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Local Marketing | Mobile and Local Internet Marketing Specialist, Speaker, Mentor and Coach

Archive for local marketing

Jan
05

How Are Smartphones Being Used?

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Why is this study really important to local business?  It validates where your customers are hanging out and if you tap into this Mobile Marketing strategy for your business it could possibly increase sales and client database for your business.  When I speak with local entrepreneurs I always mention how important SMS texting and QR Codes are for their business these days and in the diagram below, from Pew Research Centers, it clearly shows that.  Every business should be thinking of some form of Mobile marketing for their business in 2012.  Have you ever wondered though how those smartphone users are using their mobile phones? To help you get a better understanding of how smartphones are being used to support your Mobile and Local Internet Marketing initiative, here is an infographic below.

By the end of 2011 there was approximately a 44% penetration rate of smartphones with an extremely fast growth rate.  There are about  5.5 billion mobile devices of which 2.2 billion of them are smartphones.  Every mobile device these days being sold can handle texting, that is of course if the end user has it turned on, that is no wonder why it is #1 on the diagram below.  However, not all mobile devices can take a picture and have it render to a URL (QR Code Marketing) and that’s why it is #2.  The #3 category on the diagram below is Internet Browsing which is used for Local Browsing, your clients browsing for your keyword such as “plumber austin texas”.  Then #4 Email Marketing is where you capture their name, email address and cellphone numbers because your clients want to be reached by email on-the-go.

Now it doesn’t surprise me that Apps are #5.  Apps have that sexy ring to them but Apps are the most likely to get deleted and not used, faster than anything else on a mobile phone not unless your App is compelling and your clients love it.  I always suggest to my clients, put all the other marketing strategies in place first before spending the thousands of dollars to create an App.  Apps are the first thing to get deleted also if a phone is reaching it’s storage limits.  Apps take a wee bit of time to put together so to help you increase sales from Mobile and Local Internet Marketing faster, it is best to focus on the top 3.

Remember, print media marketing is going down and mobile media is growing leaps and bounds with a continued growth rate from here on in to help businesses increase sales.

Does the data below match up to how you use your own smartphone? Let us know in the comments section below.

Smartphone Usage Infographic

Jan
05

SMS Marketing Case Study – Retail

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There are so many local businesses on our planet and with over 5.5 billion phones and over 2.2 billion smartphones available to market to, it is an awesome way to stay connected with your clients who want to shop at your place of business.

In this case study it is a retail store in the gaming industry.  They have an awesome desktop website selling everything from online games to games for Playstation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 and many, many other platforms.  In 2004 they saw a report stating that the gaming industry as a whole was worth 10.3 billion.  A couple of years later, they opened up their first store.  They now have 2 stores and looking at expanding and adding more locations.

It was obvious to them that the demographic coming of people into their stores where very text messaging savvies.  Just about everyone had or used a cell phone and constantly where texting.  They where not sure if everyone had a smartphone, as they where thinking of possibly putting an APP together, but rather what they knew for sure was that just about everyone was texting one way or the other with their hand held device.  It was crazy!  It was at this point that they started thinking Mobile Marketing and began implementing campaigns to their clients through their mobile phone.

This is a true example of which I speak about every day to local entrepreneurs……Mobile and Local Internet Marketing!

Their text messaging campaign took only minutes to set up once they found the right company to help them with it!  That was it and they where ready to go.  Even when it came time to send out their first text message, it took less than a minute as everything was so quick and easy to do.

HOW THEY SET UP THEIR SMS TEXT CAMPAIGNSMS Texting Campaign Case Study - Retail

They selected a keyword representing their business.  They then where given a 5 digit short code number.  They then put that keyword and short code on everything and everywhere!  They had it on their website, receipts, mailers, posters, facebook, e-mails and displayed it around the store in various places.  They figured that if a customer was looking at something in their store, they most likely had a their mobile phone with them and they should opt-in to their message campaign.

WHAT THEIR FIRST TEXT MESSAGE SAID

They sent the following text message out to their SMS subscribers midday on Sunday saying “Our Street Fighter IV tournament is this Sunday at 7:00 pm!  Sign up online at resetgames.com and pre-order Super Street Fighter IV for next Tuesday!”

RESULTS

With the last minute reminder via text message, they had a record attendance at this specific in-store event.  It was awesome!

ADVICE FOR OTHER RETAIL STORES LOOKING TO LAUNCH AN SMS TEXT MESSAGING CAMPAIGN?

Promote your SMS keyword on everything!  An SMS keyword is the biggest asset for any retail store.  With the small additional cost to add an SMS keyword to a poster or mailer, you can generate hundreds of captive customers.  Mobile and Local Internet Marketing is a NO-BRAINER!

If you are interested in learning more about this type of Mobile and Local Internet Marketing campaign for your business, please feel free to fill out your information at http://www.cheryllynninternational.com/contact  or email us at support@cheryllynninternational.com.

Mobile and Local Internet Marketing
SMS Text Mobile and Local Internet Marketing

Mobile SMS Texting, when used properly, can make your business dominate your industry? There are now more Mobile devices than PCs and the number is still growing.  Any savvy entrepreneur who embraces mobile marketing will surely reap benefits. However most people often ask me, ‘Cheryl, how will this SMS texting thing really help my business?”

