Mobile phones are the easiest way to reach anyone in the twenty-first century. They are arguably the most impactful inventions of the modern world: people of all ages have them, from an 80-year-old retiree to a 5-year-old toddler!
Marketing companies are not oblivious to what this potentially means for the future of marketing. Gone are the days when it was enough to get the word out in your local community: you must digitally reach out to people on their phones to penetrate the market. More and more businesses turn to mobile marketing because of its ability to advertise to hundreds of people within no time.
However, as marketing becomes more accessible, the competition grows fiercer. Here are some tips for your business to improve its marketing game and stay ahead of the competition:
The website architecture for mobile sites differs significantly from that of desktop websites. You must optimize your graphics and text for the small screen and ensure a more responsive architecture by cutting on flash and using lighter photos. Mobile-friendly websites improve your website’s SEO and are more likely to be ranked higher by Google’s algorithm, making it easier for phone users to reach your website.
What if your business could just text customers about new deals and discounts? That is the idea behind SMS marketing, in which companies send promotional content to their clients using SMS. SMS marketing is similar to traditional email marketing, just more aligned with modern methods of communication. Sending an SMS is fast, and through their phone’s notifications, they are immediately alerted of your text.
However, sending your customers hundreds or thousands of texts isn’t easy. Consider hiring an advertising agency to automate your SMS marketing process. Use SMS marketing sparingly so the user does not feel spammed. Use this tactic only to notify customers about flash sales and new product arrivals.
The more clients engage with your business, the better it is for marketability.
Try to foster a close connection with your customers so they share a personalized bond with your brand. Mobile marketing provides a perfect avenue for this purpose, as people use their phones to stay connected.
Every business needs an optimal social media presence in this age. Ensure your Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok accounts are up to date. You can hire a tech-savvy social media intern to help set up and manage your social media.
Use your social media not just for advertising new products – you can do that through email or texts, too – but to engage your customers. For example, you can think of a TikTok challenge that people can recreate or create an Instagram or Snapchat filter relating to your business. As people use your filter or do your challenge, they also spread the word about your business to other people.
Keep your social media pages active; customers can reach you through DMs. Ensure you maintain a reasonable response rate and answer their questions.
QR codes are a great way to reach people using mobile marketing! They provide quick access to information and have diverse uses. You can use QR codes to direct people to your website’s landing page, eliminating the hassle of exploring the website. You can also send QR codes that would put the customer in contact with your business through a call when scanned. A QR code can lead your customers to your company’s apps or social media accounts to find additional information. Many businesses put out discounts that can be availed once you scan a QR code on their counter.
Remember that your QR code should be mobile-friendly and easily scannable. You should check your QR code on several devices and apps before you send it out. Use QR codes only after a clear call-to-action (CTA) so your customers aren’t confused about its utility.
People often look up businesses, like restaurants or coffee shops, near them through their phones. You must consider how your page can appear when someone searches a ‘near me’ query. For that, you must invest significantly in local SEO. The first step in local SEO optimization is to have an up-to-date ‘Google My Business’ page.
Think about the keywords your locals could use to search for businesses. For example, for a coffee shop in Jacksonville, locals can search for ‘cafes in Jacksonville, FL.’ Develop your content strategy around such local keywords. Don’t limit your keywords to just the city name; you can also use your neighborhood or street number to optimize SEO!
Get your business listed in local directories at Yelp or Bing. They can also bring you more traffic from individuals near you.
A speedy website is the key to happy customers. Every web developer focuses on their website’s loading speed, but most optimize it according to the desktop. A website optimized for the desktop may lag on mobile phones as it may not have a mobile responsive design.
You must check if your website works on mobile phones fast enough. Tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insight tell you how quickly your website loads on different devices. If your website is too slow, consider scaling down your design to be mobile responsive.
A mobile website is limited in functionality as it cannot be too large, which leads to many features being axed. A workaround to this problem is to develop a mobile app. This way, you use your website to generate leads but direct your customers to the app for lead retention.
Mobile apps allow you to give more information to the customers as they can have a larger size than a website and are more accessible and navigable. While an average mobile website should be around 900 KB, an average app can be approximately 40 MB for iOS and 15 MB for Android phones.
Digital marketing has become vital for any business to penetrate the target audience effectively. Mobile phones are used by almost everyone today, so your marketing department should focus heavily on mobile marketing.
To stand out from your competition, utilize SMS marketing and QR codes. Use social media engagement to create buzz around your brand, and incorporate local SEO in your marketing. Focus on your web design with a fast and mobile-friendly website, and supplement it with an app. These practices can help you generate and retain more leads than your competitors.
