It’s a Good Time to Try Mobile

A recent study by ABI Research stated that during the second quarter of this year mobile subscriptions surpassed the 5 billion mark worldwide!  That is just 1.7 billion short of every living being owning a cell phone – including newborns, native bush tribes and nursing home residents. The U.S. contribution to this total is 285 million subscribers, which is pretty darn close to saturation. Adoption rates are similar in most other developed countries, but there is still growth opportunity with rollout of new 4G networks and associated high-octane apps.

Apps are growing by leaps and bounds

What does this mean if you are developing future plans for reaching your target market? It means you better be taking a good look at your mobile strategy. Since the release of the iPhone Apple has sold over $3 billion apps! With competitive phones and OS platforms gaining market share those numbers are expected to grow to almost $30 billion in three years according to Arc Technica.

When evaluating what a successful mobile strategy might look like you need to understand what drives purchase behavior of your customers, determine if and how that can be influenced using mobile applications, and research whether developing new apps, using current apps or both would be the best fit for your organization. In addition, you might want to take the time to investigate the use of Quick Response (WR) tags that are starting to catch on here in the States. They are similar to bar codes that can be used by mobile phones for numerous marketing tactics.

You can find more info on mobile growth:

Apps by the numbers – http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/01/apple-responsible-for-994-of-mobile-app-sales-in-2009.ars

Top 10 mobile apps – http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_top_10_mobile_applications_of_2012.php

More on QR codes – http://searchengineland.com/what-is-a-qr-code-and-why-do-you-need-one-27588

Social Marketing is NOT a Panacea

There are debates hashed out on a daily basis all over the Internet as to whether integrating social media tools is a required part of the marketing mix if you want to realize success in today’s economy.  Entrepreneurs and business people have been testing out the latest gadgets to get people’s attention since snake oil salesmen painted ads on their covered wagons.  Social marketing is just a new tool to reach out and touch customers that will work well for some and not others.

What you need to decide is if it will be useful for your business and help you achieve your goals.  You need to ask yourself some key questions before jumping into the social ring of fire.

• Why are you doing it?- Have you heard that Shaq, Ashton and Oprah are Twittering, so you should too?  Social media tools are a great way
  

  Twitter logo

  to interact with your customers and find potential customers, but you must be an active user.  If you throw up a Facebook page but never post anything then there is no value.  It would be like buying a shovel and never picking it up, but expecting a hole to suddenly appear in the back yard.

• Does it reach your target market?- Are your customers using Facebook, Linked-In, Twitter and others?  If so, which option is the best way to reach out and connect?  Understand what demographics are associated with each outlet you’re evaluating.  For example, if you target teen consumers don’t use Twitter because that segment doesn’t even register on it’s usage reports. 
  

  Facebook logo

• Do you have the resources? – Not only do you need to evaluate all your options, but learn how to effectively use each tool and continue using it to infinity and beyond!  Don’t expect to Tweet for a couple of days and see a 200% jump in sales along with 1 million followers.  Think of it as a garden where you are planting seeds, cultivating it, weeding it, and protecting it against predators all in hopes it will produce a good harvest over time.
• Do your goals align with the value that social media can bring to your business? - One of the key reasons for getting involved in social media is to develop and maintain brand value, which will ultimately lead to increased sales.  It can also provide valuable feedback about your products, services and customer support.  If you have limited resources, will social media provide a better solution than what you are currently using?
• Can you integrate it into your back office processes?  You need to have a company voice and management plan which is communicated throughout your company.  For example, if you decide people can reach your company through Facebook then there needs to be a process to handle sales, customer support, legal issues and other concerns that come in through that channel.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it should get you thinking about issues to consider when evaluating social media tools for your business.  I suggest you play around with the tools you are considering, so you get a better understanding of how people use them and can get some out-of-the-box  ideas on how your business can take advantage of these new tech toys.

If you want to talk further about how social media marketing should be integrated into your business then contact us for a free consultation.