Guia marketing movil wsi

INTRODUCTION 4

The Current State of Mobile Marketing 4

IS MOBILE MARKETING RIGHT FOR YOU? 5

Why Do Companies Use Mobile Marketing?Who Should Be Leveraging Mobile Marketing?

67

GETTING STARTED WITH MOBILE MARKETING 8

Get Educated on Mobile MarketingDevelop a Mobile Strategy

810

CHOOSING THE RIGHT MOBILE OPPORTUNITIES 12

Mobile WebsitesMobile Local Search and Location-based Marketing

FoursquareGowallaYelp MobileFacebook PlacesLooptGoogle Places and Google Mobile

Mobile AdvertisingText Message Advertising (SMS and MMS)Mobile Banner AdsMobile Video AdsInterstitial Ads

Mobile Apps

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OTHER MOBILE TACTICS TO CONSIDER 33

Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce)QR Codes (The 2D Barcode)

3336

MEASURING MOBILE MARKETING 40

What to Measure (KPIs)Tools and Resources

4043

LOOKING AT THE BIGGER PICTURE 44

Benefits of Integrating Mobile Into Your Marketing MixHow Does Mobile Fit Into Your Strategy?

4546

CONCLUSION 47

Locate a WSI ConsultantAbout WSI

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Table of Contents

Over the years, marketers have seen a considerable shift in focus in the online realm as the digital world continues to evolve. In the early 90s, the hype was on having a website; everyone wanted be part of the dot-com blitz. Though having an online presence was important, the concept of pay-per-click, search engine optimization and other forms of traditional Internet marketing became critical components to the success of any website.

Not long after traditional Internet marketing reached its peak in popularity, the explosion of social media transformed the face of Internet marketing. With social networking and social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube taking the world by storm, the practice of social media marketing took precedence.

To no one’s surprise, the world of digital media is shifting again. Now the next big contender is mobile marketing. Often times, the term “mobile marketing” is linked to the idea of sending advertising messages to people’s mobile phones. A few years ago, this might have been the case. But mobile marketing encompasses several techniques; it’s more than just text message marketing. Mobile marketing involves services like mobile websites, social location marketing, SMS and MMS marketing and mobile apps – just to name a few. Think of mobile marketing as the umbrella under which these other mobile services lie, all of which have the potential to help companies bring in new customers and create brand loyalty. (We will elaborate further on these terms throughout this guide.)

In staying at the forefront of the digital space, WSI has created a complete guide for companies like yours to stay educated, learn about the various mobile marketing opportunities out there, choose the opportunities that are right for you, develop a strategy in line with your overall marketing goals and measure the success of each campaign. If your company is interested in learning about the mobile marketing space and ready to embark on leveraging some of the opportunities available, picking up this guide is a step in the right direction.

The Current State of Mobile Marketing

Recent statistics indicate that the use of smartphones and tablets is increasing at a rapid rate all over the world. As the mobileworld continues to release updated versionsof their technologies like the BlackBerry, iPhone or Android phones and tablet PCs like the iPad and BlackBerry Playbook, more and more people are harnessing the power of mobile. The reality is: we live in a fast-paced world whereinformation travels at the speed of light andpeople are accessing this information on their handheld devices.

Introduction

Page 4Copyright ©2011 by RAM


According to eMarketer, the amount of Internet traffic coming from mobile devices has increased over the past year. As of June 2011, 5.02% of all Internet traffic worldwide came from a mobile device, a considerable increase over the 2.03% of mobile web traffic received just 1 year prior. Mobile web browsing isn’t going to disappear. The concept of accessing information instantly and straight into the palm of your hands will continue to grow in popularity. And new technologies will continue emerging to accommodate this growing demand.

Therefore, it only makes sense that marketers are finding new opportunities to reach consumers. Worldwide mobileadvertising revenues have increased from $1.6 billion to$3.3 billion between 2010 and 2011. Statistics indicate that by 2015, marketers will spend a whopping $20.6 billion onmobile advertising.

Why are marketers leveraging mobile marketing in their businesses? What are some of the benefits of mobilemarketing? The pros and cons of mobile marketing will be discussed in the next section, but according to a recent study*, worldwide advertisers stated the following key reasons why they use mobile marketing:

78% said they use mobile because more consumers have access to smartphones 61% said they like the ability to target certain demographics based on devices 42% said they like the attractive ad formats

* Data is from the June 2011 Google and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) report titled "Global Perspectives: The Smartphone User & The Mobile Marketer" conducted by Ipsos and TNS Infratest.

If other companies out there are using mobile marketing, it might be wise for yours to take a look at this new phenomenon and determine if it’s the right opportunity for you as well.

Is Mobile Marketing Right For You?

Before we discuss whether mobile marketing is right for yourcompany, let’s first define what it is. According to the MobileMarketing Association, it’s “a set of practices that enables organizations and businesses to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network.”

As mentioned, mobile marketing is more than just sending text messages to your customers. There are a number of strategies that fall under the umbrella of mobile marketing, whichwill be discussed in further detail later on. For now, let’s talkabout whether the concept of mobile marketing in general isright for your company.

Why Do Companies Use Mobile Marketing?

There are several reasons why companies choose to embark in the mobile world to further reach their customers. Below are just a few reasons marketers have leveraged mobile marketing.

People Consider Their Mobile Phones Personal

Many people use their mobile phones to store contact information, appointments, reminders and personal notes. People take pictures using their mobile phones and customize various settings on their phone (wallpaper, ringtone, theme, etc.). Also, generally people don’t share their mobile phones. So communicating to your customers via their mobile devices is an effective way to increase the personalization of your marketing message. With that said, privacy and permission are very important for all marketing campaigns especially involving a mobile device.

People Always Keep Their Mobile Phones Around Them And On

Think about the things you grab just before you leave the house: wallet, keys, mobile phone. Think about the things you keep close to you throughout the day: your mobile phone. Also think about the last time you turned your mobile phone off. During meetings, outings and even while they sleep, people generally put their phones on silent or vibrate. Rarely do people turn their mobile phones off unless they need to reset it, pop out the battery or change the SIM card.

What does this mean for marketers? Mobile campaigns can be read within minutes of being received. But marketers must be sensitive to the timing of their messages. Nobody wants to be woken up at 4 AM with a marketing message to their mobile device.

People Can Make Payments Through Their Mobile Phones


Every mobile phone has a built-in payment system: the SIM card. Billing can be done through the user’s mobile network. With the popularity of ringtone downloads, game downloads and data usage, people have developed the mentality that they must pay for content through their mobile phones. The expectation that mobile content is free has been lessened. But marketers must understand that even though consumers are willing to pay for content and downloads via their mobile device, clear communication that charges will apply must take effect.

People Can Easily Share Mobile Content

Much like how email has the “forward” option, mobile phones gives users the ability to forward messages to their friends with a click of a button. There is great viral potential with mobile marketing and if the message/offer is compelling enough, users will share your message/offer with their friends. With the use of text messaging, BlackBerry Messenger and other instant messenger systems on the mobile device, people are communicating with their friends using their cell phones more than traditional communication channels. Therefore, mobile marketing campaigns have the potential to go viral because users can send a message to their mobile contacts simultaneously within minutes.


People’s Response to a Mobile Campaign Can Be Easily Tracked

Much like how Internet marketing offers exceptional tracking and measuring capabilities, so does mobile marketing. Since every activity in a mobile marketing campaign is tracked to a single phone number, engagement can be easily measured. Though some mobile networks may limit the amount of data they are willing to share with marketing companies, activity can be traced back to individual mobile users.

Consider the number of people who rely on their phones and how important they consider their phones as part of their way of life. Mobile marketing allows companies to capitalize on this fact, while increasing customer engagement, brand loyalty and profits at the same time.

Who Should Be Leveraging Mobile Marketing?

Mobile marketing offers companies new and exciting ways to expand the reach of their messages and touch more customers. The return on investment could range between new leads, more sales, increased repeat sales or more customer interaction. But who should be leveraging mobile marketing? How can you determine if your company is ready to tap into the mobile realm? Below are some ways to help you come to that conclusion.

Evaluate If Mobile Marketing Can Help You Achieve Your Goals

Start by evaluating your company’s goals and determine if the benefits of mobile marketing (as previously discussed) could help you meet those goals. For example, if your company is struggling to retain customers and create brand loyalty, mobile marketing might help you close the gap between existing customers becoming repeat customers. Keeping your customers in the know about your latest offers and special discounts through the personal touch of a mobile device can create customer loyalty.

Determine If Mobile Fits With Your Existing Marketing Programs

You can also think about your existing marketing programs and determine where you could enhance your customer communication strategies using mobile marketing. For example, if your company is currently leveraging other forms of Internet marketing, such as social media, and looking to tap into new engagement strategies, mobile marketing might be a step in the right direction. Location-based mobile marketing can serve as a great asset for companies that are looking to link their social media and mobile marketing campaigns together. Location-based social networks like Foursquare, Loopt and Gowallacoupled with the features of today’s smartphones allow people to interact, share and recommend places based on their physical location.

Creating a mobile friendly website might be a good way to enhance the experience of your current website visitors. Launching a mobile commerce site might be a nice way to complement your existing eCommercewebsite. Later in this guide, we will discuss various mobile opportunities and how to integrate them into your marketing strategy. When answering the question of who should be leveraging mobile, a good question to ask yourself is where mobile fits with what you’re currently doing.

Take Notice of Who Else Is Using Mobile Marketing

If your company is still unsure whether or not mobile marketing is right for you, take a look at the following stat. According to eMarketer, several industries are leveraging mobile in various capacities. For example, 42% of media and entertainment companies integrate mobile marketing with their other media campaigns, such as print, TV and online. Meanwhile, 23% of retail companies use mobile marketing as a standalone activity. Thirty-five percent of the automotive industry is in the early stages of mobile marketing and just experimenting to see how it can fit in their marketing strategies.

Of those within the travel industry, 30% integrate mobile with their overall marketing campaigns and another 30% are using mobile on an adhoc basis. Other industries mentioned in the study are hospitality and restaurants, fast-moving consumer goods and financial services.

It’s safe to say that companies of various industries are already using mobile marketing. Chances are your competitors are reaching their customers and your potential customers using mobile. If that’s the case, maybe it’s time for your company to evaluate if it’s the right time to step into the world of mobile marketing.


Getting Started with Mobile Marketing

Now you understand the current state of mobile marketing and can see that, like the Internet, mobile isn’t going anywhere. Also, you’ve gone through the steps to determine if the idea of mobile marketing is right for your company. If you’re still interested in incorporating mobile into your overall marketing strategy, now it’s time to learn what you need to do to get started. Regardless of what type of capacity your company will leverage mobile marketing, it’s important to take into consideration the following steps when getting started.

