Mobilize Your Social Media Marketing

According to Facebook, there are 200 million users that access the service through their mobile devices.  Is your business getting its fare share of that traffic?  Do your customers connect with your business through their social media sites?  The statistics can tell you how many are connected to you, but not how many of them are paying attention.  You can send some content to some of them, but do they read it and act on it, or do they just delete a feed that they signed up for because they bought only one of your products?

There are some things that you can do to get them to pay attention.  One of the first is to offer “check in deals.”  There are apps that allow a person to let you know that they are near or in your establishment.  If you offer deals to your customers that spread the fact that they are frequenting your business, they will continue to do so.  If you offer a ‘coupon deal’ for people that check in to your business, they will spread those coupon savings to their friends.  This brings more business to you.  Even at a discounted rate, it is better than no sales at all, and will still bring you a profit on your products.

Update your customers on your business happenings.  Some people like to know what is going on with the businesses that they frequent.  When you hire someone new, or one of your employees becomes a new parent, it is newsworthy to your customers.  They like to know that you are family and community oriented.  Be sure to involve them in the charity events that your company is involved it, too.  Not only do you keep your circle of customers, but you can raise awareness for charitable foundations, raising donations that are given back to your community as well as theirs.

Be sure to connect all of your social media sites to your customers to give them a choice in how to stay connected with you.

Three Must-Have iPhone Apps for Social Media Marketing

Everyone is on the go these days.  We grab lunch on the run as we dash to the next meeting or take care of a blast of telephone calls in running our businesses.  This makes it essential to be able to do as much as we can while we are out of the office, taking care of those wonderful customers and clients that keep the business going.  There is good news in that respect.  Technology has kept up with us, just as we want to keep up with our customers.  With the release of the iPhone on the market, we are given options in taking our offices on the go.  But you have to have the apps installed that you need to keep up.

1.  Twitter for iPhone – Many of your customers get multiple updates on Twitter every day, keeping up with friends and relatives.  Why not your business?  You can Tweet your updates on the run, just as they receive them on the run.  When they have a quick question, you can Tweet your answer back without missing a step on the way to that meeting with a product supplier.
2. WordPress for iPhone – With this app, you can send a quick blog draft describing the new product you added to your catalog only minutes before, all from your iPhone. The app allows you to record video of your new product for upload to your WordPress site as well.  You can also monitor the comments that your readers post, and respond to them quickly.
3. Facebook for iPhone – This app allows you to use Facebook on your iPhone just as you would on your PC or laptop.  It allows you to navigate to your business Fan Page to post updates and interact with your customers and business associates, showing that you really care about them.

In having these three social media sites linked to your business, you need to stay current with them.  Adding these applications to your iPhone lets you take your office with you no matter where you go.

Make Your Website Mobile Friendly

Forecasts predict that there will be 1.7 billion mobile internet users by the year 2013.  So it is safe to assume that some of your current web site visitors are using mobile devices to browse your site.  Your content is being viewed on small, cramped screens, and is usually accessed through slow cellular data connections.  The longer they have to wait for your content to load, the more frustrated users become.  This creates the huge possibility that they will leave your site and look elsewhere for more mobile friendly websites.

Many people work hard on providing quality content on their web sites, designing the site for current browser use.  But they forget about the number of people that are using their mobile devices to access that content.  Some simple steps can be done to optimize the mobile user’s experience on your site, allowing your new readers as well as your regular ones to enjoy your web site.

First, don’t use a lot of images.  One or two small ones in each article is usually enough to get your point across and will be easier to load on a slow mobile connection.   Since mobile devices have such small screens, a lot of images will take away from your content, and may take the reader away from your site.

Make sure your content is clear, grabbing the reader’s attention immediately and getting to the point quickly.  Remember that mobile readers are on-the-go, and usually have less time to digest your content.  You should also be sure that your site navigation to your most important content is easy.  Using tabs is a good way to accomplish this.

Avoid using Flash or Javascript, and stick to (X)HTML/CSS instead.  Some mobile devices are not able to make use of those technologies, and others take some extra steps to access them.  Or if you want to simplify the process, by far the best idea for creating mobile friendly websites is to add a mobile plugin to your site.

Share you tips here for making websites more mobile friendly.  If you have already turned your website more mobile, did you get more readers?

Make it Mobile

It’s rare to find someone that doesn’t have a cell phone these days. The technology has grown rapidly in recent years, allowing people to do so many different functions, like finding directions, sending text messages, reading their email, and connecting with social media sites. People even take their gaming on the road with them, being able to have their entertainment right in the palm of their hand. With all of the available functions on cell phones these days, even businesses are getting out of the office and into the mobile marketplace.

Cell phone owners can now connect with their favorite businesses in order to receive up-to-the-minute notifications of sale items, new products, or company news. The notifications are an opt-in service offered by many businesses, allowing use of the Short Message System (SMS). In years past, companies obtained lists of cell phone numbers and sent unsolicited messages to the phones, and many people were angered at the spamming technique since they were being charged for data usage for unwanted messages. However, there is more regulation now, with wireless companies stepping up to help monitor the use of mobile devices in marketing.

In addition the use of SMS, there is MMS (Multimedia Message System), in-game mobile marketing, and even web sites that are optimized for mobile devices. Basically, if someone’s cell phone is set up for data and web usage, they can receive content delivered to them from your business. Statistics show that people open and read messages received by their phones within four minutes, so using mobile marketing can get your message out quickly and at a low cost. Your customers will know within minutes when you are having a sale or you debut your newest products, increasing your sales and their level of convenience.

If you use mobile marketing techniques, please share your experience here for the business owners that are new to this technique.