Why You Need a Mobile Website

April 6, 2013 by 1 Comment

Mobile is everywhere.  According to Google, more than half of Americans currently own a smartphone, and estimates show that by 2015 there will be more smartphones than PCs surfing the internet.

Why do you need a mobile website?

According to recent studies, the majority of users searching for a local business from a smartphone are looking to buy immediately.  They want quick access to important information about your company, which includes services offered, pricing, business hours and contact information.  A mobile website puts all of that information at their fingertips.  In fact, there was 103% growth in website traffic from smartphones from 2011 – 2012, and US consumers spend almost 1 in every 10 ecommerce dollars using a mobile device (25 Reasons Why You Should Have a Mobile Friendly Website http://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/25-reasons-why-you-should-have-a-mobile-friendly-website-0318161).  And, if that isn’t enough to convince you that you need a mobile website, how about the little fact that there are more devices connected to the Internet than there are people on Earth.

What is the difference between a mobile optimized site and a regular site?

The biggest difference is screen size.  A regular website is developed to be viewed by a desktop or laptop computer with a screen size greater than 14 inches.  A mobile site is designed to be viewed on a screen that is considerably smaller.  Remember, a mobile website will take advantages of services that mobile devices offer, such as click to call and mapping.  This will convert mobile traffic to customers quicker by removing some of the barriers to contact.  After all, if I am searching for pizza from my mobile device, it usually means I want pizza now.  And, a mobile friendly site will allow me to call that pizza place without having to do anything but click the phone number.

Social Ribbit Desktop View

Social Ribbit Desktop View

Social Ribbit Mobile View

Social Ribbit Mobile View

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition, a mobile website will load considerably faster, using less data, than its desktop counterpart.  This is important since users expect a mobile website to be faster, and not require major amounts of data, which is paid for by the user.

Finally, check your Google Analytics.  How many people visiting your site are are on mobile devices?  Google provides that statistic under the “Audience” section of the reports.

The most important reason to go mobile?

Your customers are mobile.  Your business needs to be mobile, too.  Not only are we using our smartphones while away from our offices and computers, but we are using our mobiles and tablets while watching TV. and movies.  We are using them from the comfort of our couches and at our kitchen tables.  We are using them to access information quickly and easily.  If I can’t access your site from my smartphone or tablet, I’m leaving.  I will find a site that provides me the information I need somewhere else.

Have you mobilized your site?  If not, why not?  If so, have you seen an increase in traffic?

 

Resources:

5 Reasons Why You Need a Mobile Website RIGHT NOW

25 Reasons Why You Should Have a Mobile Friendly Website

7 Reasons You Need a Mobile Website

Google’s Ready To Go Mo?

About Craig Yaris

Craig E. Yaris is the owner of EsquireTech Solutions, which helps small business get found on the social web, whether through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, he can both teach you the effective use of any social network or act as your social media manager, enabling you to reach your clients where they are and when they want to hear from you. He can teach your organization the social media best practices that can help you use the tools of today to cost-effectively increase your bottom line. EsquireTech Solutions brings the social web to your business. Visit EsquireTech Solutions or call 516-495-9107 .

Filed Under: Authors, Branding & Marketing, Business, Content Marketing, Design, Digital & Internet Marketing, General, Mobile, Mobile & Technology Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

3 Great Techniques To Reach Mobile Users In Your Area

February 13, 2013 by 1 Comment

Do you think you could go a day without using your smartphone? How about a week? If you’re like me, you would most likely say no.

If you’re a business considering harnessing the ever-growing urge to tweet, post, like, fave, check-in and share, you should take note of some staggering statistics from 2012 that were recapped in the article by Brian Honigman in 100 Fascinating Social Media Statistics and Figures From 2012:

  • 488 million users regularly use Facebook mobile. (source: All Facebook)
  • As of 2012, 17 billion location-tagged posts and check-ins were logged. (source: Gizmodo)
  • 50 percent of Twitter users are using the social network via mobile. (source: Microsoft tag)
  • More than 5 million photos are uploaded to Instagram every day. (source: Business Insider)
  • In a six-month span, Instagram’s average daily mobile visitors jumped from 886,000 to 7.3 million, which is a 724 percent leap. (source: Marketing Land)

Screen shot 2013-02-05 at 10.52.14 PM Screen shot 2013-02-05 at 10.51.33 PM

These numbers are important truths about the use of mobile phones—and the growing use of social media via mobile phones. Does your social media strategy for 2013 include reaching those users?