Get Educated on Mobile Marketing

First things first: your company must get up-to-speed on what’s going on in the mobile space. A good start is picking up this guide that WSI has put together. But in order to really understand where mobile fits in your company’s strategy, you need to get educated on the various mobile marketing tactics out there. In the next section, we will deep dive into 4 main categories under the umbrella of “mobile marketing” (mobile websites, mobile local search and location-based marketing, mobile advertising and mobile apps). For now, we’ll walk you through several steps you can take as an organization to get educated and stay in the know on mobile.


Step 1: Appoint a Team of Mobile Marketing Researchers

This will be your team of experts who will go out and acquire as much knowledge on the subject of mobile marketing as possible and bring that knowledge back into your company. If you’ve picked up our WSI Social Media Strategy Guide, you’ll remember that appointing a team of social media researchers is a key step in getting educated on social media. The same principle applies here.

In fact, it is advised that your mobile marketing researchers be the same individuals who make up your social media researchers. Mobile marketing and social media is a match made in heaven, and since both are fast-moving industries, you’re going to need a team of researchers that can keep watch on emerging trends in both realms.

Step 2: Enable Your Team of Researchers to Get Educated

There are a number of educational opportunities available that your team could take advantage of to expand their knowledge. Industry leading marketing associations and companies often hold conventions, workshops and seminars that your team could attend. There are several online courses that your team couldcomplete to learn more about mobile marketing. Some courses are free of charge and others require a fee. But don’t consider these costs as expenses; look at them as investments toward your company’s knowledge on the latest marketing trends.

Step 3: Have Your Researchers Educate the Rest of Your Staff

Once your researchers acquire knowledge on the latest mobile trends and tactics out there, what works and what doesn’t work for other companies and how mobile can be brought into your company, the next step is to educate the rest of your staff. This doesn’t necessarily mean educating every single staff member at your company. Obviously the accounting department won’t need to know how to use mobile marketing to achieve your business goals, but the marketing department definitely will.

Book a training session for your researchers to educate your marketing (and potentially your sales) department. You’ll likely want to have 2 different levels of training. The first one can be a basic high level training session to educate your entire department on the benefits of mobile marketing. The second session will need to be an in-depth hands-on workshop whereby your researchers will educate key team members who will then implement and manage your company’s mobile marketing campaigns. Again, it is recommended that your mobile marketing team consist of the same individuals as your social media team, as described in our WSI Social Media Strategy Guide.

Step 4: Document All Findings and Store in a Shared Environment

The last thing you want to do is keep all intelligence with a single person and then lose all that intellectual property if that person leaves your company. An important step (one that many companies forget) is to document all educational materials and file those documents in a shared environment.

This way, the knowledge that your company invested in by sending your researchers to various training events and workshops won’t be lost should your researchers ever leave your company.

Another important tip is to have your researchers sign an acknowledgement stating that all education that your company sponsors is the intellectual property of your company, and that your employees are not permitted to apply this knowledge to any other company (direct competitor or not).

Develop a Mobile Strategy

Careful planning is only half the battle when it comes to implementing a successful mobile marketing strategy. If your company is serious about mobile, take the following steps into consideration when developing your strategy.

Determine Your Marketing Goals


Now that you have a basic understanding of mobile marketing and how it can help your business, determine how mobile can work to help your company where it is weakest. Think about the specific marketing goals that you would like to achieve. Are you looking to make it easier for customers to view your website on their phones? Do you want to cultivate stronger customer relationships? Are you trying to increase your newsletter sign-ups? Do you need to increase awareness of your brand or spread the word about upcoming promotions?

Remember to keep your goals SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. You can save a great deal of time, money and resources by determining clear marketing goals and thinking about how mobile can help you achieve those goals.

Define Your Target Audience

Not every customer will be suitable for your mobile campaigns. It’s not as easy as saying that the mobile-savvy segment of your market will be the target audience for your mobile campaigns. Think about what you sell and who you sell it to. Zero in on your customers’ profile, including their age, gender, location, interests and purchasing history.

Research your market as much as possible. If you have a stronger understanding of your audience, you will be able to select the right mobile approach. When you break down your target audience into segments, you will better target your mobile campaigns to ensure maximum results.

Establish Your Tone and Organizational Voice

The next thing you need to do is define your tone and establish your organizational voice. Since mobile marketing and social media are closely related, the same voice you use to speak to your audience in the social media world will transcend into how you speak to people through mobile marketing.


Much like social media, mobile marketing allows you to expand the reach of your messages and communicate more personally than traditional communication methods.

Your organizational voice is heard through other marketing channels as well, such as your advertising brochures, news releases, website content, emails and direct contact between frontline employees and customers. Maintaining consistency is key. Your voice should reflect your company’s overall goals, authority and mission, while speaking to your target audience in a way they will best understand.

Create Compelling Offers and Campaigns

The customer is at the center of all marketing. A fundamental question you need to ask yourself before starting a mobile strategy is “What do my customers want in the palm of their hands?” When people think of their mobile devices, they’re thinking with a selfish mindset – I want what I want when I want it. They’re not interested in anything else. When it comes to mobile, people want 1 of 4 things: entertainment, information, a good deal and/or a connection.

Creating compelling offers and campaigns catered around your customers’ wants is key. This is where defining your target audience is important. Capturing information on your customers will help shed light on the types of marketing messages and offers you will communicate. For example, if you operate a local spa and your audience consists of young females, you could offer special discounts on facials and focus your messaging around the acne improving benefits of a facial.

On the other hand, if you own a bed and breakfast and your customers are mature couples, you could offer weekend discounts and tailor your messages around the quiet neighbourhood around your bed and breakfast. It’s important to know your audience, understand what they are interested in, create offers that would appeal to their interests and communicate in a way they would best understand.

Choose the Tools Right For You

The type of marketing messages and offers you decide to use will help you determine the tools you need to get your messages out there via mobile. An important question to ask yourself when choosing a mobile marketing tool is whether the technology has been designed to meet your specific goals. You will also want to evaluate the tracking capabilities of the tool, such as how it measures user activity and engagement; how the data is crunched to provide you with a summary of results; what type of reports can be generated, etc.

You should also look at the ease of use of each technology you choose to use. If there are mobile campaigns that require in-house management, ensure that your team can use the tools without complication. If you are leveraging external resources, ask about the supplier’s training and support programs. Another thing to remember is budget. A mobile marketing campaign is as costly as you make it. Depending on whether you employ a do-it-yourself campaign or an in-depth strategy requiring the assistance of a professional, you can find the right tools that suit your budget.

As previously mentioned, the concept of mobile marketing encompasses a number of different techniques all involving creative ways to reach customers through their mobile devices. In this section, we will deep dive into the 4 main categories of mobile marketing: mobile websites, mobile local search and location-based marketing, mobile advertising and mobile apps. Let’s first start with mobile websites.

Mobile Websites

In this day and age, mobile phones are being used as frequently as computers. Statistics and trends indicate that Internet browsing is moving from computers to handheld devices, meaning a mobile website is a great way to share your company information and engage customers. So if your company is looking for an opportunity to reach new customers and enhance the experience of your current customers, a mobile website is a good idea.

In fact, if your company is looking to embark into the world of mobile marketing and you aren’t sure where to start, we recommend that you consider creating a mobile version of your website at a bare minimum. This way, you can ensure your audience can access your website and company information on their handheld devices at any time.

A Mobile-Friendly Website Can Work for Any Company

With more and more people accessing websites on their mobile devices, it makes sense that companies of all sizes and sectors consider launching a mobile-friendly website. Almost every website can benefit from a mobile version, such as:

eCommerce sites – If you sell products online, why not give customers the opportunity of purchasing from you anywhere anytime from the palm of their hands?

Local businesses – If you operate a local business, offering your customers a convenient way to visit your website is a good way to enhance customer engagement.

News-driven sites – If the main purpose of your online property is to provide news updates to your audience, offering a mobile-friendly version allows your audience to easily access up-to-date information right in the palm of their hands.

Mobile Friendly Websites Focus on the Customer

Creating a mobile-friendly website isn’t just taking your current website and trimming down the content to fit on a smaller screen. A true mobile-friendly website is friendly to its audience. This means focusing on the customer. Think about the typical cell phone user; they’re distracted, impatient and multi-tasking. Usually when people are on their cell phones, they’re also doing something else – whether it’s having dinner, watching TV, working on their laptops, sitting at their desks, walking through a shopping mall, etc.


Choosing the Right Mobile Opportunities


A mobile user needs and expects to receive instant and concise information right when they want it, so a mobile-friendly website must focus on what mobile users really want.

Many websites have already launched their own mobile-friendly versions designed to only display the most important information or services – suitable for those accessing the website from their cell phones (ie: m.facebook.com, m.gmail.com and m.twitter.com just to name a few).

How to Design a Compelling Mobile Website

Since mobile websites are designed to fit the smaller screens of handheld devices, pages are simplified, unnecessary images are removed, and content that can be slow to load (such as video) is limited. When designing a compelling mobile-friendly website, marketers should remember to consider their on-the-go customers, who are looking to access relevant content on their mobile devices quickly. Here are some tips to remember when designing a mobile-friendly website:

Avoid visual clutter. Keep your mobile site simple to ensure pages load quickly. This means removing unnecessary elements that could slow down the loading time. The screen of a mobile phone is small as it is; you don’t need to cram unrelated promos, links, buttons and images onto your mobile site. Prioritize your content and decide what should be front and center on your mobile website. Only use images that help get your message across.

Simplify your navigation. With mobile websites, take the “less is more” approach. Make sure popular information and services are easy to find right on the home page of your mobile website. Remove anything else that is best left on your main website. Optimize your navigation by allowing for more spacing between links and making buttons larger. It may mean creating a whole new mobile navigation design catered to those not using a mouse.

Use a single column. When it comes to mobile websites, a single-column structure is most effective. One column will help manage limited space on a smaller screen and also help you easily scale between different device resolutions when it comes to flipping between portrait and landscape views.

Use touch-friendly buttons. Remember to consider touch screen phone and tablet users. Links and buttons should be simple, clean and “finger friendly”. A quick way to frustrate a touch screen user is tomake an important link so small that it’s difficult to click on with the tap of a finger. In this case, it might be wise to make important links accessible via a button, rather than hyperlinked text. You may have to make the clickable area around your links larger and put more spacing between links.

Stay away from Flash. Not all phones support Flash or JavaScript, so stay away from them on a mobile-friendly website. A Flash-heavy website with a complex navigation may look attractive on a traditional Internet browser, but it will likely render an error message on a mobile device.

Don’t forget about the swipe. Aside from ensuring you have touch-friendly links and buttons on your site, remember to consider the swipe feature and how this can be implemented in your mobile site. Technology is evolving and your company must evolve with it. It’s time to move from the point-click mentality to a touch-and-swipe approach.

Limit scrolling to only one direction. Think about how you react when you have to scroll in multiple directions on a regular Internet browser. On a mobile device, the experience is even worse because there is higher potential to scroll the wrong way. So make sure your mobile site only scrolls one way – it offers a better user experience and simply put, it doesn’t annoy your customers.

