Why Mobile Marketing Strategy is More Important Than Ever

HubSpot, the gurus of inbound marketing, ran an article this week that outlined 5 reasons for mobile marketing.  After looking at their reasons for jumping into the mobile marketing pool, I was inspired to come up with some reasons or applications of my own.

But first, I think it's worth noting that we should be at the point of recognizing that it's not about whether or not you should be doing mobile marketing.  The information that's out there proves without a doubt that "IF" is not the question, but rather "HOW" to make mobile devices a more powerful marketing tool for your organization and an engagement and buying vehicle for your customer.

First some facts.  I pulled this from HubSpot's post:

According to eMarketer, there will be 73.3 million smartphone users in the U.S. in 2011. And that number is only rising. It’s estimated that there will be more than 84 million by 2012 and over 100 million by 2014.

But here’s the number that really gets me. According to Michael Tasner in his book “Marketing in the Moment,” only 6% of businesses are doing any type of mobile marketing. And for companies with less than $10,000 in revenue per year (what we at HubSpot consider small businesses), only 0.5% of them mobile market. The book was published a year ago, so these numbers might be up a little, but not by much.

Really take a moment to think about these numbers and what they mean.  EVERYONE and their mother has - and is using a mobile device.  In fact, I can't remember what study came out recently that said that people are actually looking at their mobile devices BEFORE they get out of bed to do anything else!

Nearly 100 million people in the world are attached to their mobile devices and less than a fraction of small businesses is communicating with their customers in this way.

Now you see why I say this isn't an "IF" question but a "HOW" question.  Let's get to it.

#1: First to Market.  The basic rule of marketing that he who gets there first makes the most money applies to this situation.   This field is a wide open space and keyword phrases and words that are secured in other areas are available in this space.  There are currently advertising opportunities via apps as well as the opportunity to engage with customers for whom this is still new.  Remember the days when people were making a killing with email marketing before spam started -- yeah -- that's where we are in this space.  Start looking into this.

#2: Customer engagement.  High customer engagement equals higher profits.  Google's latest independent research, 74% of smartphone users have made a purchase as a result of using a smartphone. When it comes to search, 53% of smartphone users purchase something as a result of their smartphone search. That’s 53% of 73 million.

#3:  Lead Generation  Your customers have their phones with them all the time.  And they are willing to share slices of their time to make purchases OR answer questions.   You may not have thought about using surveys as a lead generation or qualifying tool before, but that's exactly what it becomes.  When your audience downloads the SurveySwipe application and answers a series of profiling questions -- they are in, essence qualifying themselves for future products or services.  When you ask them questions about specific preferences, wants or needs, they are taking themselves through a sales process.  If you integrate your product and service into the SurveySwipe rewards program, you are attracting your ideal customers and drawing them into new purchases by simply engaging with them via mobile device.

#4: Seamless integration. There is no questions that people want to be seamlessly connected.  They want to move from desktop to laptop to mobile device without skipping a beat.  Using the combination of SurveyAnalytics MicroPanel, IdeaScale and SurveySwipe you have the only platform on the planet that will allow for that kind of integration as it relates to gathering customer preferences and feedback.  Not only that, it doesn't occur to them as an intrusive survey - it's a conversation, it's idea generation, and the ability to customize their own experience with your organization.

#5: Ready-to-Use.  It used to be that only the multi-million dollar budgets could afford to use an integrated system like this.  But now DIY marketers can use it too.  The only difference for the low-budget set is that you will have to spend a little more time managing the pieces and parts.  Larger organizations will find this system appealing because it's ready to be customized, white-labeled and used within your marketing strategy right away.  It's a flexible system that you can make your own.

Mobile marketing is a trendy phrase right now -- but don't be fooled.  It's just another way to connect with your customer, be within arm's reach and sell them stuff.  Your customer wants a seamless customized experience and you will have to figure out how to deliver it.  Don't forget to use mobile devices as a vehicle to get that done.