Mobile Marketing – Why Small Businesses Need a Good Strategy in Place

Mobile devices – such as phones, tablets and Smartphones – have overtaken desktops as the best tools for accessing the Internet as well as all other web-related services. Mobile devices have also emerged as the best platforms through which a small business can deploy all its marketing tactics. In fact, mobile devices have emerged as the tools of choice for customers to read web content, check emails, and shop online.

Reports indicate that 9 out of every 10 Americans possess a cellphone. More than half of the cellphones in the hands of Americans are smartphones. Consequently, it is safe to say that the world is in the smartphone era, thus one more reason for embarking on mobile marketing. If you are going to use this form of marketing to benefit your small business, a focused mobile strategy needs to be in place covering the following considerations:

• Development of a mobile app and/or mobile responsive website 
• Investment in user specific messages and content as well as notifications
• Social media assets and integration
• A loyalty program that offers customers rewards and perks

Loyalty programs will entice existing customers to continue buying from a business. Loyalty programs are also attractive to new customers who desire to know the benefits they stand to obtain by choosing to purchase their preferred products and services from a specific business.

Cost-Effective 

All forms of marketing must have a high impact. Fortunately, mobile marketing does just that. More importantly, small businesses care about the impact of any marketing promotion on their finances. In this regard, the cost-effective nature of marketing via mobile devices is the best way through which small businesses can achieve their desired goals. Marketing via mobile devices is more affordable to small businesses.

The initial investment that the small business owners make regarding the resources and time required to develop the technology is what requires the most cost outlay. Once up and running, mobile marketing programs provide cost-efficiencies against traditional media expense requirements such as postage, printing and air time.

The cost effectiveness of mobile marketing to any local or small business is also demonstrated by the fact that the cost of developing and delivering it continues to decrease with time. The more the volume increases, the lower the costs of developing and delivering the marketing campaign grows. For a startup, this is great news considering that it needs to save a huge chunk of its finances/capital to build its profitability.

Immediate Results

The best news with mobile marketing is that the content gets to the customers immediately. Moreover, it provides two-way engagement. What this means is that customers are free to respond to the marketing message that they receive. This assists to create the environment for interactivity and direct engagement to thrive between a small business and its customers. There are no intermediaries to create complexities or distraction between the business or customers. The message gets to the customers in its purest form. Similarly, the response by customers gets to the business in it’s purest form.

Faster Response Rates

The fact that customers walk around with their mobile devices means that they will respond faster to any marketing message that a small business sends to them. Moreover, a small business can have real time access to tracking results including downloads, page visits and customer opt-ins. This information is important for a small business to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of mobile strategies as well as be able to adjust and optimize plans accordingly.