It all became clearer to me recently in three bright flashes:
• Flash No. 1: I’m sitting at O’Brien’s Irish Pub, a neighborhood watering hole, having a beer with a friend. As I scan the other patrons of varying ages, every one of them is doing something on a mobile phone and two have both a smartphone and iPad.
• Flash No. 2: The newest high-powered research report arrives, showing a huge leap in the number of small businesses using mobile marketing, or planning to do so.
• Flash No. 3: I upgraded to the newest generation smartphone myself and immediately discovered an even faster and more capable mobile experience.
Main Street tends to be cautious about changing the way it markets, but local business owners are now embracing mobile marketing at a remarkable rate, including SMS (text messaging), mobile banners, email, paid search, mobile video, proximity campaigns, sponsorships, coupons, loyalty programs and deals.
That’s one finding of “Main Street Goes Mobile,” a new study by Borrell Associates, a media research firm. As business owners see more customers staring at small screens, they are taking notice.
New research shows that half of local businesses plan to use mobile marketing this year, devoting 20 percent of their ad budgets, on average. Meanwhile, customers are spending more time on tablets and smartphones, and less on PCs and laptops.
Here are some benefits, tips and advice on joining mobile marketing with social media:
• Mobile expands your options. There’s only so much time you can spend in front of your computer, so adding mobile capabilities can free you to monitor, manage and update your social media marketing wherever you are. This makes it easier for you to make timely responses to customer questions or comments.
• Increase your QR Code mileage. QR codes are an excellent, low-cost way to extend your digital reach and are well-suited to mobile. Customers can scan the code with their mobile device (using a free code-scanning app), and be taken to a Web page or content. It’s far easier than searching online. QR codes offer one of the best ways for mobile-device users to interact with your business.
• Tap existing social tools. You don’t have to create mobile-social marketing from scratch. By using existing, mobile-based social networks such as Foursquare as a base, and then spreading the word via Facebook and Twitter, you can begin to meld mobile with social marketing. A good site to learn more is ShopTalk: Social Media (www.shoptalksocial.com). •
Daniel Kehrer can be reached at
editor@bizbest.com.
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