Focus on the user. This tip cannot be stressed enough. The last thing your company wants to do is attempt to be all things to all people. Define your target audience and zero in on their needs and wants. Focus your mobile website on how to make their experience with your brand easier by presenting them with important information in a convenient and easy-to-digest manner.

Give People the Option of Visiting the Full Site

Some of your mobile using customers may want to just access information from your standard company website depending on the type of device they have. A lot of highly advanced smartphones and tablets such as the iPhone and iPad may not experience any issues rendering standard websites. For this reason, you should give mobile visitors the option of visiting your standard website.

Add a link in the footer of your mobile site that reads “Visit full site”, which directs visitors to your regular site. Also, it would be a good idea to give visitors the option on your main website to go back to your mobile site without having to use the “Back” button. This way, both mobile device users and desktop users have access to both sites.

What About Audio and Video?

Multimedia elements like audio and video are great ways to capture the attention of mobile users. Although bandwidth and loading time issues exist, you shouldn’t stop using these highly engaging forms of content on your mobile website. The key is to carefully select what types of multimedia to use and use them in moderation. As previously mentioned, steer clear of Flash formats and other closed formats that do not render well on some devices.

Pay careful attention to the file size of the multimedia you use; ensure that you are using a file size that won’t slow down the loading process on a mobile device. Another best practice to remember is never set the file to download automatically. These should be requested by the user for bandwidth savings. Lastly, don’t auto-play your multimedia files. This is just plain annoying and isn’t recommended even outside the realm of mobile marketing.



Test Your Mobile Website

Testing is standard practice prior to launching any website or landing page, and your mobile website is no different. To ensure your mobile website will render properly on various popular mobile devices, testing is key. But with so many mobile technologies available today, how can testing be simplified for your company?

Testing will involve installing the developer SDK for the mobile platform (ie: iPhoneSDK or Android SDK) and using web-based emulators to view other mobile platforms. (SDK refers to a software development kit that allows third parties to create applications that can run directly on the platform – a tool that can be used to test mobile websites.) Here are some tools that you can use to test your mobile website:

iPhoney – This is a free iPhone tester that allows developers to test images and code in a pixel-perfect Apple-Safari powered environment.

W3C mobileOK Checker – This is a web-based automated validation tool that checks how mobile-friendly your website is.

iPad Peek – This web-based tool allows you to see how your website renders on the iPad. For best results, use Apple Safari or Google Chrome.

MobiReady – This is another online testing site that allows you to enter a URL and the tool will perform a set of evaluations of the page to determine how mobile-ready the site is using industry best practices and standards.

Promote Your Mobile-Friendly Website

After taking into consideration all of the above best practices in creating and launching your mobile site, now it’s time to get the word out there to your customers. What’s the use of having a mobile website if you don’t drive any traffic to it? Promoting your mobile website is an important step in its success.

A good place to start is by optimizing your mobile site with the right meta tags and keywords to help search engines better find your site. Though the mobile web may not rely as heavily on search engines for browsing as the conventional web, it is still good practice to implement optimization techniques on your mobile site. You can also add your site to the many mobile-only web directories out there (ie: themobilist.com, jumptomobile.com, greatsites.mobi, cantoni.mobi, etc.). Being listed in a mobile web directory could help drive traffic to your site. Here are some other ways you can promote your mobile site:

Tell your customers about your new site when they do business with you Add a link or a QR code on your business card (QR codes will be discussed in more detail later) Include a link in your email newsletters Add a link to your email signature from which you conduct your day-to-day emails Blog and tweet about your mobile website Share the news on other social media pages, such as Facebook or LinkedIn Offer mobile-only promotions and offers to generate more mobile interest

Regardless of the size of your company or which industry you operate in, a mobile-friendly website is a good starting point if you’re ready to embark on mobile marketing. It allows you to connect with those on-the-go customers by giving them the ability to visit your website from their mobile phones.

Mobile Local Search and Location-based Marketing


Mobile local search is a technology that allows people to access the Internet on a mobile device to search for local businesses and services. According to eMarketer, an estimated 91 million US consumers will use the Internet on a mobile device at least monthly by the end of 2011, and research shows that much of the searches will be for local content (Mobile Users Expand Their Search Habits, eMarketer, August 1, 2011). This means businesses have an opportunity to reach local customers, who are potentially searching for their products or services on their mobile devices.

As previously discussed, having a mobile-friendly website is an important step in the right direction when it comes to launching an effective mobile marketing strategy. But what’s the next step? Like any standard website you launch, to ensure success you must follow it with a well-designed search engine marketing strategy. What good is a website if you’re not driving any traffic to it? The same is true in the mobile world. A good mobile local search strategy will bring traffic to your business.

Mobile Search Marketing Tips

Mobile SEO is a term that’s becoming more and more popular as businesses realize the importance of generating traffic to their mobile websites. Here are 5 mobile search marketing tips to keep in mind.

Practice basic on-page optimization techniques. Though SEO for mobile websites is different than a standard website, there are a few basic principles that you can apply. Some basic on-page optimization techniques that should be kept in mind aretitle tag optimization, meta tag optimization, heading tags and URL optimization.

Make it easy for people to visit your mobile site. Typically, mobile searches are performed on a 3G connection by people who are on the move. If your web pages take too long to load, people will likely hit the “Back” button and try a different website. If your site doesn’t contain the most important information front and center, then people will try another site. Including features like click-to-map or click-to-call telephone numbers are good ways to make it easy for people to contact your business and drive foot traffic to your brick-and-mortar store.

Don’t neglect to create a mobile sitemap. By creating a mobile sitemap, you will be giving mobile crawlers a hand in discovering new content on your site. Also, remember to include a link to this new sitemap in your Robots.txt file.


Submit your site to mobile search engines. This is a “must do” in order to have your mobile site indexed at all. Some major mobile search engines to consider are: 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

Claim your place page. This is especially important for local businesses. In order to ensure a map shows up with the location of your business at the top of the universal results page on a smartphone, you must claim your place page (Google Places, Bing Business Portal, etc.)

Location-based Marketing – The Buzz Around So-Lo-Mo

With sites like Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, Facebook Places and Yelp growing in popularity, people are connecting, sharing, interacting, meeting up and recommending places based on their location. For this reason, many businesses are starting to incorporate location-based marketing techniques in their strategy – a smart move considering a lot of other companies (likely your competitors) are thinking along the same lines.

According to eMarketer, location-based ad revenues worldwide will reach $6.2 billion by 2015, consuming 35% of total mobile ad revenues. This is a considerable increase over 5 years (from the $588 million spent in 2010) as you can see from the chart on the right. With this in mind, perhaps now is a good time for your company to take a look at location-based marketing and see how it can fit with your overall strategy.

The term “so-lo-mo” is popping up in our vocabulary, but what does it mean? It’s the convergence of social media, local search and mobile marketing as a method of creating personal engagement with customers. When done correctly, so-lo-mo can help your company reach the right person, in the right place, at the right time. The idea of “checking in” has become the next big thing in social media. People are now sharing their whereabouts with the world. But why? What are some things that would motivate people (specifically your customers) to check in to your business? Here are some reasons:

Fun and games – Many “check in” programs are actually games that allow participants to earn virtual points, and people take part in them just for the fun of it.

Connecting with friends – A lot of “check in” applications allow your friends and connections to see your activity; often times the idea is to facilitate face-to-face encounters with your friends.

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Recommending places they like – People also like to recommend and promote the places they like. Endorsing a good place and sharing opinions is another reason people “check in”.

Freebies and discounts – If not for the games or the ability to connect with friends and share feedback, people will “check in” to receive free offers and special discounts. This is a sure-fire way to encourage your customers to tell the world where they are.

Location-based Marketing Tips

When it comes to location-based marketing and leveraging this new phenomenon of “so-lo-mo”, it can get complicating if you don’t know what you’re doing. Here are a few tips that will help you get started:

Learn how location-based services work. First things first; your company must understand how location-based services work – not the nitty gritty technology aspect, but generally how people use location-based apps on their phones to “check in” whenever they go places. Essentially, global positioning satellites (GPS) locate the users and determine where they may be, thus providing options to select a location or create a new listing.


Once a person “checks in”, their friends will know where they are at that moment or where they regularly visit. Through these apps, businesses can share promotions or special discounts so that people who “check in” will receive notifications of deals that are physically nearby. Location-based technology work on networks called “social location platforms” or “social location services”.

Learn about the platforms. In the following section, we will go over a few popular social location services. However, there are many different platforms out there. Now that your company is looking at the opportunity of location-based marketing, it’s your job to become familiar with these platforms, learn which ones your target audience is on and decide how best to leverage them for your business. Before launching any sort of campaign, sign up for the networks, download the apps to your phone and learn how a person would use each platform.

Determine your goals. Playing with the app on your own mobile phone may entice you to get started with location-based services right away. But take a step back and think about the goals you want to achieve. Are you looking to increase foot traffic? Do you have an offer you want to promote? Are you trying to increase sales? Do you want to attract new customers? Sure, all of these seem like good goals, but be realistic and set specific objectives. These objectives will steer the direction of your location-based marketing campaign.

Create a presence on the social location networks. Once you select your networks (by evaluating which ones your customers are actually on), it’s time to create your presence. Ensure your business is listed on all relevant social location networks and remember to validate the address, phone number and other contact details to ensure they are correct and up-to-date. Depending on the platform, you may be able to update your contact details yourself. For some, you may have to contact the network for help if you don’t have access to edit your listing.


There are many applications out there and it’s your job to do your research to determine if your customers are using them. Let’s highlight a few of the most popular social location services available.

Overview of Foursquare

Introduced in March 2009, Foursquare is one of the most popular location-based mobile platforms out there today. This tool allows users to “check in” using a smartphone app or SMS and share their location with friends in order to collect points and earn virtual badges. Foursquare users also have the ability to bookmark information about places they want to visit and receive relevant suggestions about nearby venues.

Since people are using Foursquare to find their friends and good places to visit, businesses are given a great opportunity to use this tool to attract new customers and keep loyal ones coming back. Foursquare offers two opportunities for businesses:

Merchant Platform – This is more appropriate for brands that are location-based (like a coffee shop, restaurants, museum, movie theatre, etc.)

Pages and Partner Badges – This is suitable for brands that aren’t tied to a specific location (like a TV channel, clothing brand, manufacturer, etc.)

On the other hand, Foursquare offers 2 opportunities (Pages and Partner Badges) for brands that aren’t location-based. Using these platforms, they can reach their customers and fans and entice them to do interesting things in their communities.

Instructions to get started can be found on the Foursquare website: https://foursquare.com/business/.

Overview of Gowalla

Launched in 2007, Gowalla is very similar to Foursquare in that users “check in” to a location. But rather than earning points, Gowalla users collect stamps for their “passport”, which is a collection of all the places they’ve visited (each stamp representing each place that a user has visited).

Additionally, users can earn pins, which are special rewards for finishing a trip, visiting a given number of places or taking photos. Gowalla is very much about the game with elements like: items (digital souvenirs) and trips (a playlist of places to visit). Even though, gaming is a strong feature of Gowalla, this platform offers businesses an opportunity to gain a presence and reach their customers.

