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Everything about Mobile Advertising!
Mobile Advertising: New versus old customers
When running a Mobile Advertising campaign to attract new customers, you always run the risk of losing the old ones, especially if your campaign is aggressive. What can you do to make sure you don’t scare your current customers away in the process? Focus on quality over quantity You can still push your mobile messages without spamming your customers. The secret is to go for quality over quantity. Make sure your communication contains info that is useful and relevant and that this info can somehow better the lives of your customers or benefit them in some way. Make use of different Mobile Advertising platforms Don’t try to rely for example on texting alone. Spread your messages out across several digital channels. Have a Mobile Search Ad, a Mobile Banner Ad, Mobile Text Tags and Voice Ads, mobile videos, in-app advertisements, Facebook and Twitter ads etc. You will reach more customers this way, but most importantly, your current customers won’t feel like they are getting hammered on the head with your mobile messages. Make it worth their while Whenever you are developing a Mobile Advertising campaign, you should always ask yourself what is in it for the customer, because that is the exact question they will be asking when looking at your message. Whenever there is some kind of a reward involved, people don’t mind hearing from you a bit more than usual. Give customers a voice Consumers like to voice their opinion, but they love it even more when your brand listens. When your Mobile Advertising campaign is over, ask your customers for feedback – you can text them...8 secrets for a no-nonsense SMS Marketing campaign Part 2
In Part 1 we gave you four secrets to make any SMS Marketing campaign hassle-free. Today we will divulge four more secrets that marketers often miss the mark with. Make subscriptions easy You know that you need to permission from your customers to send them mobile messages. Marketers usually leave this one for last because it can be tricky if you don’t already have a loyal opt-in phone list. But take heart, there are two very easy ways you can achieve this. Let your customers text a keyword to you (you can use Premium SMS for this if you like) or let them submit their numbers via a web form. You can incentivise these subscriptions by providing access to exclusive info about your products/ services. Don’t rush it On average, a mobile user reads a text within 3 minutes of receiving it – unlike emails that can take hours or days to be opened. This statistic alone tells you that timing in your SMS Marketing campaigns are pretty important. It is not at all like a wedding invitation that you have to send two months beforehand – texts follow very much the “out of sight, out of mind” concept. In other words: don’t send your texts too early, but also not so late that consumers don’t have enough time to react on it. Understand what “exclusivity” means When we say that you want your customers to opt-in to your list because you want to offer them exclusivity, we don’t mean that you should exclude any other communication channels in your marketing toolbox. The more platforms you can use to...
5 Ways Social Media can strengthen your Mobile Advertising
Consumers spend a lot of time on Social Media, and as recent statistics have shown, mobile devices are becoming the tools of choice for web browsing. So, what does this have to do with your Mobile Advertising? Mobile is the place to be Your customers are constantly updating their Facebook status and posting Tweets from their phone. The reason for this is because people always have their mobile devices on them wherever they go. This provides your brand with a golden opportunity to be where your customers are. It doesn’t matter if you advertise on the social network itself or have a mobile search ad, your Mobile Advertising can reach your customers in the palm of their hand. Your social followers already like you People don’t just follow brands left and right on social media, because following a brand means that you will constantly receive communication from them. In other words, your social followers don’t follow you “by accident” – they already like you and they actually want to hear from you. Talk about highly focussed marketing! Power in numbers Just like it is easy for customers to forward your Mobile Advertising text messages to their friends, so they can share your posts on social media. A clever marketing message has the potential to go viral and reach a mass amount of people. Fostering loyal relationships Long after your particular mobile campaign has ended, your customers will still be on your social media. All you have to do is make sure that you keep the trust as well as the relationship alive on your social media. You can do...
Mobile Advertising: Why it is important to understand your tools
Mobile Advertising is an exciting new opportunity for marketers. Some brands get so bedazzled that they dive in headfirst, only to find themselves drowning in problems. Let’s take a look at why it is important to understand your tools first. Just like Twitter is limited to 140 characters or a SMS to 160, so mobile devices likes smartphones and tablets have their own limitations. Before you can start planning any kind of marketing strategy, you need to have a basic understanding of how mobile devices work – especially if you want to concentrate on online digital marketing. And you need to understand this from the user (customer’s) perspective. Try browsing the web and clicking on Mobile Advertisements from your own device. (Have a look at your competitors while you are at it.) What are you noticing? Some things simply don’t work that well on mobile because of the small screen size – text are often cramped together and the images can be hard to view. I often find that links on some websites are so close together in the copy, that while I indented to click on Link A, I end up clicking on Link C. This is so frustrating! When I try this a second time and I still get the wrong link, I simply close the site and move on to another. Yes, the world of Mobile Advertising can be a bit harsh, and that is why so many digital marketers completely miss the mark. But don’t give up if you fail the first time. We all have to make mistakes in order to learn and grow....
