MCommerce Tips

October 4th, 2010 No Comments

As we enter October and start to close in on the Holiday Season, it’s important for businesses to be in full on planning mode. A couple of weeks ago, we shared some holiday marketing tips for mobile commerce, and in the giving spirit of the impending season, we’d like to share a few more useful pointers. While you enter holiday 2010 planning in full swing, consider these ideas:

Mobile Coupons: This strategy begins with having a firm understanding of your customers along with knowledge of what your hot ticket items are during the holidays. You can use this information to drive in-store and/or web traffic by sending mobile coupons to your opt-in list. This will get inventory moving, and also generate interest and traffic to your store or website. You can also use mobile couponing as a method of building your opt-in list. In exchange for agreeing to receive promotional messaging from your store, customers will receive valuable mobile coupons from you. The holiday season is a key time for using mobile coupons to build your opt-in list, because many consumers are looking for deals around the holidays, therefore, they may be more receptive to offers to join your list in exchange for coupons.

Make Sure it’s Measurable: One of the stregnths of mobile marketing is that it generates extremely trackable results. Make sure to have a solid tracking plan in place, starting with a solid understanding of the metrics you plan on using to measure campaign success. How will you definte success for your various holiday messages? Clicks? Conversion? Click to Call? Before you start planning any creative, be sure to have a concrete strategy for measuring results. Also, be sure to have a plan for optimizing your message/target opt-in list on the fly as you see results come in. This will require you to monitor results on a daily basis, and really analyze results at the end of each week.

Start Early: 2010 is slated to be a brutally competitive holiday season for retailers. In a recent report published by eMarketer, 42.7% of the consumers who participated in the study indicated that they are only planning on purchasing items that are on sale this holiday season. While past holiday seasons gave businesses a booststarting on Black Friday and Cyber-Monday, experts now caution retailers/etailers to start marketing as soon as Halloween, as consumers aren’t likely to wait around for deals this season. This means, if you haven’t started planning- get going right NOW and plan on sending your first batch of SMS Messages, Mobile Couponing, etc out by October 31st. Another upside to starting your mobile holiday campaign early is that you’ll learn about what works as far as messaging and targetting early enough to make changes if needed, and you can optimize your message and offers in time to still make a profit if need be.

For cutting edge Mobile Marketing solutions that are guaranteed to boost your holiday campaign, visit www.mowbi.com. Or call 1-800-985-9277. E-mail questions and ideas to Bill@mowbi.com or Jordan@mowbi.com

Posted in Mobile Commerce

Tags: Holiday 2010, Holiday Marketing, Mobile Commerce, Mobile Couponing, Mobile Coupons, mobile marketing, Mowb, SMS

Mobile Marketing Tips for Retail Stores

September 27th, 2010 No Comments

In today’s economy, there is more competition for consumer interest and dollars than ever before. Retail stores are engaged in particularly tough competition as consumer purses are often closed when it comes to items that are not immediate necessities. With the holiday season almost upon us, it is important for anyone who owns or operates a retail store to develop creative ways to reach out to their customers. Many major players in the retail arena are turning to mobile marketing as a way to help boost awareness and sales. Here are a few creative ideas for integrating mobile marketing and mobile advertising into the marketing mix for your retail store.

SMS/Text Message Marketing-One of the easiest ways for you to incorporate mobile marketing into your mix right now is sms or text message marketing. Some neat ideas for retail using SMS/Texting:

Low inventory alerts- Send a message out to customers when a hot ticket item is almost out of stock in your store. You’ll not only drive sales and clear your stock, but you’ll also drive clicks and foot traffic to your store.

Loyalty Programs- Build your opt-in list and drive sales with text based loyalty programs. Your customers opt-in (sign up) to receive outgoing messages from your store. In exchange, you send them special deals and discounts that are exclusive to SMS Members.

Contests- You can use mobile technology to create and execute fun contests for your customers. You could hold a contest for your most popular item, a gift package, or anything that will drive customer attention. Contests are easy to organize and keep track of when prompt the audience to text in order to enter. Another way to use mobile is to drive customers to your mobile website to enter. And if you want to give consumers the ultimate convenience, create a contest in print that allows them to simply snap a bar code to enter.

Use Location Based Apps- Why reach out to customers who aren’t ready to purchase immediately, when you can now reach customers who are in your neighborhood, on your street, or in your store? Use location based marketing to market to customers who are the most crucial- the ones who are at or close to the purchase point. Things you can do to participate in location-based marketing:

Be there-Make sure your store is active in the major location-based networks. Here are a couple of big ones: Foursquare, Brightkite, Yelp, Gowalla, and Loopt. Don’t forget social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Get Creative with Events/Promotions- Give customers an incentive for visiting and “checking in” at your store. Run a coffee shop? How about offering a free cup of joe with every 10th check in? Own an electronics shop? Conduct a check-in raffle for a free ipod. The opportunities are only as limited as your imagination!

General Tips- With any mobile campaign you run, you’ll need to make sure that all marketing messages from you are sent to an opted-in list. It can be tempting to blast out texts to as many consumers as possible, but remember, in this end this will only damage your list, and you could end up being blacklisted completely. Another extremely important tip is, make sure whatever you do, it is measurable. One of the greatest aspects of mobile marketing is it’s ability to deliver measurable results. You can know exactly what messaging, markets, even time of day works best for you. Use every mobile marketing campaign as a learning opportunity. Lastly, before you start your campaign, take time to really think about what you want from your mobile marketing efforts. What are your goals and expected outcomes for your campaign? What is your break even? How will you measure success? What metrics will you look at? CPC? CPM? Click-to-Call rate? A large portion of time should be devoted to answering these kinds of important questions.

If you’re in the retail business, and you’re looking for mobile solutions that you can count on to deliver results, visit www.mowbi.com or call 1-800-985-9277. Questions or ideas? E-mail Bill@mowbi.com or Jordan@mowbi.com

Posted in Mobile Commerce

Tags: Location Based Targetting, Mobile Commerce, mobile marketing, retail tips, SMS Messaging, Text clubs, text marketing

Mobile Application Development

Posts Tagged ‘mobile marketing’

Mobile…Dating?

About the New Mowbi President – Wendy Bouton

Key Insights from recent Mobile Marketing Forum

More Holiday MCommerce Tips

Mobile Marketing Tips for Retail Stores

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