Foursquare’s Merchant Platform is free to sign up and allows businesses, large or small, to offer Foursquare specials like mobile coupons, prizes and discounts to users who check in to your business – the offers can be tailored to fit your needs. This is a great way to drive foot traffic to your store. In addition, you can track your customer foot traffic through the venue stats dashboard.

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Businesses can verify their listing (in other words, claim their business or venue) to ensure that their official listing in Gowalla is correct. They can also edit their business details, such as provide an accurate description, up-to-date address and contact details, business hours, etc. Additionally, businesses can create a check-in greeting message (which could contain special offers) that is displayed when a person checks in to that location. There is also a sponsored advertising opportunity where businesses can purchase a Custom Passport Stamp and get featured by Gowalla.

Businesses using Gowalla should also encourage their customers to "highlight" their business using the highlight feature, which include little rewards people can give to their favorite places. Businesses that receive the most highlights are featured on Gowalla City Pages.

For more information on how businesses can leverage Gowalla visit: http://gowalla.com/business.

Overview of Yelp

Yelp was founded in 2004 as a review site to help people find highly recommended local businesses, such as dentists, hair stylists, mechanics, etc. Aside from being a business review site, Yelp also provides event information, special offers and the ability to connect friends via social networking so that Yelpers can speak with one another. Yelp has updated their mobile app to allow users to “check in” to various locations much like Foursquare and Gowalla. This allows companies to get involved in Yelp and bring further exposure to their business.


Yelp’s way of rewarding highly active Yelpers is through their Elite Squad Program. Those who are considered “elite-worthy” are extremely engaged and provide well-written reviews, a fleshed-out personal profile, an active voting and complimenting record and maintaining good relationships with others. Elite Square members are recognized by a shiny Elite badge on their profile.

Business owners would be wise to leverage Yelp as a way to build exposure, monitor public reviews of their brand and research what their local community wants from a business in their particular industry. When you create a Yelp business account, you will be able to communicate with your customers, track how many people visit your page, add a business description, update your contact information, history and specialities as well as upload photos. By using Yelp’s Mobile Applications, you can promote your business and share special discounts to users searching nearby and encourage check-ins.

For more information on how to get started on Yelp, visit: https://biz.yelp.com/support.

Overview of Facebook Places

Another popular location-based service is Facebook Places, which was introduced in 2010 as a feature that lets users share where they are and find friends nearby. Users can check in to places they visit from their mobile phones, tag friends that are with them and view comments that other friends have made about the places they visit.

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As a business owner, having a place on Facebook offers you another way to promote your brand and grow your customer base. By allowing your customers to check in to your business, you are allowing them to tell their friends about your brand. In order to create a Facebook Place, you will need to:

Visit your business’ physical location with your mobile phone Create a place for it (if it doesn’t already exist) Verify that you are the business owner by telephone Note: you could be asked for supporting documentation

Once your claim is approved, you will have admin access to your business’ place on Facebook. The next step is to merge your Place with your Page to create a combined Page that serves as a local business page.

Additionally, Facebook has integrated its Places feature with its advertising services. This means that once you claim your place, you can advertise it just as you advertise your Facebook Page. In order to get started on advertising, go to Facebook ads and click on “I want to advertising something I have on Facebook” in the creation flow. Then choose your place from the dropdown menu and proceed to define and purchase the ad campaign you want.

It’s important to remember that once you claim your place, you need to post relevant information such as special discounts, time sensitive offers or upcoming events – messages that will be of interest to your local customers. You will also be able to see statistics on the number of people who have checked in to your business. However, Facebook will not share the names of the people who check in unless you are friends with them or unless their privacy settings are set to allow anyone to see their check-ins.

To learn more about Facebook Places visit: http://www.facebook.com/places.

Overview of Loopt

Loopt began in 2005 as a platform that uses detailed, interactive maps on mobile devices to show users where their friends are located and what they are doing. This allows friends to connect with each other face-to-face, and gives users the opportunity to learn more about their surroundings (places and events). Loopt users can share their location updates, geo-tag photos and comment with friends through their mobile phones. Since Loopt also alerts its users of nearby deals, businesses can take advantage of Loopt to get their brand, message and discounts out to their customers.

Loopt offers businesses the opportunity to partner with them to incentivize customers to check in to their location and drive foot traffic to their business. The rewards can be customized to suit your business. For example, you could offer coupons, freebies, virtual goods or sweepstakes. Your reward or incentive for people to check in can appear right next to your Loopt listing and once customers and fans check in, they can be redirected to a fully customized reward page with a look and feel consistent to your brand.

Loopt is currently only available in the US. To learn more visit: http://www.loopt.com/about/partners/.

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Choose a Location-Based Service That Fits Your Region

Though we went over a few of today’s most popular social location-based platforms out there, it’s important you choose one that best fits your company and location. Here is a list of some other location-based services you may want to read up on to determine how they fit with your business:

Google Places and Google Mobile

Claiming your Google Places listing is another good place to start when it comes to optimizing your location. Not only is this important in the online realm, but with Google Mobile there are many applications that are available to a mobile device user, including Google Maps which also features Google Places: m.google.com/places.


Google Latitude - This tool allows mobile phone users to share their location with certain friends they choose. Users can check in at places, gain status there and take advantage of offers where available. https://www.google.com/latitude/

Brightkite - This is one of the first companies to really make a splash in the location-based mobile space. This tool allows users to share their locations, connect with friends and share status updates. http://brightkite.com/

SCVNGR - This tool is unique from other platforms with its point-based challenges on top of check-ins. By doing challenges, users can unlock badges and earn real-world rewards like discounts or freebies. http://www.scvngr.com/

Neer - This is a personal and private automatic location-sharing tool that doesn't bother with check-ins, badges or other gaming elements. This service is designed to let users know where their friends are. http://www.neerlife.com/

ShopKick - Though not as popular as Foursquare or Facebook Places, this tool is growing in adoption. Created by former employees of mobile and Internet related companies like Google, Palm, Yahoo! Shutterfly, Cisco, Loopt and more, this tool was designed to enhance the real-world shopping experience for all. Users can receive deals and rewards by simply walking into their favorite stores. http://www.shopkick.com/

Nearbyfeed - This platform is all about trying to help people find out what's happening around them, such as: nearby information, interesting places and like-minded people. Users can also broadcast their opinions to their friends and nearby people to let them know what's happening here. http://www.nearbyfeed.com

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Google Places is a tool that uses Google Maps to help users find local businesses. As a business owner, you could reach new customers as they are searching for local services or products on Google Maps and Google.com, even from their mobile devices on: m.google.com. It’s very important that you claim your Google Places listing; this involves registering with Google, looking for your listing, verifying that you are the business owner and editing your business listing.

By having a presence on Google Places, you allow customers to find your business more easily, leave ratings and reviews and read other people’s comment – whether using their desktop or a mobile device.

Mobile Advertising

As the term denotes, mobile advertising is the concept of reaching your target audience with advertising messages through a mobile device. Much likeMobile websites and location-based marketing, whichwe just discussed, this technique is a subset of mobile marketing. As smartphone adoption rates continue to soar, mobile advertising is gaining in importance when it comes to a company’s overall marketing strategy. Let’s take a second look at the eMarketer stat we reviewed earlier. By the end of this year, worldwide mobile ad revenues will reach $3.3 billion and will surge in 2015 to $20.6 billion!

With a wide range of mobile advertising options available, such as mobile display ads, search ads, rich media, video and push notifications like SMS (Short Message Service) and MMS (Multimedia Message Service), the landscape can become overwhelming. In this section, we will cover a few of the most popular methods of mobile advertising.

Text Message Advertising (SMS and MMS)

Run a contest. "Text to win" campaigns can be a good way to drive customer engagement and build your database. But you need a compelling offer in order to run a successful contest. For example, offering a free product or service to every 10th person who texts you is a good way to draw attention. If you use a powerful technology, then you'll be able to collect details of each person who texts you. Also, you will need to effectively promote your contest in order to generate a good number of responses.

Text message marketing has been a popular strategy for years. Think of American Idol, for example. Companies of all sizes are using text messaging technology to expand the reach of their messages, share offers and discounts and gather feedback from their customers. But the key to succeeding in this realm is to ensure you have a clear opt-in process and receive permission from your customers to send them text messages. Here are some ways companies are using text messages:

Offer a coupon. You could also run a campaign where those who text you will receive a coupon code that can be used on your website or brick and mortar store for a discount on your product or service. This is a great way to generate traffic to both your website and physical store. Again, effective promotion of this campaign is critical to ensuring you receive a good response rate. People can’t be part of a campaign they don’t know about.

Share advice and useful tips. Another way to engage your customers isby sharing advice and useful tips to them via text message. A good mobile texting campaign caters to your customers' needs and often times what theyneed is advice and tips related to a topic they are interested in.

For example, if you own a hair salon, you could launch a campaign where youshare hair care tips to those who are interested and subscribe to your messages.If you operate a local hair salon and your subscribers list are mainly local customers, then you can target your advice to hair day tips based on current weather conditions, for example.

Invite customers to receive useful notifications. If your product or service offering requires regular activity from the customer, such as a prescription re-fill or monthly payment, you could invite your customers to subscribe to receive mobile text reminders of when they need to complete the required activity.

Vote or share ideas. Do you need suggestions or ideas from your customers? Perhaps you’re about to launch a new product or service and would like to get your customers involved. You could invite them to share their ideas with you via text; this is a good way to capture information about your customers and build your list. If you have 2 or more items that you would like your customers to choose from, then you could have them text to vote.


People like to know they can provide their thoughts and recommendations on products and services they use regularly. By allowing people to vote and share ideas through a texting campaign, you can create a meaningful relationship with them.

Allow people to donate to a charitable cause. "Text to donate“ campaigns have proven to be quite impactful. Since people have their mobile phones on them virtually 24/7 and use these devices to access news and information, what better way to increase awareness for a charitable cause than a "text to donate" campaign? A great benefit to this strategy is mobile phones have a built-in payment system, making donations easy to receive.

Two themes that have been consistent with all of the above texting strategies are: value and relevancy. The best text messaging campaigns respond to your customers' desires (the natural want for freebies and discounts), provide valuable information (such as useful advice, tips and reminders), ask customers for their input (suggestions and votes) and are relevant (catered to customers who are interested in your products and services or have subscribed to receive text messages from you).


It’s important that you implement basic marketng best practices in every text messaging campaign. Below are a few text messaging best practices remember:

Permission - Much like email marketing, you must have an opt-in system for all text message campaigns. For paid subscriptions, a double opt-in process is required. One thing to mention is that when a user changes carriers, they need to re-opt-in to your campaign. That's why it's important to tie each mobile number in your database with an email address or physical address to remind them that they to need to re-opt-in after they switch providers.

Frequency - Make sure you tell your audience how often they're going to get a text message from you. This should be communicated during the opt-in process. Preferably, you should give them an option to choose their frequency.