4 Excellent Mobile Advertising strategies for small businesses
Competing with big or well-established companies is hard for any small business. But, just because your team is small or your resources limited, it doesn’t mean you can’t make a killing with Mobile Advertising. Research your competitors It is always good to know what your competitors are up to. Imagine finding out that your biggest rival doesn’t even do Mobile Advertising – bonus! But if they are active on mobile, you need to make sure that you can outshine, or at least compete head to head, with them. Quality content is king You want to attract customers, not scare them away. And you only have a few seconds to make a good impression. Keeping this in mind, make sure that your Mobile Advertising is on point. If you are including images in your message, make sure the quality is good and that it displays correctly on a mobile screen. Your copy also has to contain all the info your customers need to make an informed decision – from what you are offering right through to your contact details. And please make sure your links are working AND that they point to the correct page on your site! Add that personal touch You would be surprised to know that small things can go a long way in Mobile Advertising. If you address a customer by their first name in a text message, you show that your customer isn’t just another number. Always remember that customers like to feel special – and you can instil this feeling in different ways. Reward loyal customers Who doesn’t like to be rewarded! Customers adore...8 secrets for a no-nonsense SMS Marketing campaign Part1
Developing a SMS Marketing campaign requires creativity and finesse. There are lots of factors you have to take into consideration and things that have to “click” with each other. Have a look at the first four of eight secrets we will be sharing with you. Have clear objectives “Hey, let’s do a SMS Marketing campaign to see what happens,” is not an objective. You need to have an achievable objective or clear goals of what you want to achieve with your campaign. And those goals should always be S.M.A.R.T – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time specific. Also, try to align these goals with that of your overall business objectives so it fits with the bigger picture. Involve the whole company It is easy to push everything onto the marketing team, but they aren’t flying solo. Everything that happens on their side will influence every other division – from sales to the IT department right through to the receptionist. Every single employee should be given the opportunity to contribute their skills to the campaign and should also be kept in the loop. Clear call-to-action SMS Marketing has little room for error. So you have to make 100% absolutely sure that your call-to-action is so clear that even a 10 year old can understand it. One example of this is SMS keywords. You might think it will make your keyword stand out to put it in a “quotation”, but if the consumer texts the word with the quotation marks it might not register on your side. Incentivise We know you have heard this one a million times – give your...
How Mobile Advertising works for fast food restaurants
Mobile Advertising is tailor-made for restaurants and fast food businesses. From mouth-watering images of food to redeemable coupons and specials offers, mobile can attract hungry customers to your eatery like a magnet. Imagine this scenario for a second. It is almost lunch time and your tummy is rumbling. One of your colleagues recommends a restaurant one block away from the office. You quickly hop on your phone to browse through their menu, but their website is a hot mess. You have to zoom and minimize every single pic and the font is so small that you can barely read the menu. No thanks! You search for eateries in your vicinity and a very appealing Mobile Advertisement pops up. Hmmm. You click on it and it takes you to an amazing website with images so good you want to gnaw on your phone. The contact details are present and the description of the food is clear as day. Within a few seconds you have ordered your meal. 20 minutes later you get a text message. It is the restaurant informing you that the delivery guy is on his way with your order. That’s a nice touch! Later that afternoon you receive another text asking if you would like to subscribe to their mobile list so you can receive notifications about special offers and the like. The message also contains a link to their Facebook page. Hey, why not? A week later you receive a personally addressed Mobile Advertisement informing you about a brand new special. Delicious! A while after that you receive a mobile voucher because you completed a quick...How to impress your customers through Mobile Aggregation
Mobile Aggregation allows brands to combine mobile with things like marketing and advertising methods so they can give their customers a more satisfying experience. How can you make use of the services offered by a provider like Integrat? Outshine your competitors As inexpensive and easy it is to market via mobile, a lot of brands aren’t in the mobile game – either because they don’t understand it or they think that their customers won’t be interested. Do research on your competitors and find out if they are active on mobile – you can be sure not all of them are. There is a definite need amongst consumers to receive wireless communication from their favourite brands, so make use of the opportunity to sweep in and be the hero. Push your products and services It doesn’t matter if you want to drive consumers to your online business or your brick and mortar shop, Mobile Aggregation can help you to push your products and services. It doesn’t take much effort to write a mobile message and you can reach all of your customers at the same time – no matter where in the country they are. Build lasting relationships Of course, mobile communication isn’t about marketing alone. You can set up simple USSD menus for example that can function as a live consultant – customers can get answers fast or even order products from you. By making Mobile Billing an option, customers can pay you directly from their phones. And lets not forget that you can reward your customers for their loyalty with mobile vouchers. Make life easier for your employees...