It is easier than ever for businesses to reach mobile users. With check-ins and geotagging alone, there is a plethora of content being shared publicly that is waiting for a friendly representative to say hello. If you’re a business looking for a few ways to engage with mobile users in your area, consider these tactics:

Leave Tips on Foursquare Places
It’s a no brainer to open a Foursquare profile if you’re a brick and mortar business, but did you know that even if you don’t get foot traffic, you can still open a brand page? As a brand page, you can use Foursquare in many ways a regular user can.

As a brand, leave “tips” in popular places in your city. A tip can range from a “did you know” fact to the employee favorite dish you order at lunch. This technique is especially effective if your tips can relate back to content on your website or blog. Let’s say you’re a business in the hospitality industry, and you have blog posts about sights to see in your city. Leave tips at all of those sights and link back to your website for the “full story”.

If you want to see this strategy in action, check out what The History Channel is doing on Foursquare:

Engage With Geotagged Instagram Photos
The majority of Intagram photos are geotagged, and they can be viewed by location. This can be done on your phone by clicking any geotag icon on a photo.

photo

Since you have to first find a photo with that specific geotag, this is a cumbersome technique if you want to efficiently explore surrounding areas,.

I recently found an alternative that I love. It is a great tool called, Gramfeed. It is used in a browser, and you can search nearby locations through a map tool. You can then view all the photos shared under that geotag and a unique url is created—you can then bookmark the link. I’m sure your already thinking of all the possibilities . . .

Screen shot 2013-02-05 at 11.14.58 PM Screen shot 2013-02-05 at 11.15.26 PM

Promote Your Facebook Page Targeting Your City
Say what you will about Facebook Ads. But if you use them right they work. They recently enabled a shortcut to “promote your page”. Much like the “promoted post”,  it’s a quick way to get some traction and set a daily budget right from your page. I’ve had great success using this feature to gain mobile fans—more so than promoting a page using the Ads Manager and targeting mobile users.

From your admin panel, you will see the “promote you page” in the bottom left where your new likes are sometimes displayed. If you don’t see it, go to your home feed and come back, or refresh your page. It will pop up eventually (trust me, Facebook wants to make it easy to spend money).

Set your daily budget, and click “promote”. From there you can set your target audience. Select your surrounding area.

The next step is often overlooked, but is the most important part! Now it’s time to go customize the ad from the back end. Go to your ads manager, find the ad you just placed from the list and click on the title to access the stats. From here you can adjust the daily budget, the end date (which cannot be done from the admin panel), the target audience, and you can even add interests to the ad. See all the areas marked with arrows in the sample ad below. Notice that when you use the “promote page” feature mobile users are automatically added to the target specs.

Screen shot 2013-02-05 at 11.18.45 PM

Sources:

About Gwen Woltz

Gwen Woltz is co-founder of Wahine Media, a social media agency in Hawaii that specializes in strategically building thriving and engaged online communities for businesses. Together with her business partner Karen Weikert, they are in the "trenches" of social media on a daily basis and have been on the frontline for companies in the healthcare, startup, higher education, hospitality, newspaper, music, and staffing industry. Gwen is a volunteer board member for Social Media Club Hawaii, was a finalist for Pacific Edge Magazine's Young Professional of the Year, and most recently was a speaker for Ignite Honolulu at Punahou School.

Filed Under: Authors, General, Mobile, Mobile & Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,

10 Ways to Use Foursquare for Business

October 13, 2012 by 2 Comments

Foursquare is a location-based smartphone application which offers check-in service to customers, marketers and businesses alike. You can use this mobile application to check-in to venues and share with your friends where you are, and obtain info about those places.  Based on your updates, the application might assign you merit badges. It’s an interesting social concept for consumers and at the same time, a strong business tool that can be potentially used for creating brand awareness and profits. Hence if you want to leverage your business, this platform platform is worth looking at for several reasons. To do this, you’ll have to understand how it works. There are 10 ways to use Foursquare for business. To help you get an idea about promoting your own business through this platform, there are a few tips discussed below.

