How To Market A Small Business Using Those 7 Mobile Marketing Tips

How to market a small business? During less opulent times like these, the knee jerk reaction of many small businesses can be to massively reduce their marketing budget or even to axe it altogether.

However, as people have less and less money to spend and with business owners fighting harder than ever for each customer, forgetting about marketing can be a death kneel for a small business. Instead SME’s should be re-evaluating and refocusing their marketing efforts on the people who are most likely to spend their hard earned cash buying their product or service.

In short, they should be concentrating on getting the maximum possible ROI for every marketing and advertising euro spent. By marketing to those who are most likely to buy from you, you can cut your marketing budget but still experience increased sales.

Many businesses went through the boom years not knowing which of their marketing activities were working the best. They had a marketing budget, they spent it on various activities and customers were streaming in the door… times were good. All they knew was that something was working so it didn’t really matter which.

Nowadays it’s imperative that business owners know exactly who they’re marketing to and how successful it is being. They must keep themselves in front of their ‘perfect prospects’ more consistently and nourish that relationship as it is these ‘perfect prospects’ that will get a business through a recession.

How do you know who these perfect prospects are?

• Is it the people in the car passing by a billboard?
• Is it the person listening to their radio on the way to work?
• Is it the guy muting the adverts in the middle of his favorite TV show?
• Or is it the girl scanning through a magazine?

Truth is, it could be any of these people but then again it generally never is. It is however the people who have given you permission to personally market to them, through the medium of their most on hand possession – their mobile phone.

By running a mobile club business owners are marketing to their ‘perfect prospects’ 100% of the time. These are people who have most likely already experienced your product or service and who are now giving you permission to market to them with special offers and insider deals.

What other marketing medium can offer a business this level of targeted marketing to such a captive audience?

The following are the 7 mobile marketing steps to start and grow a mobile marketing club for your business:

Step 1: Choose your mobile marketing agency carefully

They will need to be experienced with running SMS campaigns and offer you advice on all aspects of the process from wording the text messages to the frequency and value of offers.

Step 2: Secure and maintain a database of opt-ins

Always ask for your customers’ permission.

This is a highly important step and is the process of gathering the mobile phone numbers of the customers who have consented to receive marketing texts.

Real World Example – A pizza business placed a flyer inside every pizza sent out for delivery with instructions printed that allowed the customer to enter a competition to win “FREE PIZZA FOR LIFE” if they texted in and agreed to join their mobile club.

Step 3: Always calculate your ROI before running the campaign

This will allow you to sculpt your offer around the potential response rate. Any mobile marketing agency worth its salt will be able to guide you on the expected response rate based on the perceived value of the offer.

Step 4: Ensure a clear opt-out process is available

Customers must feel that they are in control and can opt out at any time. In a recent survey 70% of UK consumers said they were happy to receive mobile marketing messages if they were incentivized and in control.

Step 5: Be creative, be original and be memorable

Use humor where appropriate and try to reflect the qualities and characteristics of your brand. Be reactive and use the medium in and around events of national or local interests.

Real World Example – On the day of the 2010 budget a Dublin restaurant offered every member of their mobile club a free bottle of wine with any meal for two to “Drown out the sorrow”.

Step 6: Always include an offer and avoid bland run of the mill advertising.

Opt-in’s only want to hear about special deals and discounts that only members of the club can receive. They will opt out very quickly if they feel they are not getting real value.

Step 7: Unleash the power of the mobile revolution

There are more people with a cell phone than a television, computer, internet or any other media you can think of!

So to not use this medium to speak to your customers would seem like a missed opportunity. A good mobile marketing agency will be able to have you up and running with a SMS campaign for a very modest outlay. Added to this the very low cost of text messages when bought in bulk, it really is the most cost effective form of marketing you are likely to ever experience.

Need to cut your marketing and advertising costs? Need to concentrate on your target market? Want to maximize your ROI for every marketing euro spent? Want to nourish the relationship with your existing customers by offering them discounts and special deals? Business SMS marketing through a mobile club is the perfect vehicle for all of this.

So don’t wait around while you competitors steal a march on you. Start accumulating those opt-ins today and see the real difference it will make to your bottom line – You won’t be disappointed.

Image references: Featured image & Yes

Conor McAleavey

Categorised in: Marketing for Business