Overcoming the Complexities of Online Mobile Marketing

Posted: Sep 03, 2012
Author: WordJack Media

Mobile marketing is quickly becoming a necessity instead of an option for small businesses. Almost everyone has a smart phone and/or tablet these days, and chances are that if they have one, they use it to research products and make purchases.

Mobile marketing used to be a tool just for large corporations, but it is now easily accessible to small, local businesses, as well. But if you think it’s easy for your company’s ad to get from you to the consumer’s mobile device, think again. Check out this infographic for a visual example of just how complex online mobile marketing can be:

So, if you're going to develop a mobile marketing plan that works, you’re going to have to find a way to simplify things. Focusing on the answers to these simple questions can help you achieve your company’s mobile marketing goals:

• Who is your target mobile customer? Understanding exactly who you are trying to reach is vital to the success of your mobile marketing plan.  
• Why is your customer using his or her mobile device? Are they texting or emailing their friends? Are they trying to find something? Are they just trying to entertain themselves on a long bus or subway ride? Make sure your mobile ads have a specific purpose and cater to the mobile habits of your target customer.
• Where is the mobile customer you're trying to reach? With the location-based technology available on iPhones and Androids, you can easily take advantage of someone’s physical location when creating your mobile messages. “Hey, I noticed you’re just a few blocks away from my ice cream shop! Stop in for a free cone this afternoon…”
• What is your mobile customer doing? Are they looking for a casual restaurant to stop at for lunch or a swanky hotel to spend the night in? Are they heading out for a night on the town with friends? Targeting messages based on your potential customer’s current situation will make your mobile marketing plan much more effective.
• How do you look on a small-screen? I know this sounds obvious, but it’s what mobile marketing is all about. If your website can’t be easily searched/read, or your page is too heavy to load on a slower connection (often experienced on 3g networks), your marketing may be failing at a critical point!
• Why are people using a mobile device? Too often we think about a mobile experience as being stand-alone to a desktop experience – that’s simply not true! Facebook use, for example, is incredibly popular on mobile phones. So rather than thinking about the increase in mobile usage as a brand new requirement from a marketing perspective, we like to think of it as an EXTRA business case for marking sure your business presence is in order on desktop+mobile sites – like Facebook, Yelp, Google + Local, etc.

Mobile marketing is different from just about all other forms of marketing because the context matters just as much as the content—if not more so. It’s important to not get overwhelmed by all the hype and complexities of mobile marketing and just do what makes sense for you and your business.