Well, though there is no rule that SMS texting will gain the same result for your business vs another business, I have some tips that can help you.

1. Always stay clear from texting slang.  Slang is usually a turnoff for your clients. Just use normal words and language that the ordinary person is used to. Some trendy terms (example: u, ur, pls, etc) may not harm though but be careful; your language will most likely influence your clients in pulling them to your business.

2. Get a service provider that supports your marketing strategies to increase sales for you and is cost effective. Imagine your business having a VIP text messaging Club with 20,000 clients, as some businesses have and you wanting to fill some empty spots within your business. Sending out tens of thousands of emails may be costly and not as effective as it would be if you texted your client on-the-go.  By the time your client reads the email on their computer, your offer may be gone therefore driving no clients to your business and the end result…no sales. You need a service provider that can allow this kind of bulk messages at a cost you feel comfortable with and on a timely basis.

3. Integrate text-message marketing with other offline marketing strategies. Think of sending people and your existing clients to your place of business using text messages.  Making your website a web sensation is extremely important.  Having mobile and email optins are extremely important these days.  Look for ways offline media can be integrated to your campaign. A little creativity is all that you require. Remember you need to test everything. You never know.  For example:  I was recently at a shoe store and saw on the front counter a sign asking me to optin to their mobile keyword for 10% off my current purchase.  I did just that and I received not only the 10% discount but also 2 for 1 special.  Ever since that day, that shoe store sends me SMS test messages when they are having their specials.  If it wasn’t for that initial optin, I would have missed all the specials and the store would have missed my sale.  This is a great example of maximizing your business sales through Mobile and Local Internet Marketing.  I am sure you can come up with tons more of mobile strategies for your business.

4. Hold contests, have special offers and give coupons. Wow! This is a big one. If you have ‘a buy one get one free offer’ nothing can bring a flood of customers like text messages. Have people compete for valuable prices by send messages that brand your business.

5. Be patient and allow time to build your Mobile and Local Internet Marketing program.  Just like any endeavor of business, time is the determining factor. It takes time to build a mobile number list and it takes time to connect to your client mobile list.  So don’t give up too soon.  You may not have a mobile list at the moment.   However, start collecting your customer’s mobile  numbers and email addresses. This is the most valuable asset you can ever acquire for online marketing strategies. Start by giving out coupons in exchange of their numbers. You will be surprised how supportive they will be. But give genuine reasons why you need their numbers. Say something like’ occasionally we do have sales for loyal customers only and we need a way of relying the messages quickly.’

Finally, if you need any help in implementing any Mobile and Local Internet Marketing strategies, please consider Cheryl Lynn International for assistant.  We would love to help your business grow in both revenue and clients.  Please feel free to comment below and share your success Mobile and Local Internet Marketing stories that has helped your business.

May
16

Mobile Marketing Power

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Mobile marketing, a permission-based marketing tool, is making waves across the internet and rapidly becoming a major communications channel for reaching customers. Mobile Marketing has tremendous power for our business. 

According to an independent survey from Airwide Solutions in 2009, 200 million Americans carry mobile phones and today there is over 5 million phones on our planet. This is more than cars, computers, tv’s etc. In addition, this study reports that 40 percent of major brands have deployed text messaging (also known as SMS, or short message service) campaigns. Nearly 40 million U.S. consumers received SMS advertisements, and 12 percent responded to them, according to the Metrics Study, “Cracking the Mobile Marketing Code.”

Text messaging, also known as SMS, allows short messages (between 140 – 160 characters) to be sent from one cell phone to another or from a mobile messaging platform. This unique way of communicating with your clients and market has capabilities such as website link inserts in the actual text, invitations to enter contests or take surveys and polls, ringtone downloads, mobile coupons, location-based information, and cause donation campaigns, to name a few. By using this platform to inform and send out call-to-action campaigns that will get people back to your site or to your location, you can build a powerful new link to your current connections and use contests to build a larger list. Read More→

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As I visit my local community businesses and work with many around the world, it amazes me the number of businesses that are not aware of the next generation of advertising their business, gaining clients and adding revenue to your business.  I always share this video link with them because it explains it to them within 5 minutes.  This always inspires them in thinking of ways that they can increase their profitability.

It has been so helpful to others, I thought I would share it with you.  I hope this helps your business as it is an important step to working with your offline marketing strategies. Enjoy!

Mobile and Local Internet Marketing - ValentineValentine’s Day is a great opportunity for business owners to gain customers and drive sales.

Mobile SMS texting is a fabulous way to send those Valentine messages to your clients.

You can use SMS Text message to promote all you Valentine specials in style.  Whether it’s a cute background with hearts and flowers or something completely unexpected like uploading your own photo with personalized message, we are here to help you stay connected to your clients.

Your clients are waiting to hear from you on-the-go.  Don’t forget to send them a text message alert for your Valentine’s Day gift reminders, special promotions and sales you are having this week.

Make sure you click here to learn more how Mobile can definitely help your business grow.  We are here to help you in anyway  with your Mobile and Local Internet  Marketing needs.

Mobile and Local Internet Marketing - Valentine

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

~ Cheryl Lynn International Team