Cost - If there is a cost to your audience associated to your text messaging campaign, not only do you need a double opt-in process, but including a disclaimer that reads "Msg&Data Rates May Apply" is a must.

Content – Pay special attention to the content you communicate in your text messages. No adult, alcohol or tobacco content is allowed.

Opt-out - A subscriber must be able to stop receiving messages from your company by sending "STOP" to your short code program (see below to learn what a short code is). Additionally, users should be able to receive assistance by texting "HELP" to the program. After 18 months of inactivity, the opt-in should expire and that subscriber should automatically be removed from your list.

Short codes are special telephone numbers that are significantly shorter than full telephone numbers used for SMS and MMS messages. There are 2 types of short codes that businesses can use: random and vanity. Random short codes are 4-6 digits used for a variety of programs and may be shared.

Vanity codes are used to spell out a brand name or word, which are easier to remember but can take 8-12 weeks to get. Keep in mind that once you get a short code, you don't own it; you rent it. Some companies will rent a random code for the time that it takes to get their vanity code approved.

Mobile Banner Ads

A mobile banner ad is a universal color graphics ad unit displayed on a mobile website. The goal of a mobile banner ad is to be seen by as many people as possible to increase brand and message awareness and complete a desired conversion goal. The key is to work towards accomplishing both of these goals while also creating a good user experience across all mobile phone models, network technologies and data bandwidths. Mobile banner ads can be placed in any location on a mobile website. They should be clickable and link to a relevant mobile-friendly web page with more details related to the message communicated on the banner.

Designing a mobile banner ad isn’t quite the same as designing a banner ad for standard websites viewed on a traditional Internet browser. What looks good on a computer screen may not look good on the small screen of a mobile device. Here are some tips to consider when it comes to designing impactful and converting mobile banner ads:

No need for high definition graphics. A simple banner ad works best on a mobile screen. You don’t need any high definition images that you would likely want to display on a computer screen.Keep in mind that your mobile banners should download quickly.

Use clear and concise font to display your offer. Considering the small size of the banner, your text should be easy to read and the call-to-action should be blatantly obvious. Don’t leave your audience confused and unsure of what action you would like them to take.

Link your mobile banner to a mobile-friendly landing page. Similarly to launching a display advertising campaign online, in the mobile world your banner ads must link to a relevant landing page (built to be mobile-friendly of course) that contains more information about the offer within the banner.

Accompany your banner with a text link. This is the text found justbeneath the banner with the same call-to-action and links to the same page that the banner links to. They are simply clickable text links that act like banners to further aid in the conversion process.

Take into consideration banner sizes and formats. Mobile banners should be saved as JPG, GIF or PNG files and should never be larger than 5 KB. Generally speaking, here are the dimensions you should consider for your mobile banners with a 6:1 aspect ratio: XL Banner (300 X 50 pixels); Large Banner (216 X 36 pixels); Medium Banner (168 X 28 pixels); Small Banner (120 X 20 pixels). Of course you will have to check with the publishers and networks that you plan to use to display your banners for exact specs.

Use the right amount of characters. Based on the above 6:1 aspect ratio of mobile banner ads, here are recommended text taglines: X-Large: up to 24 characters; Large: up to 18 characters; Medium: up to 12 characters; Small: up to 10 characters.

Mobile Video Ads


With more and more smartphones being built with video capabilities and as carriers improve their data plans to gain a larger market share, companies are starting to use mobile video ads as a way to connect with customers and provide a more interactive user experience. Video content in general is more engaging than text content and in the world of mobile marketing, mobile video has become increasingly attractive to marketers looking for interesting ways to reach their mobile audience. Here are some best practices when it comes to mobile video ads:


Leverage various mobile video platforms. There are various ways to publish your video ads on a mobile device. For example, interactive in-stream videos are short video ads that are played before video content. Interactive pre-rolls are video ads played within other content (ie: between game levels or when applicationslaunch). Tap to interactive video is a method whereby a video ad is served up after a user taps a banner.

Combine your videos with mobile banner ads. Tap to interactive video is a great way to integrate 2 powerful advertising mediums for increased conversions. If you promote brand awareness through compelling video ads, your audience will be more prepared to click on a banner ad from the same brand. For best results, video and banner ads should run on the same sites, portals or apps.

Provide a short video ad as a preview of a longer video. After a 10 to 15 second video ad, you can use a tap to interactive option to send people to a longer, full-length commercial. This is a great way to create a strong brand experience. These full commercials can be up to 5-8 minutes long, and if done right, they can create an excellent branding experience for your customers.

Take viewers somewhere interesting after the video. After your video ad, you can display a button that directs viewers to take action and extend their experience with your brand. Some examples of compelling buttons are: tap to learn more, tap to visit website, tap to share on Facebook, etc. This is a great way to drive more traffic to your mobile website and increase conversions.

Display your video ads alongside relevant content. Take a closerlook at the various mobile video platforms and sites you plan to use to serve up your video ad. If your videos are displayed next to controversialcontent, it could impact your brand's image. Learn more about the variousadvertising platforms out there and ensure you know where your videosare being displayed.

Interstitial Ads

The last mobile advertising technique we will highlight here are interstitial ads, which are ads that are served in between content being loaded – the dead time during downloads. Rather than staring at a progress bar while a page is loading or a file is downloading, users can watch a mobile ad during this period. Mobile interstitials can be designed to offer interactive capabilities without displacing users from the original app or site from which the ad appeared.

After displaying for a short period of time, the interstitial ad disappears and allows users to return to the original content. Alternatively, users can click the “skip” icon to make the interstitial ad disappear and reveal the original content again.

Aside from placing these ads during loading or download times, advertisers can use them as a bumper screen for the launch or exit of an application or as a splash page within an application.

The key to success here is to ensure interstitial ads are placed in the right places and appear at the right times. For example, if a user is trying to download a movie review on their mobile device, serving up an interstitial adwith movie showtimes and theatre locations for that particular city would be a great strategy. You would be providing valuable and relevant informationto your audience at the moment they are viewing (or waiting to view) similar content.

Since the carriers own the dead space between downloads, we can expect to see major carriers capitalize on the advertising revenue opportunities from businesses looking to increase brand presence with mobile interstitial advertising.

Mobile Advertising Tips

Now that we’ve gone through some of the most common ways companies are advertising their brands, products and services through mobile, let’s briefly cover some of the general tips and best practices for ensuring you launch and implement a successful mobile advertising campaign:

Integrate your mobile and online campaigns. Keep in mind that mobile marketing is closely linked to online marketing. The whole concept is based around the idea that people who are searching online for product and service information are doing so from both a desktop computer and their mobile devices.

This means the notion is that what advertisers could do in the online world, they are now able to do in the mobile realm. So the two strategies should be combined for maximum results. Many mobile Internet users are prone to visit a website on their desktop computers after viewing the mobile version.

Design for the medium. If you are launching a text messaging campaign, take into account character limitations, time of day that messages are sent and communicating the message as concisely as possible. If you are designing a mobile banner ad, consult with the publisher to ensure you implement their design requirements. The same applies for mobile videos and any other mobile ad you create.

Leverage the unique features of mobile. Mobile devices offer unique features that allow you to get creative with your ads. For example, you can use the device’s GPS to identify the user’s location and integrate that into your campaign. Or you can develop ads that leverage the phone’s camera.



Ensure you have a mobile-friendly site. There’s a reason why a mobile website was discussed first in this chapter. There are several mobile advertising opportunities available, but before you launch any campaign (or design any app, which will be discussed shortly), you need to build a mobile site.

If you’re active on the mobile space in the form of advertising, your customers will likely search for your website on their mobile devices. If they find you don’t have one or your website isn’t mobile friendly, you could be damaging your mobile reputation.

Put your audience in control. Since a mobile phone is considered personal to each user, it’s important that you allow your users to stay in control of the content served up to them. For rich media advertising, a “skip” button is a must. For a text messaging campaign, an “opt-out” link is required. As previously mentioned, subscribers should be able to text “STOP” to your campaign in order to be removed from your database.

Present engaging content. If users don’t see something fun and interesting within the first few seconds, they’re going to hit that “skip” button or they’re going to opt-out from your program. Mobile advertising should focus on the customer and give them what they want, when they want it. Keep in mind that text messaging should be used sparingly. Instead focus on creating compelling video ads that will captivate your audience’s attention. Remember to include a strong call-to-action that is clear and visible.

Test and optimize your mobile ads. Mobile is unique in the sense that advertisers can capture taps, gestures, swipes, pinches and zooms shedding light on how your audience is engaging with your ads. Additionally, you can track when users exit or monitor how quickly they arrive at the call-to-action, helping you to make changes to your campaigns and re-deploy.

Mobile Apps

Developing a mobile application is the process of creating software specifically for small low-power handheld devices, such as mobile phones or tablets. These applications can be pre-installed onto phones at the manufacturing stage or downloaded by users from a mobile software distribution platform.

When we think of mobile apps, our minds automatically go towards the idea of games. The assumption that this technology is most appropriate for the gaming industry kicks in and we automatically dismiss the possibility of creating a mobile app for our businesses. Though a mobile app may not be for everyone, they do offer some companies an opportunity to reach a mobile audience.

Why Companies Create a Mobile App

Many companies create mobile apps as natural extensions to their business. Here are just some of the reasons why businesses choose to create a mobile app:

Make their services more accessible. Software-as-a-service companies would do well to create a mobile app where their clients can access their products using a mobile device. All the features of the product likely won’t be accessible through an app, but some of the main features could be, thus making it easier for your clients to use your services.

Create a highly interactive loyalty program. The Starbucks card mobile app is a good example of this. Users can check their Starbucks balance and track the Stars they’ve earned to achieve a free drink through the app. And app users can even use their Starbucks mobile app to make purchases! Mobile apps can be an effective way for companies to promote customer engagement and brand loyalty.

Enhance the experience of events and conferences. Companies that hold big events, such as conferences or tradeshows, consider creating an app specifically for that event. The app would be downloaded by event attendees and contain information such as: event schedule, exhibitor information, tradeshow floor plan, venue details and directions, the ability to connect with other attendees, etc.

The event app could be used all year round, even when the event is over. For example, exhibitor information and resources could be housed within the app even after the event has passed. Many companies use this opportunity to bring a digital component to their events and allow attendees to connect with each other through their mobile devices.

A well-designed app is one that is created to: meet a specific need of your customers, whether it's information driven, entertaining or helps improve productivity; allow users to connect with their friends through the app (social media friendly apps are key); allow your customers to interact with your business through the app; and offer them value for downloading and using your app, such as regular coupons, discounts, rewards, etc. Here are some of the benefits of mobile apps:

Can operate completely on the phone or tablet without relying on Internet connectivity Can tap into specific phone features, such as contacts, GPS, Bluetooth, accelerometer, etc. Can allow for pop-up notification alerts (with permission of course) Can offer an interactive user experience Can reach a mass market (by appearing in app store listings)

There’s no doubt that an opportunity exists when it comes to businesses creating a mobile app. But the question is whether this is the right direction to head.