How to use foursquare for business

To begin with, check your business on Foursquare. If your business is not there, add it and then, claim it on the listing. Connect your Twitter account with the listing. This process is quite simple. Once this is done, you can proceed further to use Foursquare for business promotion. In this endeavor, following things can be done:

  1. Create interesting deals to draw in customers. Deals can easily be created if you have claimed your business on this platform. You can give special discounts to those users who checks in to your business, for instance – announce to give 10% off on one’s next merchandise shopping. However, just ensure that your deals are special and creative so that new customers get attracted and keep coming back to you.
  2. Design reward-based programs on Foursquare for loyal customers to retain them. If deals help you draw new customers, rewarding those who are regular visitors to your business is useful in winning their loyalty. It can create a bond between your customers and the business and entice them to come back to you. Your reward-based programs should be smart and intelligently devised, for instance – a program asking one to check in 5 times in 15 days and win a surprise gift.
  3. Use Foursquare to collect demographic details of your customers. Through this platform, you can know the average check-in rate of a customer, his/ her age and gender, check-in timings and where he or she is sharing the check-in details – on Facebook or Twitter.
  4. Another interesting way to use Foursquare for business promotion is to get feedback from your customers about your business. Customers can leave their comments or tips about a particular venue they visit. You can use their feedback to bring improvisation in your business.
  5. Foursquare is a powerful medium to advertize your business for free. When you claim your business and optimize the listing by adding authentic contact details and website, you increase the chances of promoting your business across various social networking sites which are used by millions.
  6. If your business doesn’t have a physical presence, you can use Foursquare to set up a page instead of claiming a venue. Foursquare page is not much different from a Twitter page. Those who follow your business on Foursquare can obtain information about you from there.
  7. You can enter a partnership with other brands which are physically present to derive optimum benefit. For instance if you are a book publisher, join hands with a local bookstore to increase the reach of your business.
  8. Design Foursquare event at your venue to boost massive check-ins and brand consciousness.
  9. You can encourage your staff to join Foursquare and check-in at your venue there whenever they report to work. This will also help spread awareness about your business among their friends and followers.
  10. You can also share useful tips on Foursquare to engage with your customers and thereby, attract their attention to your business.

These are few ways to use Foursquare for business. You can use these and other innovative techniques as well to make success out of your business.

Edoardo Piccolotto, is an Internet Marketing and Strategic Consultant that provides specific strategy advices to business that want to use internet to generate new business opportunities. Follow him on twitter @epiccolotto.

About Guest Blogger

This article is a guest post provided by a third party, its content was added to Digital Ethos to help provide additional information for our readers and followers. While the Guest Blogger posts do not undergo the same scrutiny as Authors and lack sources, the content was reviewed and approved as valuable to our mission.

Filed Under: Business, General, Guest Bloggers, Sales & eCommerce, Social Brand Visibility, Social Media, Social Media Topics Tagged With: , , , , ,

QR Codes on Gravestones to Access Memorials

October 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Walking through a cemetery is often eerie and rather uncomfortable, especially knowing there were people who lost their lives and were buried in the ground beneath you. It’s not unusual to wonder about those who are deceased and what their stories were. When looking at gravestones you know their names and their life span, but who were they really? What did they do with their lives and what were they known for. Soon these questions will be answered with as little as a scan of your cell phone.

QR codes, the two-dimensional barcodes that have grown to be extremely popular over the past few years, are making their way now onto gravestones. Starting in the UK and quickly moving to America, gravestone producers are offering the addition of QR codes to direct those interested to an interactive memorial for the person who has died.

These interactive memorials can include anything from pictures, videos and contributions from family and friends. There are even people now who are creating their own memorials so that they can structure how it’s laid out and how they’re remembered.

Imagine being able to structure what people see in your memorial, what your last thoughts were and what messages you’d like to send to family and friends. This also creates easy access to family tree information, making it much easier than digging for birth records in the future.

Of course with new technology such as this, there are bound to be challenges. The idea of putting a QR code on a structure that’s made to last for hundreds of years creates a number of difficulties. You can go to any graveyard and see how different recent gravestones look compared to stones that are hundreds of years old. As a gravestone weathers and changes over time, a QR code can become much more difficult to read and scan. Textures like sandstone and granite will change and the codes you have etched into them will change as well.

Another challenge you run into with adding these codes to gravestones is the technology itself. While the QR code technology has been around for a couple decades already, it’s never a sure thing that it will be around in another 10 to 20 years. With technology always evolving, another two-dimensional technology could replace the QR code, making the current QR codes obsolete and unreadable.

