5 Actionable Mobile Marketing Tips For Small Businesses

As a small business, what you hope to acquire from your marketing efforts is attainment of your goals. In order to do this, you need a killer strategy that will get your brand the attention it deserves. Here is some advice with practical value for those who need to create a successful mobile marketing campaign, whether you do it in-house or outsource to an agency. From goal-setting to using the best themes for mobile users, take these tips with you into your next project.

1: Set Attainable Goals

One of the most solid pieces of advice that any mobile marketer can receive is to set measurable, reachable goals. Once the goals are in place, the team has an idea of what must be done in order to reach them. So, if you want to make the most of your mobile marketing, first determine what you want to gain and when you want it.

For example, your company might sell pet accessories. You could be experiencing about 10,000 website views from mobile devices alone. Imagine that it’s about 70% of your overall traffic. You assume that 70% of your sales are made from mobile sales, and have other data to back that assumption. So, pretend that last quarter you sold $23,000 worth of pet supply products. You are going to revamp your mobile marketing plan and you want to increase mobile sales alone to $23,000 from $16,000 (70% of total). You want this to happen within six months of the campaign launch.

You’re looking to sustainably increase online monthly sales $1,200 with the implementation of your new mobile strategy. You want this to happen within 180 days. These are measurable and reachable goals. With real numbers like these, you can determine what your weekly and monthly mobile marketing goals are.

2: Plan Way in Advance

Setting goals is just the first step to planning your mobile marketing campaign strategy. What tactics will you use? Do you have an Android or iOS app to promote? Are you going to be using SMS messaging? What are the best avenues to promote? Will you be targeting current customers only or looking for new leads as well? These are the kinds of questions you will be asking when you come up with your actual marketing plan.

Any experienced mobile marketer will tell you that planning is the key to successful marketing plans. Your strategy is the backbone of your campaign. You want to partner your goals with the needs of your customers to compile and schedule targeted tactics for selling your products and services. Be sure to leave room in every plan for analysis of the tactics. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. But, if it’s not working, figure out why and make changes.

The analysis part of your strategy should be written into your plan. So, whether you plan on analyzing daily, weekly, or monthly, write it down. Everyone on the outreach team should have an understanding of the overall picture and be briefed when changes are made. Ensure your success by being prepared.

3: Take Advantage of Mobile Marketing Opportunities through Your Staff

The marketing team isn’t the only group involved in brand outreach. Every member of your staff who uses a mobile phone is a potential marketer. So, instead of having a “no phones” policy in the workplace, take the time to think about how you can leverage staff phone use to your advantage.

Think about it:

John, in your sales department, gets a text from his cousin who lives out of state. He doesn’t respond to the text because he is busy working. He calls his cousin back another time when he has the freedom to do so.

OR

John, in your sales department, gets a text from his cousin who lives out of state. He answers the text to let his cousin know what he is doing at the moment, strategizing with a new manufacturer and designer about a climbing harness product that is coming out soon. John’s cousin realizes that he has an acquaintance at his son’s school who is interested in climbing, so proceeds to tell this person about the new product. This generates interest and John’s cousin’s acquaintance does a quick Google search for the company John’s cousin just mentioned. He purchases a product from you and becomes a new customer.

Which scenario sounds best? The latter, of course. Instead of being unconscious about the traffic your staff generates to your store, let employees know that you appreciate their opinions and the work they do, including word of mouth advertising, and set appropriate times for cell phone use during work (within reason).

4: Use Trusted Productivity Tools

In the information age, mobile marketing is fast, and the tactics change quickly. Fortunately, there are trusted productivity tools that evolve with the times. They are not only helpful, but often necessary to the success of your business, so put them to use in the daily tasks of your mobile campaigns. Here is a list of some apps/ tools that will make your job easier:

• Asana — Task Management
• DropBox — File Sharing
• Google Calendar — Event Scheduling
• Textmagic — Bulk SMS Service
• Google URL Shortener — (goo.gl)- Short Linking
• Reputology — Real Time Customer Feedback Capture
• TrendSpottr — Trend and Viral Content Predictor

Implement some or all of these tools when executing your next campaign.

5: Optimize Your Website for Mobile Users

If you aren’t already using one, switch your website’s theme to a responsive one. Responsive themes will change based on the browser that the visitor is using. This way, visitors using a laptop or PC will see a different site version than those viewing from the convenience of a smartphone or tablet. It’s an often overlooked step in the marketing process.

Summary

Set goals, make plans, let your staff organically do some of the work for you, use productivity tools, and switch to responsive website themes. These easy-to-implement strategy enhancing tips will make a world of difference in your campaigns, so start using them today. Then, share your own actionable tips in the comments below.