Determining Whether You Need an App

Developing a mobile app for your business is definitely an investment of time and resources. So before getting started down this path, it’s importantthat you determine whether your company needs a mobile app. A commonmistake that some companies make is creating an app that is static and only contains brochure-type information. If that’s your mobile goal (getting your brand out there in the mobile realm), then you’d be better off to create a mobile website and start doing some location-based marketing and mobile advertising instead.

The purpose of a mobile app is to connect with your audience, provide value to them by having the app (such as accessing useful information, accessing your services or earning points or rewards of some sort) and give them the ability to contact your company with a swipe and tap. Ask yourself the following questions to determine if you need a mobile app:

Will a mobile app help my customers do business with me? Will a mobile app solve a common problem that my customers have? How? Will a mobile app help my customers stay engaged with my brand? Will my customers share my mobile app? (Or a better question – what type of mobile app should

I create that would be considered share-worthy?)

Determine Who the App is For

If you decide that your company needs a mobile app, the next thing you need to determine is whether your app is for an internal audience or the mass consumer market. If you offer software-as-a-service, your app is likely only appropriate for your clientbase.

If you are organizing a major event, your app would only be useful to those who attend your event. However, if you are looking to launch an app that promotes customer engagement and loyalty, then your audience would be wider. Further to that point, if you operate a local business, then you will have to target customers within a certain radius.

Narrowing down the target audience of your app will help you determine what type of app you will develop and how to market that app once it’s launched. But if you’ve made it this far in the process, then you likely have a good idea of what type of app you want to create. The next step is to get it developed.

Working with App Developers

Budget will play a key role in how you choose to go about creating your app. But keep in mind that if you want your app created well, then you will need to make a financial investment to have it designed by professionals. Not only that, but you need to invest the time as well.

Defining the specifications for your app requires a lot of thought initially and then more thought after receiving feedback from other members of your company. Additionally, creating the app itself according to your specifications will require time as well as a financial investment.

To get started, source a professional mobile app developer company that can handle your initial and ongoing support needs. Verify that the company understands the requirements of the project and timelines. Make sure the app development process moves according to a timeline that will meet your deadline (this is especially important if you are gearing toward a specific launch date or you have an event scheduled and need to create an app before the event starts).

Remember to also take into consideration the time required to create an app store account and get the app approved by the app distributor, so that it becomes available to your audience.

Working with app developers requires a dedicated project manager, strong communication skills and regular follow-ups to ensure the development is progressing smoothly. Consider these traits when assigning a team member to work with the developers.

Testing and Deploying Your App

Once your mobile app is built, you need to test it. Ensure all the functionality works properly as outlined in the specifications. Go back to your list of specifications and ensure the app has been created according to those requirements. Remember: developing a mobile app can be a hefty expense on the wallet, so make sure you test the app thoroughly for quality assurance purposes. Here are some tips when it comes to effective testing of an app:

Create testing scenarios - Identify some testing scenarios that cover both the user experience and the functionality of the technology. Over-testing can be just as bad as not testing at all. So focus your efforts on the most important areas of your app.

Test with real users of the app – Get your app into the hands of the people who will be using it. Try working with a small number of existing customers. Have them review the app, test it and verify that it works and meets their needs.

Don’t just test for bugs; test the experience – This is one mistake many companies make. They focus on the software technology and test whether it performs according to the specifications, but forget the user experience as they are going through the software.

Continually test and monitor - Once you test your app and confirm that it’s ready to be launched, it’s time to deploy it. But it doesn’t stop there. Consider enhancing your app based on feedback that you get from people who download and use your app.



Promoting Your App

This is not a “build it and they will come” scenario. The app store is a competitive environment. Though having your app listed publicly is a great way to increase brand exposure, your app could be listed alongside your competitors if they’ve created an app similar to yours already. The app store has hundreds of thousands of apps all screaming for attention. How can you get the word out about yours?

Once the app has been deployed and made available for people to download, the next step is to get the word out there. People can’t download something they don’t know about. This is where an effective promotion campaign is critical to bring maximum exposure to your new app. Leverage your existing marketing channels to tell people about your app, including your website, mobile site, blog, email marketing campaign, day-to-day email signature, social media pages, etc. Communicate the many benefits customers will receive when they use your app, why they should download it and how the app will benefit them over time. Get people to download your app and get people talking about it.

After your app has received some traction and people have started to download and use it, the next thing you should consider is getting your customers to rate and review your app in the app store. You can do this by reaching out to your loyal customers who have used the app for a long enough period of time to really have a strong review. Encourage them to leave a positive note about your app in the store. Or you can push out a notification through the app and remind them to rate and review the app.

Whether you ask your customers to review the app or not, they are likely going to share their feedback in the app store. Typically, people are quicker to share negative feedback than positive, but by reminding your app users to review your app, you are encouraging those who have a positive review to share it with the rest of the app store community.

Other Mobile Tactics to Consider

Aside from the 4 main mobile marketing strategies discussed in the previous section, there are a couple more mobile-related services that your company should consider: mobile commerce (also known as m-commerce) and QR codes (also known as 2D barcodes). We will briefly go over these tactics and how your business can incorporate them into your overall strategy.

Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce)

Mobile commerce (m-commerce) is the ability to conduct commerce (complete financial transactions) using a mobile device. With new highly advanced smartphones being released all the time, never before has it been easier to shop anywhere, anytime from the palm of your hand.

According to a study by ABI Research released in February 2010, by 2015 shoppers around the world will spend about $119 billion on goods and services purchased via their mobile phones. Known as the next generation of eCommerce, mobile commerce is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with.

Types of Businesses that Benefit from M-Commerce

We cannot emphasize enough that not every mobile marketing strategy is right for every company. The information found within this guide is meant to educate you on the various mobile marketing opportunities out there, so that you can choose which strategies are best for your business. When it comes to mobile commerce, here are the industries that have found the most use in this opportunity:

Online retailers – e-Commerce businesses that sell their products solely online would benefit by first creating a mobile website and offering m-commerce services. Not only will customers be able to purchase your products from their desktop computers, they can make purchases from their mobile devices.

Financial services – Mobile banking is becoming more and more popular with mobile device users. People like the convenience of accessing their bank accounts from their mobile devices to check their balance, pay their bills, transfer funds and conduct other regular banking activities.

Telecommunications – Customers can view their account information, pay their bills and change their communication services all from the same handheld device. Let’s not forget the popularity of purchasing ringtones for your mobile device.

Ticket providers – The entertainment industry is finding many benefits through mobile commerce technology. Ticket providers for movies, sporting events and concerts are issuing mobile tickets in replacement of paper tickets for events. This means that a person can store their ticket in their mobile phone.

Mobile Commerce Site Design Tips

Many of the best practices for designing a mobile-friendly website discussed earlier in this guide applies to creating an impactful mobile commerce site. However, there are a few more considerations to remember. Here are some tips to designing a mobile commerce site that works:

Include a simple search box. On a mobile site, you have less room for navigation options, so including a site search box is even more important on a mobile commerce site. Make sure your search box is located in a prominent position and appears on every page.

Include an auto-suggest feature. Typing on a mobile device isn't always easy. Incorporating an auto-suggest feature to predict a product that people could potentially be trying to search for is good practice. This would help users save time and avoid misspelled search terms.



Sort and filter your products. Shoppers shouldn't have to scroll down an incredibly long yet small mobile screen to see a huge list of search results. Ensure your mobile commerce site has good filtering capabilities so customers can target their product searches. It would also be a good idea to sort your products by category and price range.

Use a simple and clean layout. This is a best practice for standard websites that appear on a regular Internet browser as well mobile-friendly websites. But it is even more important for mobile commerce sites. Since you're attempting to sell products to mobile browsers, you need to display your product information in a way that avoids clutter and slow loading times.

Use photos effectively. Although you're working with a smaller screen, since your mobile commerce site is a main revenue engine, you need to ensure the photos you use are an accurate portrayal of the products you are offering. Help your customers make an informed decision by showing them what they are about to buy. For example, try offering photos in various angles to give shoppers an idea of what your products look like.

Shorten the checkout process. Once your mobile customers know what they want, you should make it as easy as possible to purchase it from your mobile site. Keep the number of clicks to a minimum. The more pages that customers need to see and the more fields that customers need to complete during the checkout process, the slower the purchasing cycle becomes.

Display information effectively. Even though you don't have much room to work with on a mobile screen, you still need to display as much important information on a mobile commerce site as you can. For example, shoppers still need to know about your return policy, delivery charges, security policy, etc.

Offer alternative payment options. Allowing customers to pay using PayPal or Google Checkout can help reassure customers that are apprehensive about entering their credit card details into their mobile devices.

Combine M-Commerce with Other Mobile Marketing Strategies

Now that you understand what mobile commerce is, how businesses can benefit from allowing customers to do business with them via their mobile device and general tips on designing an effective mobile commerce website, let’s talk about how m-commerce fits with your overall mobile marketing strategy.

Earlier we discussed several mobile marketing opportunities available to you as a business owner: mobile-friendly websites, mobile local search and location-based marketing, mobile advertising and mobile apps.

Obviously an m-commerce site must be mobile-friendly, but what about the other mobile marketing strategies we discussed? You would do well to complement your m-commerce site with some of the other mobile tactics mentioned to ensure you drive maximum exposure to your mobile commerce website.

For example, mobile shoppers browsing through your site wouldn’t mind receiving a bargain. Try implementing an SMS campaign where customers could text to receive a coupon code that they could use to purchase products from your mobile site. Not only would you benefit from acquiring a customer, but you would be able to capture database details through your SMS campaign. Take that strategy a step further by inviting your customers to subscribe to your SMS program to receive notifications of future deals, discounts and offers.

As for mobile advertising, you could leverage things like banner ads to promote a current offer or a new product that you’ve recently launched. Mobile videos can be created to illustrate product features and benefits to a mobile shopper, which could influence their purchasing decision. These are just a few examples of how to combine other mobile tactics to heighten the success of your mobile commerce site.

There are a number of other ways to integrate various mobile marketing techniques with your m-commerce site and then further combine those with your online and offline marketing strategies to achieve notable results. The key is to be creative, target your campaigns to the right audiences and track effectiveness to make meaningful enhancements along the way.

QR Codes (The 2D Barcode)

A QR code (which stands for quick response code), also known as a 2D barcode, is a graphical image that stores information both horizontally, as one-dimensional barcodesdo, as well as vertically. A basic code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern over a white background. QR codes can store up to 7,089 characters, which can be encoded in the form of text, URL or other data.

They are known as quick response codes for their ability to access data quickly, which can be done using a dedicated QR reader downloadable from smartphones. All users need to do is take a picture of the QR code using the camera on their mobile device and the QR reader will interpret the data in the code and direct the user to relevant content. QR codes are quickly making their way into the marketing activities of companies as a way to engage audiences by providing them with interesting content with a simple snapshot on their camera phone.

