Utilizing the Mobile Marketing Boom for Small Business
Author: findul | Posted: 16.07.2012Nearly 70 percent of small business owners consider mobile marketing crucial to their growth in the next five years, according to a recent Web.com Group survey.
“With more and more consumers specifically searching for local businesses on their mobile devices, it is imperative that small businesses invest in a mobile presence,” David Brown, chairman and chief executive officer of Web.com said. “Having a mobile presence can be a huge competitive advantage for small businesses trying to attract local customers by instantly introducing a potential customer to their business’ products and services in a mobile-enhanced way.”
It’s the 21st century — the world practically operates on a smartphone. So it’s important you’re not left behind when it comes to having a mobile presence.
But what exactly does that mean? Well it could mean having a smartphone application that customers can download to stay up-to-date and interact with your business. Or maybe your small business wants to incorporate some kind of text-messaging promotion that customers can sign up for. You could shoot out a text message to those who have signed up to let them know of a certain deal or promotion.
On a much simpler end, mobile marketing means simply having a mobile-friendly website. This is a website that when viewed on a smartphone, perfectly conforms to the screen and is easy to read. Technology is getting better each day and most websites can easily be converted into a mobile site with a few clicks.
If someone is searching for your small business — or at least searching for a business in the same industry as yours — it’s important your website is search engine optimization (SEO) friendly and can be found on the top of a search results list. This is something that many small businesses haven’t perfected. In fact, 61 percent of small businesses currently do not have a mobile search strategy, according to that same survey, which means they are missing out on consumers finding them via smartphone.
You may not be overly concerned about mobile marketing if your business strictly operates at a completely local level. Google is a worldwide search engine and anyone around the globe could potentially find your business while searching the web, but you may not really care about that kind of reach. It’s important to note that mobile marketing is more than just a strategy to help put your business out there.
It provides your existing customers with a better overall service. If they’re already utilizing your small business, they’re going to welcome a mobile convenience factor. It’s good customer service. If those customers are happy, then you’re going to attract more local customers and your business will continue to grow. And if you have local competition and they’re not taking advantage of a mobile marketing strategy, you’ll certainly have the upper leg.
This year, 64 percent of small business owners plan to spend more time on mobile marketing. Of those people, about half even say they are going to spend more money on those efforts. Obviously this makes you — the small business owner — wear another hat if you’re the one-man marketing team, but it’s a hat you need to wear.
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Time and resources are the biggest hurdle to an effective mobile marketing campaign, but if you overcome that, your small business could be on the verge of acceleration.
Time and resources are the biggest hurdle to an effective mobile marketing campaign, but if you overcome that, your small business could be on the verge of acceleration.
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