Posts Tagged ‘mobile marketing’

Mobile Marketing Tips for Restaurants

June 22nd, 2010 No Comments

If you own or manage a restaurant, you should strongly consider adding Mobile Marketing to you business plan. Not only can you generate more traffic to your venue, but you can build a strong, loyal customer base. Here are some mobile marketing tips for restaurants:

Build a solid opt-in list- The first step in your mobile marketing campaign should be building a strong opt-in list, made of customers who agree to receive promotional messages from you on their phones. Building your opt-in list doesn’t have to be hard. You can use print efforts to gain interest in your mobile marketing program. For example, you can use table tents or on table displays with contests or special deals to drive texts. Your customers can then be asked to join your list in order to be informed of the outcome of the contest, or to receive the special discount at hand and promotional messages in the future. You can also use radio advertising to drive texts and build your opt-in list. The next time you advertise a contest or promotion, just drive listeners to text instead of calling or filling out a card. Whatever you choose to do, remember that it is imperative that you are working with a list of opted-in customers for all mobile marketing efforts.

Pre/Post Service Perks- Offer special perks for your mobile customers. Allow them to make reservations from their mobile phone and send reminders as their visit date nears. Is it a busy Friday night? Send your mobile regulars texts as your waiting list fills up- let them know wait times. Better yet- allow them to place their name on your waiting list via mobile phone, so that when they arrive, they move to the front of the line. If your establishment offers entertainment, send early alerts to your customers and allow them to purchase tickets at a discount. Post visit, you can send customer surveys so they can rate their visit. Send a survey specifically on service, or food quality. Let customers know that your value their opinion, and want to exceed their expectations with every visit.

Mobile Promotions- Once you get a strong opt-in list, you can offer even more services to your customers in order to increase sales and loyalty. Have a mobile customer’s only signature drink at the bar. Send texts with links to your special drink, and name the drink something unique, that only your mobile customers will know. Hold a mobile customer reception or exclusive mobile customer’s special night. Own a bar or grill? Why not have a game of trivia for your mobile customer’s via their mobile devices? The possibilities for cool restaurant promotions using mobile marketing are endless.

Call us to discuss more great mobile marketing tips for your restaurant. 800-985-9277 or E-mail Bill@mowbi.com or Jordan@mowbi.com

Posted in Mobile Commerce Tags: , , ,

Top 3 Mobile Marketing Ideas for Local Businesses

June 14th, 2010 No Comments

It was recently revealed that over 1/3 of mobile searches on Google are for items relevant to the users current environment.  Search engines Google and Yahoo are both working to make their advertising reach as local as possible. If your company is locally based (pizza shop, salon, record store, etc) it is crucial for you to have a strong mobile presence. Here are some mobile marketing tips for local businesses.

Make sure your website and social media sites are mobile-friendly- You MUST have an optimized mobile website in order to appear in organic searches. This is especially true for locally based businesses because mobile search engines display pages that are the most relevant to mobile users. So if you want your barber shop to appear in the top ten mobile Google search results, you need to make sure your mobile site is optimized, with fresh, relevant content for mobile users. Another tip- be sure that your social media outlets are mobile friendly. Twitter and Facebook have mobile versions of their websites- make sure the website that hosts your company blog does as well. If you use WordPress, be sure to install the MobilePress plugin.

Utilize SMS/Text Message Marketing- Build customer loyalty and a solid opt-in list by sending interesting, relevant texts to your customers. Studies show that text messaging has a 70% response rate (compared to the 30% average response that e-mail marketing draws). A great way to build your opt-in list and ensure customers are willing to receive texts is to use other media in conjunction with your initial texting campaigns.  You could display fliers or posters in your store that use text as the call to action for a special sale, promotion, or contest. In exchange for the special deal or chance to win a great prize, your customers allow you to send promotional texts. This can start your opt-in list, and informative, useful texts from you can build your opt-in list. Whatever the case, if you have a locally based business, you definitely should be using SMS- just be sure you’re sending to a customer base that has opted-in.