By creating a memorial for someone online, this creates another issue regarding the website URL. With the Internet constantly evolving, URL technology could very well change within the next several decades. This puts you at risk of losing all of these records over time. While the current technology appears to be here to stay, you never know what the future holds for us and what advancements will be made to completely change the way we do things today.

The idea of preparing for your own death may be morbid, but it’s a reasonable thought process. Rather than being remembered for a tragic accident, a health condition, etc, why not shape exactly how you want to be remembered and implement that as an interactive memorial. This way, the next time someone’s walking through a graveyard and sees the QR code on your gravestone, they have the opportunity to learn about who you really were, not just when you passed away.

Patricia Goldbum is a freelance writer focusing on technology. As a business owner, Patricia has just implemented barcode stickers and labeling to stay on track and keep her business organized.

About Guest Blogger

This article is a guest post provided by a third party, its content was added to Digital Ethos to help provide additional information for our readers and followers. While the Guest Blogger posts do not undergo the same scrutiny as Authors and lack sources, the content was reviewed and approved as valuable to our mission.

Filed Under: General, Guest Bloggers, Mobile, Mobile & Technology Tagged With: , ,

The First 5 Apps for Professionals on the iPhone 5 [OPINION]

October 2, 2012 by 9 Comments

Even as a longtime iPhone user, the excitement of getting a new phone is palpable. I just picked up my iPhone5, making me among the first to get the new iPhone at the flagship Apple store in San Francisco.

The larger screen is great for apps, which I’m eagerly downloading now. Apparently I’m not the only one who is app-happy. The average number of apps installed per smartphone has jumped 28 percent in 2012. No wonder, really. We’re on the go so much, and there’s a seemingly infinite array of apps to save time, money, and (for me at least) some sanity.

I’ve got a well-rounded list of must-have apps: two to be productive, two to travel smarter, one to stay informed.

Mobile productivity

Apps are the key to mobile productivity, and DocuSign Ink (of course!) was the first app on my new phone. Version 2.0 works with iOS6 and the iPhone 5. You’ll want it too, so you can sign documents—from permission slips for school to contracts from the office—while you’re standing in line at the grocery store. Skip the print, sign, scan, email routine. We use it at work to get sign-off on documents from nondisclosure agreements to contracts to purchase agreements. 

As busy as we are, who couldn’t use a little brain assist to keep things organized? Evernote promises to help you “remember everything.” I use it to capture anything from good ideas to the grocery list—and then rest assured I won’t lose it before I need it.

Travel smart

If you’re on the road or in the air much, TripIt is the app to have. Forward all of your confirmation emails (air, car, hotel) to plans@tripit.com, and you’ll magically get one consolidated itinerary that’s easy to share with colleagues and family. It even adds local maps, weather, and event information. I don’t travel with a stack of printouts anymore, just TripIt.

If, like me, you find it challenging to keep track of expenses on the road, get an app like my download #4, Concur. I use it throughout each trip to snap photos of receipts, which are then automatically added to my expense report—thereby dramatically improving my reimbursement rates.

Stay informed

These days, on-the-go is far from out-of-touch. I got Flipboard to read the latest happenings from my favorite social sites, all happily assembled in one place.

What’s on your “Day-One Downloads” list?  Let me know in the comments. I’m always on the lookout for new apps to download.

 

About the Guest Blogger:

The article was provided by Robin Joy, Vice President, Online & Mobile at DocuSign. You can follow the company and all the latest news on twitter @docusign.

About Guest Blogger

This article is a guest post provided by a third party, its content was added to Digital Ethos to help provide additional information for our readers and followers. While the Guest Blogger posts do not undergo the same scrutiny as Authors and lack sources, the content was reviewed and approved as valuable to our mission.

Filed Under: General, Guest Bloggers, Mobile, Mobile & Technology Tagged With: , ,

Snaptag Versus QR Codes

January 17, 2012 by 11 Comments

QR codes have been a new and unique source of executing mobile marketing campaigns in recent times. Many seem to not only enjoy participating by using them, but have actually begun to look for offers from those with QR codes and may even have begun to ignore those that do not have them at all.

What is a QR Code?

QR is short for quick response and that is exactly the purpose of the QR code. These codes take an element of data from transitory media and sends it to your mobile device. The code will give you details about that business, item, or even discount information on products and services.

QR Codes are more useful than a standard barcode in that they can store a more data and a wider variety of it. QR codes commonly include URL links, text, coordinates and more.

How Does This Benefit Businesses?

