Mobile marketing no longer is on the horizon; it has arrived. More and more businesses are venturing into the mobile-marketing world, making as much use as possible of the opportunities opened up by smart phones and related apps, such as browsing the Internet, checking e-mail, sending text messages and using Facebook and Twitter.
“The question now is not: ‘Should I use mobile devices to promote my business?’ ” said Tamara Gruber, founder of Red Giant Consulting based in Cumberland and an expert in mobile marketing who has worked in the field 14 years. “The question is: ‘How should I use them?’ ”
“[Mobile marketing] is growing every day,” she said. “It is something that you really cannot ignore. People are doing more on their phones. People are out and about with their mobiles, looking for stores and restaurants.”
The industry trade group CTIA-The Wireless Association released a survey in October that showed 93 percent of Americans use a wireless device, such as a cell phone. And one in every three cell phones in the United States is a smart phone, such as a BlackBerry or iPhone, the Nielsen Company said in a recent monthly report. Other surveys, Gruber said, show that younger people today spend more time with mobile content than they do on the Internet or reading magazines.
Gruber will present tips on mobile marketing for small businesses at a forum Jan. 20 in Newport, organized by Newport Interactive Marketers , a new networking association. The Newport Interactive group, formed in May, consists of former journalists who specialize in “developing online communities, bolstering social media and integrating traditional and online techniques,” said founder Suzanne McDonald.
McDonald said Newport Interactive’s mailing list numbers about 200 names and approximately 70 people attended the last event the association held in October, focused on social media on a budget. In the future, sessions are planned on such topics as “how to make money on your website” and “social media for job hunters,” McDonald said. There is no charge to attend Newport Interactive events and all of its staff members are volunteers.
A basic piece of advice for a small business that wants to do mobile marketing, Gruber said, is the need to have a mobile-optimized website.
Regular websites, she noted, generally are not designed to be viewed on smaller smart phone screens. “They can be very difficult to navigate [on the small screen] and there’s a lot of information on them that you really don’t need,” Gruber said, such as fancy graphics and musical introductions. “When you’re mobile, you have different needs,” she said. “You want input that is going to help you make a decision.”
Be wary of starting a texting campaign, Gruber advised, because cell phone owners can be charged for each message unless their plans allow unlimited texting.
“Ask your customers for their mobile phone numbers and ask if they want to receive text messages,” she said. Compared to other kinds of direct marketing campaigns, text messaging can be “hugely successful,” Gruber said, because it is so immediate and almost intimate. “Text messaging can be very personal,” she said. “You can feel a very personal connection between you [as the message receiver] and the brand.”
A new, free application that is becoming popular, Gruber said, is Foursquare, a location-based social network where the cell phone user “can check in on your mobile and let your friends know where you are.” So, for instance, John Doe can let his friends know he’s at a certain restaurant or tavern and they, in turn, can meet him there.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Gruber said. “It’s set up like a game. If you check in a certain number of times at one place, you can become ‘the mayor’ of that place.” Business owners can offer specials to customers who check in on Foursquare. “It presents an opportunity for businesses to encourage customers to check in [to Foursquare] while they’re there,” Gruber explained. Stickers and signage are available for store windows so customers can know which businesses encourage use of Foursquare.
“There are a lot of different ways you can go,” Gruber said of mobile marketing in general. She noted that major brand names are doing a lot of mobile marketing and, for local businesses, her tips are a good starting point. “Start testing the water,” she suggested, “and see what kind of response you get.”
Gruber works primarily with high-tech companies in the Boston and New York areas, providing services for a full range of mobile applications. She has been named one of “the top 50 women in mobile content” in 2010 by Mobile Entertainment magazine and she was named to the list of “Women to Watch in 2010” by Mobile Marketer magazine. •