Mobile Commerce- If it makes sense for your locally based business to allow consumers to purchase goods/services via mobile device, then create a full scale mobile commerce website. Pizza parlors, hotels, salons; any business where consumers can order or pay ahead could benefit from allowing users to place orders, make reservations, set/pay for salon appointments all via mobile phone. Think about how mobile commerce could fit into your business plan and have experienced developers help you make your mobile site ready for commerce.

If you own a business with a local customer base, and you’re ready to start your mobile marketing initiatives, call us at 985-9277 or e-mail Bill@mowbi.com or Jordan@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: , , ,

Great Mobile Marketing Ideas for Traditional Media

June 7th, 2010 No Comments

One of the many excellent aspects of Mobile Marketing is that you can use it to augment your existing marketing mix. Radio, TV, Print, Signage- Mobile Marketing can be used to drive results to campaigns across all channels. The great thing about using mobile marketing to augment your advertising or marketing campaign is that results are measurable immediately. Here are 6 Mobile Marketing Ideas that incorporate traditional media channels. To discuss your unique ideas for marketing your company on a mobile scale give us a call at 800-985-9277 OR e-mail Bill@mowbi.com or Jordan@mowbi.com

Radio- There are exciting ways to integrate mobile marketing using SMS messaging. Radio is especially attractive for mobile marketing because most listeners are off site when they are exposed to your radio message- meaning, they are likely to respond to your call to action via mobile device.  Driving listeners to text or to your mobile site, eliminates the extra step of calling or browsing the net for your website from home.   Make your radio promotions interactive, with text based contests. Drive texts to your mobile commerce website with radio ads . A great way to do this is to offer exclusive coupons, or a text only area for a special sale event. You can present this offer through a radio spot or through a DJ endorsement. Either way, radio and mobile marketing not only compliment each other as far as driving response, but you can also get a read on results immediately.

Television- TV’s relationship with mobile marketingand mobile commerce is growing increasingly interesting. With technological advances and consumer demand, the prospect of mobile television becoming a popular vehicle of TV consumption is not entirely far-fetched. The demand for mobile TV is growing, and when it gains it’s true potential, there will be many implications for advertisers. It will absolutely mean significant changes for those in the Direct Response industry.  This  interesting topic gets a bit off subject for this post, but watch for it in future posts from us. For now, we’ll stick to the basics. For TV, SMS messaging is also a great mobile marketing tool. Programs such as American Idol and entertainment giant MTV are already texting in their programing. Not only can you use texting as part of your call to action in a TV spot; you can also insert your message into programs directly. For instance, American Idol now has voters texting in to place their votes. MTV drives their audience to opinion polls via text. If you’re running a major promotion, a great idea to consider is driving texts. You could also consider hosting a mobile website for audiences to place votes, or opinions about their favorite TV shows.

Print- Perhaps the oldest form of advertising aside from word of mouth, print ads are moving into the 21st century quite gracefully and you should be sure that your print ads are too. You can drive your target audience to text or to your mobile website. A great way to build your opt-in list is to drive your target audience to an exclusive mobile website that gives them access to special events, sales, and promotions. With mobile marketing, you can turn your print ad into an interactive tool to make sales and build a strong opt-in list.

Signage- You can incorporate mobile marketing on billboards or in store displays. Retail big wig, Bloomingdale’s was able to use a text call to action on the window of their Lexington Ave location to drive votes for their new window display. They received hundreds of votes each day, proving that consumers are willing and are ready for this kind of interaction with retailers. You can take this idea even further by driving texts for a contest or special promotion. If hundreds of consumers are willing to text in to vote- imagine how many people would be willing to text for a chance at a prize. Another great example of signage incorporating mobile marketing is Mobile Loaves & Fishes, a non-profit agency that offers services to the homeless and working poor in Austin, Texas. MLF had a billboard sign, with a local homeless man literally standing on the billboard, with the words, “I am Danny. I am Homeless. I am here.” right next to a giant call to action asking viewers to text a designated phone number to donate to Danny. Through this campaign, MLF was able to raise enough money for Danny and his wife to buy a house. Again, this shows that consumers are willing and ready to participate in traditional to mobile media. Billboards can be a great tool for driving texts traffic to your mobile website.