Most marketers are well aware that mobile marketing is becoming increasingly more important, almost by the day. No method of advertising could be easier than one that consumers reach out for, instead of being asked to look. QR codes allows those consumers who prefer not to be barraged with overt marketing tactics to choose where they will show interest in a product or service.

There is really no limit to the options that can be embedded in a QR code.

  • Running a restaurant? – Embed a great recipe, a buy a meal get one free discount, a special on this evenings dessert.
  • Authors – Add a QR code to the back of your book that enables a consumer to get extra features or hidden endings to your script.
  • Good health practices – Doctors, or other medically related practices can add good tips and tricks for healthy living to their QR codes, update them every month for innovative creativity in the medical field.

Vital Aesthetics Arrive to QR Coding

Traditionally, QR codes have retained a Rorschach look to them, leaving the responsibility on the advertiser to make sure consumers know whose QR code they are scanning. However, with Snaptags, QR codes and increasing brand awareness have meshed nicely. Snaptags have traded out that whole inkblot look for a code ring that serves the same functional purpose.

Who is Using Snaptags?

Because of the applied branding ability on Snaptags not previously available on QR’s, we can now see who is actively using them.

Picture c/o http://www.socialsnaptags.com/

Snaptags Cons?

Although Snaptags no doubt win out in the aesthetic element, there are other issues that can make Snaptags less beneficial than they appear. Many venture because of the supporting copy, Snaptags are not as easily accessible as QR codes. Snaptag stands by the fact that all advertisers would need to do is determine the required supporting copy, but this does lend itself to the inaccessible accusation.

Many current QR code advertisers agree that if a mobile marketing campaign is managed correctly, the aesthetic element of the Snaptags versus traditional QR’s is hardly advantageous.

Sources:

About Basil Puglisi

@BasilPuglisi is a Content Contributor and the Chairman of the Board for Digital Ethos. Basil C. Puglisi is also the Digital Marketing Manager for PMG Interactive. As the Digital Marketing Manager he provides oversight and support to Digital Campaigns, from Website Development to Search and Social Reach.

Filed Under: Branding & Marketing, Content Marketing, Design, Digital & Internet Marketing, General, Mobile, Mobile & Technology, PR & Writing, Publishing, Traditional Marketing, Video Tagged With: , , , , ,

Mobile Growth in Retail: Cyber Shopping 2011

December 25, 2011 by 1 Comment

What is known as Black Friday and Cyber Monday was extended this year to 10 days, with online retailers continuing their discounts throughout the week. What do the online shopping numbers for post-Thanksgiving sales tell us about the state of online shopping?

It’s important to remember that the data is recent and fresh, many analyzers point out. The real numbers will not be available until all the stores report their sales numbers.

Black Friday

  • 226 million shoppers visited stores and shopped online in the 4 days of the Thanksgiving weekend, compared with 212 million a year ago.
  • The average spending rose as well, to $398.62 per shopper, up from 365.34 last year.
  • Overall sales climbed 6.6% this year and stood at $11.4 billion. Up nearly $1 billion from last year. It was the largest amount spent in one day since 2007.

“Black Friday has evolved from an early morning shopping activity to a late night entertainment,” says Ellen Davis, spokeswoman at The National Retail Federation. “A lot of people stayed up until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. to go shopping, and then went to bed.”

Not everyone.

  • Online shopping on Black Friday jumped 26% to $816 million. Compared with $648 million this past year, such a big jump is unprecedented. The year to year growth in 2010 was only 9%.
  •  50 million Americans visited online stores. The most visited were Amazon.com, Wall-Mart, Best Buy, Target and Apple.

Online sales increased much more than the store sales, with stores open at 10PM Thanksgiving day, pepper spraying and bone crushing included.

Cyber Monday:

The strong sales continued into Cyber Monday.  This past Monday was crowned ‘the biggest online shopping day ever.’

IBM’s Benchmark research firm published these numbers:

  • Spending online was up by 33% from last year.
  • The average spending per customer was $198 per order, up $5 from last year.
  • People are using tablets and smartphones to shop as well. Traffic from mobile devices was 10.8% of online commerce.
  • What is even more impressive is the sales using mobile devices were up to 6.6% from all online sales, an increase from 2.3% in 2010.

Experts say the numbers point to the fact that Americans are growing more and more comfortable with online shopping. The mobile shopping increased thanks to companies embracing the tablet, with 5.2% of tablet shoppers making a purchase.