Part 2: Mobile Advertising: from visitors to customers
How can you get visitors from going: “hmmm, this brand’s Mobile Advertisement looks okay” to: “wow, I want to be a customer”? In Part 2 we are looking at more methods that could help you achieve this. Work your Social Media Many marketers make the mistake of thinking that their marketing channels should be used separately – when in actual fact you achieve the best results when you make a synchronised, multi-channel effort. Some of your customers might live on Facebook while others prefer Twitter. If you only communicate with customers on one of your mobile social channels, those that aren’t using that specific channel will miss out – and so will your brand. Don’t be scared to work your social media – that is how you transform one-time customers into loyal ones. Be smart with your SMS messages SMS as a form of Mobile Advertising is often overlooked because it is so simple and straightforward. But here’s a little secret: texts can be used to communicate absolutely anything to your customers. Forget about hard selling for a minute. What if you could send a text to a web visitor every step of the way – from welcoming the person as a new customer to sending instructions on how to buy and use your products? You can even text invites to an event or send voucher codes. Because a SMS is personal, it makes the receiver feel like you are talking to him/ her directly. It always ads a nice touch and shows that you care. When you are using SMS for hard selling, never forget to include a...Get trendy with Direct Operator Billing
Direct Operator Billing is a service you can provide to your customers so they can pay you directly from their mobile phone. Why is it becoming a trend? What is in it for your business? It is Green If you are concerned about the earth (which we all should be) you will love this paperless way of conducting transactions. No cutting down trees or destroying the environment to print bills, invoices, statements, envelopes, post stamps etc. Money before goods Non-paying customers can seriously hurt your business. Online businesses in particular often struggle to get their money from customers – the moment the customer receives their delivery, they suddenly vanish. Other times cheques bounce or things just simply go wrong. With Intergrat’s Direct Operator Billing, you will receive confirmation if the customer will be able to pay you before you approve his/ her order. You save First of all, your business will save on costs because everything is paperless. But because the payment process is so transparent, you should also receive fewer refund requests or complaints. It is convenient for the customer The moment consumers have to jump through hoops to pay you, they start thinking twice about their purchases. Often times they decide that it’s not really worth all the hassle and they abandon their virtual shopping cart. Impulse consumers can also really boost your company’s bottom line. Make it easy for them to purchase your products on the spot by giving them Direct Operator Billing. Naturally, the easier you make it for consumers to shop, the more likely they are to return and make repeat purchases. Depending on...
Part 1: Mobile Advertising: from visitors to customers
Convincing people who see your Mobile Advertising to do anything more than simply glance at your ad, is no easy task. What can you do to turn visitors into customers? Have a mobile friendly website This one isn’t rocket science. If you have ever tried to view a website from your tablet or smartphone that hasn’t been optimized for mobile, you know exactly how frustrating it can be. After a while you simply give up trying to click, scroll and zoom like a person possessed. Your customers expect a smooth, easy-to-use and professional experience when they visit your mobile website. Make sure that you don’t disappoint, or visitors will drop off within seconds after clicking on your site. Keep your content short but sweet Mobile Advertising should always have a call-to-action and all the info your visitors need to make an informed decision about your products and services. Think this one through carefully – you need to walk that “just enough” line with your copy and images. Mobile users are fickle and they often lose interest quickly if they have to browse and search through content. Don’t forget to include your company’s contact details on there as well – some people might prefer to make a quick phone call rather than to submit a contact form. Invest in Mobile Banner ads Mobile banner ads can be real attention grabbers. Not having at least one will certainly put you at a disadvantage with your competitors. Again, make sure your ad contains a strong call-to-action telling the user exactly what you want them to do or what will happen if they...Why USSD is perfect for brands in South Africa
In South Africa and the African continent where Smartphone adoption is slow, USSD is a perfect way for brands to reach their customers instantly. Brands often find it hard to reach customers in rural areas through digital marketing. These customers are often consumers of more traditional marketing channels like newspapers, brochures, television and radio, and they don’t have access to laptops and computers. Cell phones are relatively cheap, thus the vast majority of these consumers own feature phones. The problem with feature phones is that they have limited capabilities. They might not always receive images or display them properly, and browsing the Internet can be a huge challenge as well. Luckily, this is where USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) comes in. Vodacom commercialized USSD in 2004 and since then many brands have reaped the rewards of this type of mobile service – like Boxer superstores and AVBOB. According to Mobitainment, Boxer stores were able to use a USSD driven competition to increase their sales from 300% to almost 1000% on selected products. Why? Because this form of mobile interaction worked like a charm for their target market. USSD Push and Pull messages works on every GSM capable handset. It is straightforward text – no glitz and glamour. Also, consumers are all very familiar with the working of USSD menus as most of them use these services to top up their airtime. Please Call Me’s are also USSD driven. It creates a two-way conversation between a customer and a brand in real-time – unlike SMS messages that are sometimes delayed. It also adds a personal touch to brand communication that...