Give us a call to talk about how to incorporate mobile marketing into your traditional marketing mix. Call  800-985-9277 OR e-mail Bill@mowbi.com or Jordan@mowbi.com

Posted in Mobile Commerce Tags: , , ,

Mobile Marketing – Engagement

May 23rd, 2010 No Comments

The slide show Mobile Marketing Trends 2010 states that we’re moving away from the era of impressions into a time of engagement. This is a meaningful statement, with many implications for business owners.

Lets first look at the traditional practice of gaining impressions: Radio, Print, TV, and Traditional Internet are all vehicles that are able to deliver a given number of consumer impressions (determined by station, market size, audience demo, etc.). This has been a mainstay in any marketing or advertising campaign.

With the proliferation of mobile marketing, things are changing. Before we go into detail, here are a few interesting stats to consider:

*Cell Phones have now surpassed web access, cable television, and at-home PCs

*More than 95% of cell phones sold today are internet ready- and 70 Million consumers use them regularly

*Over 20% of households in the US are wireless only- No home phones/home PCs

*Smart phones are now becoming “second wallets”- 38% of mobile users consider mobile to be more important than wallet

It is crucial that companies understand how to reach out to consumers via mobile device and how to turn these “impressions” into meaningful engagement.

There are mobile marketing practices that can help you communicate with your customers in a manner that builds lasting relationships.

SMS/Text Message Marketing- You can drive mobile traffic by prompting your audience to text for coupons, sweepstakes, special sales events, etc. SMS is great to use as part of your marketing mix because it is relatively easy to integrate into your existing plan. For instance, you could have texting as part of your call to action in a print ad. You could prompt listeners to text via radio ad. You can use text as part of your television campaign. No matter what, with SMS as part of your mobile marketing mix, you are getting consumers to not only view your message, but take an active part in it.

Mobile Social Media- In 2009, Facebook reported that 65 million worldwide visits came via mobile device. Social media has gone mobile. You should interact with your consumers on sites like Facebook and Twitter as part of your mobile marketing plan. An important aspect of using social media for mobile marketing is that the information in your updates needs to be timely and relevant for mobile users. For example, on a Saturday at noon, a local record store might tweet their Buy 1/Get 1 offer that is only happening from 1-3pm the same day. That information is extremely timely, and is of particular interest to mobile users who are likely to be out and about. Mowbi is an excellent tool for conducting all of your mobile social media marketing because it puts all of your social networking sites in one place- so updating your content is fast and easy. Call 800-985-9277 or e-mail bill@mowbi.com or jordan@mowbi.com for more info and a FREE DEMO of Mowbi.

Direct Response & Mobile Marketing- The opportunities are boundless for DR via mobile phone because marketers have a chance to create strong, permission based customer lists. One DR mobile marketing initiative your should definitely give consideration to are customer loyalty programs.  Mobile Customer Loyalty programs can be much like the card based rewards programs used now by most major retailers, accept offers, coupons, news, and discounts are giving via e-mail and text instead of paper coupons, plastic cards or direct mail. Mobile Coupons are 5-8 times more likely to be redeemed.

No matter which methods you apply, engaging your customers is going to be a major part of the marketing of the future- particularly mobile marketing. This is exciting news for any business owner or marketer because instead of gaining views/impressions, with mobile marketing, you have a chance to engage your customers and build quality consumer relationships that last.

Posted in Mobile Commerce, Mowbi 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: , , , ,

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: , , ,
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