Is it ideal for a small business owner embrace the "new mobile" advertising?
We hear that the future of network marketing, advertising, and revenue growth *isn’t* the internet. It *isn’t* social networking. Almost big businesses and successful small business owners are realizing that to grow, you have to reach your customers in the one place they are always available…On their mobile devices.
Everyday...Each adult leaves their house with 3 things: 1) Wallet, 2) Keys 3) and Mobile Phone, where is it leading to?
Expert Answers
Sort by Date
Sort by Votes
Jul 17, 2014
Internet and Digital advertising has some of the most traceable analytic data available when compared to TV, radio, and other traditional forms of marketing. Using Google Analytics (free) you can see if a lot of your visitors are coming from mobile devices are not. You can see how long they stay on your site and how many pages they view.
if you see you get tons of engagement on mobile and smart devices, you may consider trying some mobile advertising.
Jun 8, 2014
Yes, It is ideal for the small business owners to embrace with the new mobile advertising technique because it will help them in keeping up with the changing trends. With the help of mobile apps in advertising technique, small business individual can connect and have effective communication with the customers directly. According to Telmetrics 46% of consumers use their mobile devices for research. Using the mobile advertising technique, small and medium enterprises to increase their visibility and can indulge the customer over the direct communication.
Jun 8, 2014
Cass has been working silently and now has released mobile marketing that is easy to use and good conversion rates.More details here: http://thenewmobilerevolution.com/x3/?p=a3895/
May 27, 2014
Direct marketing is powerful, and very powerful when you send text messages to the phone. There is one cardinal rule to mobile marketing: Do not offer a discount that creates a loss for the business...meaning, only offer a discount as great as to break even for the business on that transaction.
May 13, 2014
Hi Charles
There was a fairly recent report done by Oxygen8 Communications on the subject which had some interesting stats. (also see http://ow.ly/wNuYU )
42% of consumers in Britain felt the mobile marketing messages they received were not relevant or useful.
However (22%) of consumers said they would be more likely to buy and spend money with a company that sent them useful mobile communication.
54% of consumers said they would be happy to receive marketing offers via their mobile devices providing they were relevant. This included discount vouchers, offers and sales and being informed that a product they were interested in was back in stock.
34% of respondents to the survey outlining the need for improved customer service and the ability to offer them something different.
What the report tells us is that mobile marketing need to be targeted specifically to each customer. This might mean a little more work on the part of the marketer but will ultimately result in a better experience for the customer and the opportunity to increase your ROI.
Regards
Russell
May 27, 2014
and maybe the ad doesn't have to be directly targeted to the user (ie Dear Jeff...), but the advertisement must be relevant in that the digital coupon must be from a place that the user frequents.
May 13, 2014
Short answer - not yet.
You need a conversion funnel behind the mobile ad to convert. Once the mobile user clicks that ad, where will they land? (prolly a desktop website). Along with mobile advertising, a set of digital assets is needed to convert positively through the traffic achieved through it.
Also, you need to check if your target audience is actually available on the mobile ad avenue that you are targeting. You also need to see if there is a trend of purchase within your vertical through mobile devices/cash on delivery or plastic purchases.
So all in all, it depends on the business vertical and the stage at which the business is at. I would definitely not recommend it as a first step forward, it is only viable for a business that is running a healthy sales channel online prior to investing in mobile advertising (e.g. a pizza shop that's been booking orders over the internet should definitely go with mobile ads, while a boutique that has yet to make its first online sale shouldn't).
Apr 27, 2014
Yes and No. Depending on the approach.
Yes- There are two points in here:
1) The availability of mobile device on the hands of the end customer helps a manufacturer connect with a customer directly. That is not possible using the traditional forms of sales/marketing.
2) Customers these days do not wish/plan to sign up for 20 different market places to get things. Instead to are looking out for a large umbrella that have various services present within it.
This also helps small business. As they can concentrate in improving their primary business where as the e/m-commerce company that focuses on expanding commerce through other means.
No- Most of the smaller companies that had started with a e-m commerce are going dormant. Since they understand they are not the only service/ product providers in the market.
One more thing that I have observed. In large firms, there are people who seldom need things. Having these e/m- commerce sites register with the vendor management system of the customer parent company helps. There by eliminating improper record management.
Feb 26, 2014
mobile marketing if done correctly can grow you business in a huge way. Like any business marketing you need to define your goals and the objectives you will use to meet those goals.
Mobile marketing should designed to allow you to collect customer information such as phone numbers and email addresses. Your mobile marketing should strive to build a large database of customers that you can remarket to using SMS Text messages and increase the number of transactions on a daily, weekly and quarterly basis.
Wit this focus in mind and steady implementation of your marketing objectives you can grow your business quickly.
Jan 12, 2014
One of the keys to advertising is a clear message on why your product or service is different to your competitors and a clear 'call to action' in your add. The other key is consistency and the third is frequency. Of these three, frequency is the expensive part for a small business. Yes, most people search for information on their mobile rather than their PC but I'm not sure how many buy as a result of mobile advertising. This could be expensive. First make sure your website is 'responsive', ie mobile friendly for smart phones and tablets before you consider mobile advertising. Mobile advertising should only be used in conjunction with a social media plan, and other marketing tools.