Considering the top 50 online retailers, J.C. Penny, Apple and Symantec performed the best as for availability and response time.

 

Sources:

About Basil Puglisi

@BasilPuglisi is a Content Contributor and the Chairman of the Board for Digital Ethos. Basil C. Puglisi is also the Digital Marketing Manager for PMG Interactive. As the Digital Marketing Manager he provides oversight and support to Digital Campaigns, from Website Development to Search and Social Reach.

Filed Under: Business, Business Networking, General, Sales & eCommerce Tagged With: , , ,

New Google Newsletter and Mobile Adwords Features

October 19, 2011 by 2 Comments

Google Adwords launched new features in September 2011. These new features are geared towards making site clicks and even subscriptions to site newsletters or blogs easier to accomplish. Being able to get signed up to internal site options from the external source of a Google browser could go a long way in increasing traffic for those who utilize these methods.

AdWords Subscribe Option

Adwords now provides an option to allow Google search engine users to subscribe directly from a PPC ad. The option to subscribe to newsletters or email lists can be displayed on top or side ads.

All ads are displayed with “Privacy Info” that lets the viewer know that information shared in the input boxes will be shared with the advertiser.

Mobile Landing Pages

A recent study found that 61% of mobile browsers are not likely to return to a site that does not provide a good mobile experience. In response, Google initiated a shift in their policy that will now reward mobile sites with good optimization. Users with good mobile optimization who promote their sites with Google Adwords will now receive better performance. The ads created will drive traffic at a lower cost if they directly link to your site that is optimized for mobile users.

How Will This Affect Me?

If you are a business owner, whether or not you use Google Adwords, the time to optimize your site for mobile users is now. Even without the use of Google Adwords to promote a site, knowing that over half of mobile browsers will never return to your non-optimized site should be enough to push you into sprucing up your site to accommodate users on mobile devices. Getting rid of flash heavy content is a great step towards optimizing for mobile usage.

How Do I Optimize My Site for Mobile?

Google has offered a few suggestions to help you get your site optimized for mobile usage.

  • Keep the layout and design simple
  • Prioritize your content
  • Use markedly mobile features
  • Make your site easy to convert

If you want to know how well your site functions on mobile devices, grab your device and load up your site. If it is frustrating for you to navigate, you may want to make the changes required to encourage mobile use of your web pages.

Sources:

About Basil Puglisi

@BasilPuglisi is a Content Contributor and the Chairman of the Board for Digital Ethos. Basil C. Puglisi is also the Digital Marketing Manager for PMG Interactive. As the Digital Marketing Manager he provides oversight and support to Digital Campaigns, from Website Development to Search and Social Reach.

Filed Under: General, Search Engines Tagged With: , , , , , ,

SMX: What Makes Mobile Marketing Beneficial?

October 10, 2011 by 1 Comment

Mobile marketing changed its definition in the early 2000’s when the original meaning, which was marketing on the go, changed into mobile search marketing, which are in essence, marketing techniques carried out over a mobile device.

SMS marketing is an advertising technique that involves the collection of mobile phone numbers to add to a messaging platform database. These numbers are collected so that when a special promotion or offer becomes available, the number list owner can send out a mass message to what they hope will be future repeat customers.

SMS marketing relies on opt-in users due to practices established by the Mobile Marketing Association to help prevent unwanted messaging, similar to the protection offered by the Federal Do Not Call registry. The fact that SMS messages are commonly read in the first four minutes after receipt means that this form of marketing is highly convertible.

Social Networking

Social networks are also playing a huge part in how consumers find desired products and services even while on the go. Studies show that 1/3rd of Facebook users access the social network via mobile devices. The same study showed that 56% of mobile users find local business information via the company’s website, while 55% of them find them through other social networker’s recommendations.

A New Digital World

If we thought SMS marketing was impressive, then came the smartphone. A new world of marketing was then opened in many new forms.

  • MMS – Multimedia message service
  • Mobile Web Marketing
  • In-Game Marketing
  • Mobile Marketing via QR Codes
  • User-Controlled Media

Ever-Changing Media

So exactly what is changing about mobile search marketing? For one, it has become infinitely more complex than the simple SMS original formats. Mobile search marketing is unique not only in its format, but also in the way that it approaches the consumer. Traditional forms of marketing can be a combination of intrusive versus elusive.

