More than 50% of the people searching for a local business on Google are searching on a cell phone!
Are your customers finding you?
If you’re not marketing to cell phone users, you may be missing out on a tremendous number of consumers! The number of people using smart phones is dramatically on the rise. At this time, there are almost five times more cell phone users than computer owners, which only demonstrates the importance for a business to start promoting to mobile users.
And when it comes to connecting with your customers, mobile marketing CANNOT be beat! Just watch the short video below.
So, the basics of text message marketing is…
- The customer opts in to your list by texting a keyword to a 5 digit ‘short code’
- The customer receives an automated offer (a discount) promoting your services
- Since your customer is now in your database, he/she can be contacted at ANY time, day or night (NOTE. It’s important to not send out too many offers to your customer – 2-4 a month is OK)
- And the best part is…. 97% of text messages are opened within 4 minutes.
Text message marketing is very inexpensive and has the best ROI (Return on Investment) of ANY form of marketing.
And want to know what Your ‘short code’ will be?
72727
Think your customers will remember that!!
On computers, email marketing keeps business owners in touch with their customers, but in mobile marketing texting is the way to go, with an amazing 97% open rate (as compared to 5% – 20% with emails). Also, 97% of text messages are opened within the first 4 minutes!
(Note. This video is only a year old and the stats (95% of text messages are opened within the first 4 minutes!) are outdated. It’s now 97%, which shows how fast the Mobile Market is growing!
If you own a restaurant and are having a really slow day, how much extra business do you think you would get by sending a text message to your subscribers saying “come in for dinner today and receive 15% off your meal,” especially if 97% read your message? Not only would your subscribers come in for the discounted meal, but you can rest assured they would notify their friends as well. That’s the power of Text Message Marketing.
Or what if you’re a real estate agent and have a new listing that you know several clients might be interested in. You can text them and let them know of the listing immediately.
Read more about Text Message marketing here.
If you’d like more information on SMS Text Marketing, contact me here.
One of the reasons the Mobile Marketing is literally exploding right now is because of the price of smartphones. Whereas it’s true you can spend hundreds of dollars on a smartphone, you can also buy one for around $50.
Think about it… not everyone can afford a computer, but just about everybody can afford a smartphone.
If you’re still not convinced Mobile is the way to go, just watch this video by Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, in which he says, “The smartphone is more than the iconic device of our time, the smartphone is THE device of our time.
And if you, as a business owner, are still not interested in marketing to mobile phone consumers, the video below may change your mind….
Two major points that was stated in the video was:
- 51% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a retailer that has a mobile website.
- Over 80% of people who shop on the web would be more inclined to shop at that retailer if they had something on their mobile phone.
Now do you see why your business should
have a Mobile Website?
Searches for local products and services are what many mobile phone users are looking for, and if they can’t find your business easily, they’ll go to your competitor.
Here are a few more statistics:
- According to a recent survey from Compuware, 40% of users have turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience. (Which means your business should have a mobile optimized website!)
- eMarketer estimates that there will be 115.8 million smartphone users in the US by the end of 2012, with that number growing to 176.3 million by 2015 (Source: eMarketer, 2012)
- 62% of shoppers search for deals digitally for at least half of their shopping trips (Source:GMA/Booz & Company Shopper Survey)
- 52% of adult cell phone owners use their devices while in a store to get help with purchasing decisions (Source: Pew American & Internet Life Project, 2012)
- 75% of heavy mobile users said mobile search makes their lives easier, 63% said access to mobile search has changed the way they gather information, and 32% said they use mobile search more than search engines on their computers (Source: Performics 2011 Mobile Search Insights Study, conducted by ROI Research)
- 62% of smartphone users said they have purchased physical goods from their mobile devices in the last six months (Source: Adobe Survey, 2011)
- Chrysler ran a 60-second commercial during the 2011 Super Bowl , and related mobile search traffic climbed 200% after the commercial aired, compared to a 48% jump on a PC.
- When GoDaddy ran their commercial during the Super Bowl the search went up 315% for mobile searches and only 50% for PCs.
- More than half the searches on Google are from mobile devices.
We mentioned using Text Message Marketing
to market to your customers.
How else can you market to them?
QR codes
A QR Code, which stands for Quick Response, is a barcode that can be read by cell phones. They were invented in Japan in the 90’s, are big in Europe, and are quickly gaining popularity in the U.S.
You’ve seen them in flyers, in stores, in newspapers… QR codes are used by businesses large and small and they are here to stay!
Get more information about QR Codes here.
If you would like more information regarding Mobile Marketing, QR codes or Text Message Marketing, call me at 727-902-9128. You can also email me using our contact form.
Jenny Francoeur
jenny@mobilemarketingoftampabay.com