How Your Business Can Use QR Codes

Your business can use QR codes in a number of ways. Once users scan the code with their camera-enabled smartphones, you can have them be re-directed to digital content on the web, activate a phone function (ie: email, instant messenger or text messaging), connect their mobile device to an Internet browser, deliver a v-card or more. It all depends on what type of information is in the code. Here are some creative ways your company can use QR codes:



Spice up your print advertising. Many brands have included a QR code on their direct mail pieces, movie posters, flyers, brochures and any other print materials they use. Though it’s not as popular as they used to be, newspaper and magazine advertising is still kicking and many advertisers are using QR codes in these ads to bridge the gap between print and online.

You can also place a QR code on your product packages that directs your customers to a web page where they can learn more about products that supplement the one they just purchased. This is an interesting way to generate interest among existing customers for products related to those they previously purchased.

Add a digital component to your business cards. This is one of the most common ways companies are using QR codes. The traditional business card isn’t going anywhere. Why not take it to the next level by including a QR code on it that takes people to an “online business card”? This could just be a simple profile page with contact details and links to your profile on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

Create interest by putting a code on your storefront display. This is a great way to open your doors to customers after work hours (in the digital sense of course). Your business likely doesn’t stay open 24/7. But those walking past your store can learn more about your business or even shop online by scanning a QR code in your storefront window. Turn a potential lost sale into an online customer with a simple scan.

Turn foot traffic into website traffic. This point is similar to the one mentioned above about your storefront display. Turning in-person prospects into online leads and further leading them down the sales pipeline can be done using a QR code.

You can drive real-world prospects to your company’s web presence to further nurture them to become interested leads. Additionally, you can keep existing customers engaged by leading them to your web presence. But this will only work if your web presence is interesting, valuable and engaging.

Bring attention to your promotions and freebies. A sure-fire way to get people to scan your QR code is by creating discounts specific to your codes. These promotion-specific codes can be advertised through various channels, both print and online, to draw attention to your business. Everybody likes freebies, so this is a good way to build traction around your QR code.

Build your social media following. Another way companies are using QR codes is by promoting their social media profiles and building their social following. A lot of companies create QR codes, not to drive people to their websites, but to connect them to their social media pages. Ultimately, having a social media connection with your customerswill allow you to keep them engaged rather than driving them to make a one-time visit to your company website.

How to Get Started with QR Codes

If you decide that a QR code is something you would like to consider incorporating in your overall mobile marketing strategy, here are a few simple steps to help you get started:

Plan out your strategy. First think about what you want to offer your customers when they scan your code. Do you have a special discount you want them to sign up for? Do you want them to follow you on Twitter or “like” your page on Facebook? Do you want them to watch a video commercial or sign up for your newsletter? Define what you want from your audience. Come up with a compelling reason why people would take the time to scan your QR code. Then determine what type of message you want to communicate.

Create your QR code. Now it’s time to create your code. It won’t cost much. In fact, a simple QR code can be created for free with programs like: Google’s free QR code creator, qr.net, createandtrack.com, qurify.com or createqrcode.appspot.com.

There are many more sites that can create a QR code for you. A simple online search will serve up a list of generators you can choose from. Once you select a generator, just enter the URL you want to send users to and the generator will produce a code that you can save as an image to your computer.

Get your QR code out there. Once you create your code, you can put it on just about anything. As briefly discussed, some of the popular places that companies put their QR codes are traditional print advertising, business cards and storefronts. Be creative. Think about the offer within your code and where it’s best to share that code so it receives the most visibility by your target audience. The more places your code appears, the more attention it will get.

Promote your QR code. Keep in mind that your mobile using customers want to receive relevant information quickly and they want the ability to take action right away. Once you get your QR code printed on various marketing pieces, it’s time to communicate your campaign to your audience. Tell them what they will receive by scanning your code. Get people to want to scan your code by highlighting what’s in it for them.

Track your success. Analytics technology with QR code campaigns is very important. When you create your code, ensure that analytics has been set up to track the number of scans (monitor how this changes during certain times of the day) and don’t forget to put analytics on the web page that you are taking visitors to. This way, you can monitor their behavior after they scan your code. Try using a URL that is specific to your QR campaign to help track your success.



Tips To Remember When Using QR Codes

There is a lot of opportunity for marketing creativity when it comes to QR codes, but where many marketers fall short is where the pay-off is - ensuring their audience has a meaningful experience after they scan the QR code. Now that we’ve talked about steps to getting started, here are some best practices for implementing an effective QR code campaign:

Don’t link to your website. The key to achieving success with QR codes is ensuring the user experience is memorable. The easiest thing to do is link your QR code to your website, but that’s probably not the most engaging place to send your customers. Try creating a custom landing page unique to each QR code campaign. Remember to provide relevant content and value.

Make sure your content is mobile-friendly. A common mistake that companies make when they implement their own QR code campaigns is they don’t keep mobile devices in mind when developing their strategy.

For example, they’ll create a QR code, link it to a web page and then print the code on various marketing pieces without considering whether the web page displays effectively across popular mobile devices. Although the QR code is mobile-friendly, you must also remember to link your code to a page that is mobile-friendly. This includes ensuring your content fits on a mobile screen, videos are condensed to a mobile-appropriate file size, etc.

Provide instructions. Because QR code technology is still relatively new, companies shouldn’t just assume that people know what to do as soon as they see the 2D barcode. Remember to include a short description of what users need to do with the QR code. This way, people will become more familiarized with this concept, so the next time they see a code, they’ll know what to do with it.

Get creative with your code. Though a basic QR code consists primarily of black checker boxes over a white background, QR codes can be customized to be more interesting and can even be branded to your company. QR codes have a lot of design potential. For example, you can add color to your code, soften hard edges with rounded corners, incorporate dimensionality to create a 3D effect, and in some cases, you can even work in your logo or brand.

Use your code across multiple channels. Earlier we mentioned print advertising, but you shouldn’t limit yourself to just print media as a way to get your QR code out there. Try including your code across multiple channels for maximum exposure and response rates. Use your code on the Internet, in your email signature, at events, on packaging, in direct mail pieces, etc.

QR codes do offer companies an exciting opportunity to market their businesses in a way that incorporates mobile technology. But by no means should QR codes in and of themselves be viewed as the overall strategy. Think of QR codes as an add-on to your mobile marketing strategy. Remember: the 4 main categories of mobile marketing discussed early should make up the bulk of your strategy. QR codes, if it fits your company, should only be considered an additional tactical method used as part of your strategy.

Throughout this guide, we discussed the concept of mobile marketing, how your company can get started with mobile and the various opportunities available to you. But how do you measure the effectiveness of each campaign? What are some indicators that show your campaigns are performing well? Much like Internet marketing, one of mobile marketing’s greatest assets is its ability to track detailed results for each campaign.

Tracking data allows you to monitor a campaign’s ongoing performance. This way, you can get an idea of which messages or offers generate the highest response rates. Measuring your campaigns can also shed light on your audience’s behaviors, the offers they are interested in and how you can enhance your overall messaging strategy. With viable data on how your mobile campaigns are performing, you can make informed decisions about your future efforts.

What to Measure (KPIs)

There is no doubt that measuring the right KPIs is a fundamental component of any marketing activity and mobile marketing is no exception. It’s important that you capture the right data to understand which mobile investments are performing well for your company and how to improve the campaigns that may not be yielding the results you wanted. Here are some key performance indicators that you should be measuring when it comes to mobile marketing:

Website Traffic

With a mobile website, you need to put analytics tracking code within your site to track the amount of traffic that goes to each page, as well as where that traffic came from – whether it is a mobile search, banner ad, text campaign, etc. Remember when selecting a mobile analytics tool to ensure that it doesn’t count spiders from search engines as real traffic. Sometimes search engine spiders can increase traffic perceived to be coming from mobile campaigns. Ensure you are tracking unique visitors and real users.

Website Bounce Rates

Much like you would measure this on a standard website, you will need to monitor the bounce rates on your mobile site. Determine the ratio of the number of user visitswith a single view to the total number of visits. This will help you understand how many of your visitors are just hitting your mobile site and then leaving it right after.

Website Engagement

It’s one thing to drive initial traffic to your mobile site, but are users staying engaged with your mobile web property? Does your mobile site offer the functionality and features that engages users? Are they coming back to read and leave reviews, access news and updates or complete your desired call-to-action?


Measuring Mobile Marketing


A way to measure mobile website engagement is to track the frequency of visits, which is the ratio of the number of visits to the number of users over a period of time. You can also measure the depth of each visit (the number of pages viewed on average compared to the number of visits). This will give you a general idea of how engaged users are with your mobile website.

Direct Responses

Since mobile advertising can be directly targeted to your audience in one of the most personal ways imaginable (their mobile phones), measuring direct responses is a great way to determine effectiveness. Some examples of direct response metrics include: click-through rates on links within text messages, mobile banner clicks, mobile video views and click-to-call rates.

URL Tracking

Similar to the above point, it’s important to measure all aspects of URL activity. Click-tracking is one of the most powerful ways to measure user engagement and return on investment for marketing campaigns. You should be tracking the click activity of anything that has a URL that takes users to another location with more information or to take an action.

Call Tracking

To further expand on direct response metrics, call tracking is a KPI to keep your eye on. A good way to generate responses from your mobile campaigns is to invite users to call a vanity number to request more information or complete a sale. Using a custom number is an effective way to measure conversions on a specific campaign. This way, even if some users do not have a smartphone, they can still engage with your company via a click-to-call option. This is a great mechanism for tracking the number of conversions of text recipients to callers.

Keyword Tracking

The only way to determine which keywords work best for your campaigns is by keyword tracking. Of course when creating your call-to-actions, you naturally select keywords that are enticing, relevant and easy to remember. But some keywords will outperform others. Tracking your keywords will help you know which ones yield the best responses.

Coupon Tracking

If you are offering a coupon or discount in any mobile campaign, a good practice is to use a coupon code that can be tracked to measure conversions. Let’s not forget that discounts and freebies are a sure-fire way to get people clicking. But the important thing is to understand what offers are most compelling to your audience. Consider integrating unique coupon codes within your point-of-sale system to associate purchases back to a specific mobile subscriber and/or campaign.

Opt-in Rates

Another good metric to watch out for are the opt-in rates of your mobile programs. How many people are subscribing to receive your mobile messages? Whether you’re promoting your mobile opt-in on your standard website, mobile website, through mobile banner ads or other forms of marketing, it’s a good idea to track how manypeople are opting in.

Opt-out Rates

Further to the above point, aside from measuring your opt-in rates, you must also remember to monitor your opt-out rates. How many people are unsubscribing from your mobile program? When they opt-out, are you asking them why? This type of information will shed light onto the reasons people don’t want to hear from your company and perhaps what needs to be improved to reduce this metric.

