Introduction
Mobile marketing, or marketing through the use of smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices, is on the rise - and will continue as long as people find this a convenient way to shop. According a recent study conducted by IBM, 13.3% of all retail sales were made on a mobile device during the first three months of 2012. This is up from 7% during the first three months of 2011.
With news like this, more and more businesses will now focus on making sure their websites, email messages, and other online marketing channels may be viewed easily on mobile devices. But this is where problems can occur. With so many devices on the market and many more in development, how can businesses ensure their online presence will be felt by those using a smartphone, iPad or other device?
No one knows the answer to this question, but one thing is for sure, mobile marketing is here to stay.
Throughout this guide, you will learn more about the advantages of mobile campaigns. You will also learn how to make simple changes to existing campaigns so you can better prepare your business for the future. Lastly, you will learn that mobile campaigns, while popular, have not completely taken over online marketing. Failure to maintain good relationships with those using PC's may cost you money and your reputation if you're not careful.
Why Mobile is so Important
Making sure everyone can read your messages or visit your website without complication is very important if you want to continue making sales. Slow uploads, poor image quality, text cut-off, and improperly sized link buttons can cause nothing but frustration to those that want to learn more about your goods and services.
The numbers of people investing in mobile devices such as smartphones, iPads and other tablet computers continues to grow - as more tech and electronics companies start to manufacture these devices, the price continues to go down, which makes these devices more affordable to a larger number of people. A steady decrease in the number of stationery personal computers and even laptops has been well documented over the years.
And with the expansion of WiFi, people can now access the Internet all over the world without a modem to tether them to one place. On-the-go sales methods have become necessary to keep up with those that are constantly on the move.
Keeping Up with the Competition
It's more important than ever to make sure that you can compete with the competition. Regardless of your industry or niche market, thanks to technology, businesses can now reach customers instantly to provide information, product/service reviews, entertainment, coupons and free stuff. And since all businesses can use this new technology to connect with customers quickly, you can bet that most will try their hardest to reach people and build relationships with them.
In order to compete, you must incorporate a mobile marketing strategy into your existing marketing campaign. These days, it's just not enough to rely on brochures, websites, blogs, or email to generate interest and sales. You must also interact via social media websites, and through customer's smartphones and other portable devices.
With an expanded campaign, you will be able to reach different groups of people interested in your goods and services. From retired people to university students just starting out, being able to reach people consistently in a medium they're comfortable with is key to building a long-term brand.
The Power of Email Marketing
Email marketing is still a powerful way to market to specific groups of people. What's changing isn't the message, but how it's presented. You still need to provide quality content, sales and great deals, but now, you need to make sure people can access this information whenever they want, regardless of the type of device they're using.
So in addition to segmenting your list based on shopping preferences or geographic location, you may also have to create different email templates to suit different portable devices. This may be problematic for some businesses, however, but there are ways to make sure your content may be viewed on most portable devices.
Making Changes to Existing Campaigns
Instead of starting all over and building a new email campaign, take what you already have and make some adjustments. You can create two email templates, one for larger screens, and one for smaller screens or you can adjust how you present content (fewer images, links moved to the top of the page).
Consider that most mobile devices are slower than PCs. This means it takes longer to load pages. To reduce the time it takes for a mobile device to load your email content, remove all unnecessary images or reduce their size. Remove most links except those that are most important. Remove ads, embedded video, animation, and any other items that prolong downloading.
Other changes to consider:
- Keep content to a single column so people viewing on a smaller screen can easily scroll down to read the entire message.
- Avoid long paragraphs that cram in a lot of information. Instead, keep paragraphs short so people can scan them.
- Make links and buttons easy to press using a finger or stylus rather than a mouse.
- Place all important information (sale dates, locations, times, etc.) in the beginning of the message - many people don't scroll down to read entire message.
If creating two email message formats - one for PCs and one for portable devices, add a link at the top of the message that allows people to change from one format to the other. This takes away some of the guesswork about which format to send which group. Do the same for your website and other Internet marketing channels.
Other Marketing Channels
Keep in mind that it's not just email messages that need to be adjusted for mobile devices. Landing and blog pages, websites, online forums, and other places where you advertise goods and services may need updating to ensure everyone can view these pages at any time.
The good news is that you don't have to make all these changes over night. Gradual changes allow you to maintain your budget and sanity while allowing more and more people to enjoy your content using a variety of devices.
Mobile Marketing: Interacting with Customers
Interacting with subscribers and customers can help you build a personal relationship that may yield more sales. Take advantage of mobile email campaigns and text message marketing to get to know your customers better. Send polls, surveys, games, or links to additional information. Use social media platforms to start discussions and get more people to sign up. Create product reviews, case studies, and whitepapers to show how valuable your products are and how much customers enjoy using them.
Connecting with Specific Types of Shoppers
Mobile marketing allows you to reach impulse shoppers or bargain hunters looking for the latest deal. Entice these shoppers with instant savings coupon codes, or reduce prices for a limited time to entice these types of customers. Chances are, great deals along with product reviews or customer testimonials will entice other types of shoppers as well.
Building a Brand
To build a successful brand, you must maintain contact with subscribers and consumers in general. Mobile marketing allows you to do this around the clock. In the past, email used to sit in subscriber inboxes for hours until they could access their account to read messages. This was time lost on your end because during that time, you could have made a sale or booked an appointment. But now that more people can check their inbox during the day or read a text message from you, there's more time to sell goods and services.
Maxmail HQ Can Help
Maxmail HQ is a premier email marketing service that has plenty of features and tools you can use to move into mobile marketing with ease. From social media integration to SMS messaging, you will be able to enhance your existing campaign or build a new one from scratch. Features of Maxmail HQ include:
- Ability to customize list fields for segmentation purposes
- Email templates for easy design
- Design features such as Drag & Drop editing
- Ability to import and save images and other files
- Integration with social media
- Ability to create and send autoresponder messages
- Advanced list cleaning
- Organize and manage multiple lists at the same time
- Adjust send frequency as needed
Maxmail HQ takes the guess work out of creating and managing an email campaign. Armed with the knowledge you gained from this guide in conjunction with the features Maxmail HQ has to offer, you can start promoting your non-profit organization online in no time!
For more information, check out these instructional Maxmail HQ videos:
Maxmail HQ: Customer Engagement
Maxmail HQ: The Power of Customer Satisfaction
Maxmail HQ: SMS for Instant Gratification
Maxmail HQ: ROI Driven Marketing
Maxmail HQ: Easy Mail Marketing, Social Media, SMS and Surveys
Maxmail HQ: High Volume Email Marketing