Smartphone Users Are Calling. Are You Ready to Answer?

Ring a Ling, Hear Them Ring with Mobile Marketing

Looking for the best post-holiday bargains? Check your phone.

Earlier in 2011, Google predicted that almost half of total searches for last minute gifts and store locator terms would be from mobile devices this past holiday season. No doubt this trend will continue on this year as the number of smartphone users grows.

This is something to phone home about. Unless you don’t have much of a mobile presence.

Wait––don’t hang up. Here’s the 4-1-1: If you haven’t already, you need to prepare a marketing plan for smartphone users or you could lose a chunk of change in 2012. When it comes to researching products and services––and purchasing––the masses are going mobile.

Consider these statistics:

• It takes 90 minutes for the average person to respond to an email. It takes 90 seconds for the average person to respond to a text message. (Source: CTIA.org)
• 70% of all mobile searches result in action within 1 hour. (Source: Mobile Marketer)
• Mobile coupons get 10 times the redemption rate of traditional coupons. (Source: Borrell Associates)

Mobile is here to stay. If you don’t have much of a mobile presence, it’s time to get busy. Start with these basics.

Show Up

As Woody Allen put it, “Eighty percent of success is simply showing up.” When mobile consumers search for products or businesses, they’re typically ready to act quickly, or in marketing terms, “intent is high.” If you don’t show up, you lose.

Mobile consumers generally find businesses in three ways––search engines, maps and directories, which sometimes come with their own location-based apps like Yelp, Urban Spoon or Trip Advisor. Be sure you’re findable and that your profile on these directories and networks is current. There’s nothing less inviting than a Facebook Page with a big “?” as your profile picture.

Play Nicely

Once a user finds you, what’s next? They want information. Mobile users’ behavior is different from those online. It’s crucial to have a website that’s optimized for them. This basically means skipping the fancy graphics to instead provide key features or information that are no more than one click away (click-to-call, mapping/directions, menu, reservation links or any coupons or specials you can use as incentives).

Become a User Yourself

If you haven’t already, try mobile marketing for yourself––as a consumer. If you’re like most people, you’ve never scanned a QR code or clicked on a mobile banner ad. But to use mobile marketing effectively as a marketer, it helps to understand it from the consumer’s point of view, so dive in. Search, scan, check in with location-based apps, visit mobile-optimized sites and familiarize yourself with the mobile world that is connected 24-7.

We want to know––has mobile marketing been effective for you in the past year? Are you planning to incorporate it into your marketing plan in 2012?