Jan 11, 2014
True. Today, the growth of mobile phone has outnumbered the PC growth rate by quite a substantial rate. Facebook population (members) is much bigger than many countries. In today's world you can't ignore the mobile consumer and hence mobile advtg. will gain more prominence in the coming times.
Jan 11, 2014
Depends on your business. Most people ignore push advertising on their phones. You are more likely to be found via a Yelp! listing or Google Maps or a mobile formatted website. You can also sign up with any number of location based deal apps.
Jan 9, 2014
It really depends on the business. Google and Facebook/Bing are making moves to replace the Yellow pages and the TV Guide and Wikipedia with their own cell-phone friendly directories. Like the late 1990's, a lot of big players are trying to perfect the dream of the perfect portal site. That essentially means that internet users would begin to login to a service (Google or Facebook or Yahoo or something else) and then do everything they want to do within that one sub-web. An instant map that ties in with a business directory, reviews and web pages. Everything you need to make a decision in your hand. If you are shopping for a special item, you can often tell if there are any in stock and compare prices before you spend the day going from store to store.
With more than half of North American internet users relying more on smart phones and tablets than laptops or desktops - online directories tie into a huge number of shopping decisions.
Ads on cell phones won't work as well, because the screen is too small to share important space with ( even a small ad can keep you from finding the important info, so a visit to a page with intrusive ads will likely alienate visitors fast). It is more likely that we will see some new forms of advertising develop so that successful searches are emotionally linked to a sponsoring brand. This certainly is a pivotal time and being late may put many businesses at a huge disadvantage.
Jan 9, 2014
Hi Dave,
That was a good research on big companies in their quest for new trends in advertising.
Jan 9, 2014
Hi Charles,
as you point out there are the three things people always leave their house with.
in 2013 mobile search represented approximately 22% of all web traffic. That figure is expected to grow by 12% in 2014. Currently over 4 Billion people are connected to the web using mobile devices.
There are over seven (7) Billion mobile devices capable of connecting to the internet. (How many phones, ipads, nooks, kindles, Androids, blackberries do you own ?)
Most people are never more than 1 metre away from their phone 24 hours a day. 96 % of text messages are read within an hour of being received and 98% of them are opened.
Now the question is.."how do you get someone to your mobile website ?"
But before that you must consider how your mobile website looks on their phone. Is your software HTML 5 compliant so it will display on every device including laptops PCs and Macs ?
So getting people to your mobile website.
You can do this using a standard URL. Or a QR code, or a smart link inside of a book or a billboard beside the highway...
If anyone wants a consultation on this then contact me as we are at the cutting edge..
I hope this helps.
Mike Noone
Jan 9, 2014
Hi Michael, you have shown a good evidence of how people are obsessed with mobile phones. It looks like they cannot do without them. This will be the next shift in ads. As you stated, website owners must do some tweaking to their website in order to comply with the new trend.
Jan 15, 2014
hi Charles,
over 80% of websites do not display correctly on mobile devices. The shift has already begun. There are certain regulatory aspects such as double opt in on mobile devices. The FTC has recently said that all mobile marketing must offer double opt in, Something we offer to our clients.
The other massive move in marketing is in podcasting and podcasting to mobile devices.
Are you looking for help with your mobile marketing Charles, if so PM me here
Jan 9, 2014
Yes. There has been a tremendous amount of buying that people are doing by utilizing the convenience of the smart phone. The forecast only points to it being even more increasing during this year and into the next.
You have to have a mobile application and or your site has to be mobile capable for access and usability to reach customers. If you are not doing this, you are losing out by the competitors doing something that you are not!
Jan 9, 2014
That's tricky. I am frustrated with what I have seen so far. Pushy is not good. Neither is complacent.
Jan 9, 2014
Not in terms of banner ads (they are too small), but using social media and by creating mobile or responsive sites - yes more than anything!!! Most of your customers will be searching for services from mobile!!
Jan 9, 2014
We shall soon see new mobile phones with bigger screens to accommodate banners. Thanks John for posting your answer here!
Jan 8, 2014
Absolutely! I recently had my web manager redo my website, so it can now be viewed on mobile phones and tablets. When I use Google Analytics, I am able to see how many people are viewing the site on desktops, phones, and tablets. The numbers on mobile devices are growing.
Jan 8, 2014
The most important thing needed for making decisions about what to say and what channels will be most productive for reaching prospective buyers is to KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE! Generalizations like " Each adult leaves the house with three things..." are misnomers. The Mobile communication channel is very appropriate for communicating to some audiences but not all. It's a great media for some products but not all. The most successful marketing efforts are tailored for the audience, so be careful, be selective and you'll be successful.
Jan 8, 2014
It depends on the business. Mobile advertising is rising but it has to be able to engage the audience, which is usually through the internet. Most people check their phones multiple times a day, meaning they are constantly engaged so yes, it is worthwhile. I suppose it depends on the market you are targeting as well, seeing that the younger generation is more likely to engage in mobile advertising versus the older generation.
Also, mobile advertising is the top advertising platform currently and is likely to keep growing that way. QR codes are an excellent marketing tool for mobile devices and so are apps.
Hope this helps.
Jan 9, 2014
Absolutely right, great help not only to but everyone who owns a business online. Thank you Chantal for the contribution. You have been rewarded a tick!
It is really taking root,people are learning how to embrace this marketing strategy. Thanks for the contribution.