Opt-in Targeting

In addition to measuring the number of people who opt-in to your mobile programs, you can use advanced opt-in tracking techniques that provide information on your target audience, such as demographics and psychographics. Savvy marketers will understand the importance of combining opt-in programs with advanced mobile technologies to generate extraordinary consumer intelligence.

App Downloads

If your company chooses to create a mobile app as part of your mobile strategy, then an obvious metric to measure is the number of app downloads you receive. Monitoring the number of times your app is downloaded from an app store will show the amount of interest your app has. Keep in mind that in order to influence downloads of your app, you need to generate awareness through various promotional efforts. It would be wise to track which campaign generates the best responses for app downloads.

App Users

Not only should you be tracking the number of times your app is downloaded, another important metric to keep an eye on is the number of unique app users over a period of time. This will show you how many people are using the app after downloading it, which is arguably a more impactful metric than the number of downloads.

App Activity

Much like measuring the engagement levels of your mobile website, you can track the same metrics to measure how engaged users are with your app. For example, keep watch on how often people use your app, the duration of their usage (the average amount of time spent within the app) and which app features are used most often.



No marketing campaign can be deemed successful without the measurement of key metrics showing the effectiveness of the message, offer and medium. When monitoring your mobile marketing campaigns, be sure to track the creative, publisher and placement of each effort. Now that we’ve discussed the various metrics that you should measure, let’s talk about some of the tools and resources available that will help you measure mobile marketing effectiveness.

Tools and Resources

Take advantage of the mobile-specific analytics tools out there to get a good idea of how your mobile campaigns are performing. Here are some tools to consider using.

Google Analytics

Although it has been said that Google Analytics can pose a few issues when it comes to feature phone tracking, if you currently use it to track your standard web traffic, you can see more information about your mobile users in the backend. For example, in the Advanced Segmentation beta filter, select visits from iPhones to get an idea of how many users are visiting your site from their iPhones. Google Analytics will by no means provide the same kind of intelligence as a mobile-specific analytics tool, but it’s a simple way to get a glimpse into your mobile visitors if you are already using Google Analytics for your standard website.

Google Mobile Keyword Tool

Many companies hesitate to step into the world of mobile marketing using the excuse that “no one searches for XYZ product or service on their phones”. In the past, this claim wasn’t verifiable, but now with Google mobile keyword tool, marketers can determine what type of keywords people are searching for using their mobile phones. With the Google mobile keyword tool, you can discover which keywords people are using to search for products and services related to your industry, thus shedding light on how you should write your campaigns to generate high responses.

PercentMobile

This is a hosted mobile analytics service that makes your mobile audience and opportunities clear. This tool answers the simple question of “what is the percent of mobile visitors that come to my site?” It may be difficult to get this intelligence from traditional web analytics or even mobile analytics, since these services measure mobile traffic but not as a percentage of your overall traffic. This is where PercentMobile comes in. If your PercentMobile is high, it may be a sign that you need to invest more in how to leverage mobile marketing to cater to your mobile visitor population.

Flurry

This tool provides real-time app usage statistics and is an ideal tool for app developers. It provides valuable app intelligence such as: usage, how the app performs on various devices, the most useful features in your app, users' loyalty, users by country, average session usage and more.

Admob

This is a mobile analytics product that allows you to gain actionable insights from your mobile site. Anytime a mobile device requests a page from your website, the code that you've implemented within your site transmits the tracking data to AdMob. This way, you can get traffic insights including visitors, site usage, traffic source and mobile goals. You can also track the effectiveness of your mobile advertising campaigns, get detailed information regarding the referring sites and keywords.

Bango Mobile Analytics

This is a popular product that offers international mobile billing solutions as well as mobile analytics. Bango tracks all mobile phones, operator networks and connections, filters statistics using precise segmentation, tracks mobile advertising and campaigns, places a unique identity for every mobile visitor, tracks visit session length and more. Bango boasts its simplicity as a main benefit to companies.

Motally Mobile Analytics

Available in both free and paid solutions, this platform allows you to track mobile visitors with great accuracy, make a funnel analysis and monitor engagement using a patent-pending algorithm. Using this tool, you can track visitors across the broadest range of carrier and device combinations, create A/B multivariate tests, view engagement levels, monitor click fraud, track keywords and more.

Simply allocating to mobile whatever that’s leftover of your marketing budget after the rest of your marketing efforts are planned out is definitely not the path to success. Mobile marketing should never be a strategy implemented in a silo. It is most impactful when it is integrated into your broader marketing program.

Many companies test the waters with mobile marketing as a detached effort and when it doesn’t work as expected, they assume it’s an ineffective medium that’s not right for their business. So let’s make one thing plain and clear: mobile marketing is not a standalone medium. It works best when it is a component of an integrated marketing strategy. Companies that find success with mobile have learned that mobile acts as a supplement to the other marketing techniques they are currently leveraging.

So in order to achieve success in the world of mobile marketing, your company needs to look at the bigger picture and ask yourself “How does mobile fit into my strategy?” and take steps to integrate this exciting opportunity into your overall marketing mix.


Looking at the Bigger Picture


Benefits of Integrating Mobile Into Your Marketing Mix

The obvious benefit of integrating mobile marketing into your overall strategy is enhanced results. Marketing campaigns that operate in silos often don’t see the same kind of results than they would if they leveraged the strengths of other marketing tactics. But aside from that, here are a few other benefits of integrating mobile into your overall marketing mix:

Create a Consistent Brand Experience

With the many advertising mediums that exist today – from traditional print to in-store advertising, from Internet marketing to social media, and now the emergence of mobile – it is critical that your company creates a consistent brand experience for your audience. Regardless of how your customers connect with your brand, they need to recognize the same brand each and every time.

We learned this important principle when Internet marketing first hit the scene. A well-understood best practice was that any Internet link should take visitors to a page that has been designed and written to provide a consistent experience as the link that brought them there. The same goes for social media. Any social media profile page your company creates should portray your brand in a consistent manner as your website.

This principle holds true in the mobile marketing realm as well. By integrating all marketing efforts (including mobile), you will help create a consistent brand experience for your audience.

Reduce Costs by Identifying Unprofitable Marketing Channels

When all marketing mediums are brought under one umbrella, you can compare the metrics of all strategies to determine which channels are performing well for your company. This could shed light on some unprofitable marketing channels that you could then eliminate in order to allocate more dollars toward the high performing mediums. For example, perhaps your integrated efforts will reveal that your digital marketing strategies produce a stronger return on investment than traditional media advertising. This would be valuable information to have in order to plan your budgets next year.

Provide Customers with Multiple Ways to Connect with You

Customers can come across your brand any number of ways, whether it is by visiting your brick-and-mortar store, seeing a print ad, clicking an Internet link, stumbling onto your social media profile or through your mobile marketing efforts. Adding mobile into your marketing mix gives them another convenient way to connect with your brand.

Because mobile phones are personal, always carried and constantly used, sometimes it can be the ideal way to connect with your company – especially for those on the go. The more ways customers can contact your company, the better.

How Does Mobile Fit Into Your Strategy?

The mobile marketing opportunities we discussed in this guide include other forms of marketing as well. For example, mobile websites involve a great deal of integration with your standard website. Location-based mobile tactics include traditional search and social media marketing. Mobile advertising techniques are very similar to traditional Internet advertising methods. And mobile app development involves a great deal of integration among all forms of mobile and Internet marketing. The same applies with mobile commerce and QR codes. None of these are standalone tactics.

Also, how do you get the word out there about any of these mobile opportunities? Probably through your existing traditional online and offline marketing channels. Without a doubt, mobile marketing must be part of your overall marketing efforts. But how does it fit into your strategy? Here are a few ideas to help your company integrate mobile into your marketing efforts.

Make Your Online Content Mobile-Accessible

This goes beyond creating a mobile-friendly website. Making your online content mobile-accessible means ensuring all your digital content can be accessed by all mainstream mobile devices. This includes your email newsletters, company blog, resource library and any other online web properties you may have. Now that people are using their smartphones to access online resource, they should be able to view your company’s information (regardless of the platform) on their devices without issue.

Include a “Mobile” Link in Your Email Newsletters

The concept of accessing content on a handheld really made headways when email checking on mobile devices became popular. So naturally, a good way to integrate mobile into your email marketing efforts is by including a “view mobile version” link in your newsletters. A common email marketing best practice is to send both an HTML and a plain text version of your emails out.

This way, the devices that cannot render your HTML email newsletter will automatically receive the plain text version. Mobile email readers can take action right away, share your newsletter with their social network connections or forward the email to their friends thus expanding the reach of your messages.

Add a Sense of Mobile to Your Print Campaigns

Breathe new life into your print advertising efforts. Try incorporating a mobile call-to-action in your print ads and you will easily turn the mobile phone into an engagement platform for your company, while also providing a reliable method for measuring response rates. For example, you can add a QR code to your newspaper, magazine, outdoor and in-store ads. Another way to do this is by using a short code to generate text responses, which can be communicated on your print materials. Adding a simple line like “text to learn more” at the bottom of an ad can bring a degree of mobile into your print campaigns.



Build Your Mobile Opt-In List Using Other Marketing Channels

If your company is looking to build a database of subscribers for your mobile campaign, then a good way to get the word out and build your subscription list is by promoting your mobile program through other marketing channels. For example, include a mobile opt-in link on your standard website, mobile website, print materials, email newsletters, social media pages, email signature, etc. Be sure to set proper expectations though. Tell your mobile subscribers exactly what they’re opting in to receive and how often they’ll receive it.

Include a Link to Your Mobile Site on Your Standard Site

We touched on this topic earlier in the guide, but it’s worth mentioning again now. When it comes to integrating your mobile efforts with other marketing channels, it’s important to add a link to your mobile site in the footer of your standard site and vice versa. This way, those who are browsing on a handheld can choose to view your mobile site or your standard site, depending on the type of device they are using and how it renders online content.

The suggestions above are just meant to give you an idea of how you can integrate mobile marketing into your overall strategy. A digital marketing professional can evaluate what your company is currently doing from a traditional and online marketing perspective and then examine how mobile fits in your marketing mix. As you start leveraging the various mobile marketing opportunities available to you, naturally you will use other forms of marketing to promote your mobile presence. Either way, marketing integration is the key to creating awareness and success.

Though it’s evident that mobile marketing offers a wide range of benefits for companies of all sizes and industries, not all companies have the time, resources or know-how to successfully implement a mobile marketing strategy and integrate it into their overall marketing programs. If your company is one of them, then it is recommended you put your mobile marketing strategy in the hands of a certified professional.

WSI Internet Consultants are trained and certified by industry leaders to plan, strategize and implement proven digital marketing solutions for their clients. Our solutions include a wide range of services from traditional Internet marketing (such as paid search advertising and search engine optimization) to landing page design to social media and mobile marketing. All digital marketing solutions are custom-tailored to suit the needs and goals of each individual business.

Contact a WSI Internet Consultant today to discuss how your company can benefit from a proven digital marketing solution or to learn more about how a mobile marketing strategy can help your business.

Conclusion

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