Chapter 6: How to Use All This
Techy Stuff to Increase YOUR Business
First off, if the sum total of your marketing efforts looks like the picture above, we have quite a distance to travel my friend! Let’s do it.
So I’ve told you about all these products, services and techniques in mobile marketing to use for your business.
The decision you need to make now is this; what result are you looking for? Do you want to attract more new customers? Maybe increase your customer retention rate? How about getting existing customers to spend more each time they visit you? These are all good things for most small businesses but you need to give some thought to exactly what you want.
Stop right here for a sec. Look, I KNOW you don’t have a big marketing budget, or a marketing department or maybe not even anybody who helps you with marketing at all! You may even think “I don’t need marketing.” I’ve got news for you; if you do any kind of advertising, if you have a sign out front, if you have business cards, heck, if you’ve ever TOLD anyone about your business, you are already in marketing. You have to be if you run a business.
Period. If you have all the customers you will ever need or are about to retire or don’t want to maintain the level of business you have now, then don’t worry about marketing. You don’t need to do a thing (I don’t know many business owners in this situation though!).
Change = Opportunity
If you want your company to grow, you really need to keep up with these radical changes in how your customers spend their money. The world is going mobile and like all change, you can fight it or embrace the opportunity and capitalize on it. OK, no more preaching from me.
C’mon Ric, I Don’t Have Time for Meetings and Plans!
Do you need a plan? Yep. Does it need to be complicated? Nope.
Once you’ve decided that you need to use mobile marketing in your business, the rest is easy. Just decide what you want to accomplish, get a free consultation from a mobile marketing pro (hint: we all do it), put together a basic plan, launch it, evaluate the results once a month, make any changes and keep going. The key really is consistency whether you’re trying to improve your search ranking or get more repeat customers through a rewards program or whatever. Marketing, especially mobile marketing, is not a “one and done” deal. Notice I said “consistent” not “expensive.” If you’re spending $1000/month to get an extra $500 in business, you won’t be in business long right?
I just realized I have mentioned “campaigns” in the previous chapters, so let me explain. A campaign in mobile marketing is just a part of your plan. A special offer that lasts for a month is a campaign. A loyalty club that has no end date is a campaign. Heck, a Yellow Page ad is a campaign. You want to keep campaigns separate for the purpose of evaluating each one for ROI.
Your Customers Have Changed
Back in Chapter 2, I referenced the Mobile Marketing Association’s definition of mobile marketing as:
Mobile Marketing is a set of practices that enables organizations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through and with any mobile device or network.
I also wrote that the 4 most important words in that definition are communicate, engage, interactive and relevant. Here’s why:
Communicate – Don’t just communicate TO your customers, communicate WITH them!
Engage – Don’t just offer free stuff to your clients, ask them what they want. Involve them in your business as an active participant. Find out what their needs or challenges are and provide them the solutions. But you gotta ask them first! Interactive – Similar to engaging your customers, interacting with them is more crucial than ever before. Have a “conversation” with them (digitally). Make them feel important (they are VERY important to you). Be creative.
Relevant – I would include value with this. You have more opportunity than ever to connect with your customers but don’t blow it. Offer them things that are relevant and valuable to them.
Again, remember, mobile devices are very personal. These days a customer who only feels pushed to come buy your stuff will tire of you quickly. Will a customer be more inclined to buy from you if they feel bothered in their own “home” (mobile phone), or if they feel like a valuable and involved member of your company’s “family?” Cultivate your customers like vegetables in a garden – don’t just throw your fertilizer on them.
If you’ve read this far (first thank you!), you’re probably saying “OK, dude enough theory and vague ideas! How do I use this in my business?” Every single company I have ever worked with is different. There is no pat answer. It’s all about what is important to, and will resonate with, your customers. Finding what creates the desired return for your business is part knowledge, part experience, part persistence and even some trial and error. Like most things, mobile marketing works, if you work it.
Do You REALLY Need a Professional?
I have written a few times that all of these things can be learned, self-taught even, and you can do it all yourself. I have also said that in many areas you can use a mobile marketing professional. That choice is up to you.
The world of digital marketing, especially mobile marketing, is still very new. It’s the “Wild West” right now, with lots of new, complicated services. This environment is filled with some less than honest people. Quick-buck artists mostly. They have a smooth sales pitch, get you to buy, then disappear. For marketing your business you want someone to help you, not sell you.
Most consultants I know (and myself) are providers of the products like text message services or hosting and maintaining your mobile website. They will charge you for the product but their advice on strategy and ROI is free. As a small business consultant, my goal is to work with you consistently over an extended period of time and be valuable to you by increasing your revenue more than you’re paying me! Sounds simple, but a lot of “professionals” in our market don’t see it that way. They sell you something like access to a text marketing service and tell you to log in and do it yourself. This rarely works and is a waste of your $$. The key is return on investment. I am always telling my clients, “If it doesn’t make money, don’t do it!”
Marketing is very important to your business, and your digital marketing “footprint” is critical to build and maintain. Give it due consideration, and it will pay off big time, for a long time. If you miss the boat now, it will take you much longer to catch up later.