Intrusive methods include telephone marketing, television advertising, and even door-to-door sales. Although intrusive methods have shown their own positive statistics about effectiveness, many elements such as increased crime rates, new laws and regulations, or increasing costs have made the intrusive forms of marketing much less lucrative in recent years.

Elusive methods are the most effective and can include in-game marketing, user-controlled media, or mobile web marketing. This type of marketing is effective in the sense that the advertisements are usually an ‘in addition to’ or bonuses. For instance, users can play the free game on their phone, or they can purchase the nearby advertisement option to achieve ‘pro’ status on the game. Users can utilize a particular browser and that browser may support and advertise their own series of media, apps, or programs.

Mobile Marketing on the Rise

Although some marketers still argue that mobile queries constitute too little of an overall end-result to make the campaign effort worthwhile, it is a notable fact that Google’s mobile query share has grown over five times in the last couple of years. Mobile search continues to grow at an accelerated rate than traditional search options.

As with any advertising campaign, offline methods should also be considered to garner online conversions. Case studies also show that 37% of consumers admit to using mobile devices to search for more knowledge about a product or service advertised via radio ads, newspaper, or outdoor methods such as billboard advertisement.

There may be no time like the immediate present to gain pioneer advantages and initiate your mobile testing and paid search campaigns right away.

Sources:

About Basil Puglisi

@BasilPuglisi is a Content Contributor and the Chairman of the Board for Digital Ethos. Basil C. Puglisi is also the Digital Marketing Manager for PMG Interactive. As the Digital Marketing Manager he provides oversight and support to Digital Campaigns, from Website Development to Search and Social Reach.

Filed Under: Mobile, Mobile & Technology Tagged With: , , , , , ,

What Makes Mobile Search Marketing Beneficial?

September 23, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Mobile marketing changed its definition in the early 2000’s when the original meaning, which was marketing on the go, changed into mobile search marketing, which are in essence, marketing techniques carried out over a mobile device.

SMS marketing is an advertising technique that involves the collection of mobile phone numbers to add to a messaging platform database. These numbers are collected so that when a special promotion or offer becomes available, the number list owner can send out a mass message to what they hope will be future repeat customers. SMS marketing relies on opt-in users due to practices established by the Mobile Marketing Association to help prevent unwanted messaging, similar to the protection offered by the Federal Do Not Call registry.

The fact that SMS messages are commonly read in the first four minutes after receipt means that this form of marketing is highly convertible.

A New Digital World

If we thought SMS marketing was impressive, then came the smartphone. A new world of marketing was then opened in many new forms.

  • MMS – Multimedia message service
  • Mobile Web Marketing
  • In-Game Marketing
  • Mobile Marketing via QR Codes
  • User-Controlled Media

Ever-Changing Media

So exactly what is changing about mobile search marketing? For one, it has become infinitely more complex than the simple SMS original formats. Mobile search marketing is unique not only in its format, but also in the way that it approaches the consumer. Traditional forms of marketing can be a combination of intrusive versus elusive.

Intrusive methods include telephone marketing, television advertising, and even door-to-door sales. Although intrusive methods have shown their own positive statistics about effectiveness, many elements such as increased crime rates, new laws and regulations, or increasing costs have made the intrusive forms of marketing much less lucrative in recent years.

Elusive methods are the most effective and can include in-game marketing, user-controlled media, or mobile web marketing. This type of marketing is effective in the sense that the advertisements are usually an ‘in addition to’ or bonuses. For instance, users can play the free game on their phone, or they can purchase the nearby advertisement option to achieve ‘pro’ status on the game. Users can utilize a particular browser and that browser may support and advertise their own series of media, apps, or programs.

Although some marketers still argue that mobile queries constitute too little of an overall end-result to make the campaign effort worthwhile, it is a notable fact that Google’s mobile query share has grown over five times in the last couple of years. Mobile search continues to grow at an accelerated rate than traditional search options.

There may be no time like the immediate present to gain pioneer advantages and initiate your mobile testing and paid search campaigns right away.

 

 Sources:

About Basil Puglisi

@BasilPuglisi is a Content Contributor and the Chairman of the Board for Digital Ethos. Basil C. Puglisi is also the Digital Marketing Manager for PMG Interactive. As the Digital Marketing Manager he provides oversight and support to Digital Campaigns, from Website Development to Search and Social Reach.

Filed Under: Branding & Marketing, Digital & Internet Marketing, Mobile Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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