B2B Marketing Promotions

There are currently 234 million mobile phone users in the US and 48% of those phones can access the internet. This presents a new opportunity for online retailers who are only starting to fully explore the depths of ecommerce capabilities.

With the world on the move, online retailers have the chance to increase sales by adapting their ecommerce platform to mobiles. Think about all of the time that people spend waiting in lines, on the bus and generally sitting around, where they are most likely on their smartphones communicating with their friends, playing games or shopping!

There are still so many etailers who haven’t fully figured out their platform and offering on desktops, and until they do they probably shouldn’t venture into something , which in many ways, is more complicated. But there is a certain amount of urgency, because the world has gone digital and those consumer brands who aren’t keeping up with the technology are going to fall far behind their competitors.

When building a mobile commerce site there are a few things to bear in mind.

Size and location:

People who are on route to your brick-and-mortar shop are likely to utilise their phones to access your address and store hours. Smart mobile commerce providers will use this to their advantage by selling advertisements in this space and generating more revenue for themselves.

Mobile commerce providers must remember that the size of a mobile phone screen is much smaller than that of a desktop. As a result graphics and functionality should be able to fit into the screen size of a mobile phone. Moreover, the content that’s included for a mobile site should be limited to the most important and relevant information.

Social Integration:

Undoubtably, you’ve noticed that most websites- ecommerce or otherwise- have embedded social plugins. The reason for this is because people love to share and socialise. The more people the Like your site or product, the greater the visibility it gets and the further your brand can spread and sales can soar. By integrating social features into your mobile commerce site etailers are setting themselves up for the same result.

Capturing Data:

If a user is on your site already, it is evident that there is an interest there. While you have their attention why not ask them for their email address and phone number? That way you can continue the conversation with them at a later time. This concept ties in nicely with ‘personalisation’ another component of successful ecommerce. By adapting your emails and promotional offers to the specific consumer based on purchase history etc. etailers have a chance to sell many more products.

Don’t waste any more opportunities – adapt your ecommerce technology to suit a mobile platform.

Adaptive Consultancy is a London-based digital agency
specialising in website design, eCommerce, and internet marketing,
including
SEO, PPC and SMO. For more on ecommerce solutions visit
http://www.adaptiveconsultancy.com/e-commerce/

There are billions of people in the world today that have mobile devices and smart phones, and it is becoming more and more important for your website to have some kind of mobile compatibility. This article will focus on how you can increase your website traffic and your business by providing mobile solutions.

A mobile website design is different than your regular website design because the screen resolution on a mobile device is much smaller, and the amount of bandwidth is significantly reduced. Therefore it would need to have a much smaller resolution in order to fit on the screen, and it would also need to have as little data as possible in order to load fast. By having a mobile website, you open yourself up to drastic increases in traffic by taking advantage of mobile search optimization instead of just traditional search engine optimization.

With the technological capabilities of smart phones increasing at a rapid rate, along with better mobile connectivity and even mobile broadband, this is a large and growing market that can not be ignored. It can be possible for these devices to view web content that was designed to be displayed on a computer monitor, but you can take your regular blog or website data and make it display in a way that is designed to be read on a smart phone. One way this can increase your overall website traffic is that once somebody finds your mobile website or blog by doing a search from their phone, they might look up the regular version of your site once they are back at their computer.

In addition to having a mobile-compatible version of your website, you can also have a custom mobile application. Depending on the topic of your website, the sort of mobile applications that you can create may be practically limitless, and each one can bring more people to your online business. For example, if you have a website about a financial topic such as the stock market, you could create a custom-tailored mobile application that is branded with your company name, which can allow users to gain access to stock ticker information through your website.

Or if you simply have a normal blog, you could have a mobile application created that will list the most recent updates to your blog and be branded with your blog’s logo. It is easy to outsource the creation of such a mobile application, and it can allow you to take advantage of the millions of search queries that are entered into mobile phones and smart phones. By making use of either a mobile version of your website, or a custom mobile application for your website (or both), you can maximize the amount of exposure you can get from the massive market of mobile phone users.

Mobile campaigns are great promotion tools. Because the use of smart phones and high speed wireless networks, companies are marketing more through mobile devices. It’s fast easy and trouble-free. The cost is less than a traditional advertising campaign, and it can offer have a bigger reach for their target audience.

Foursquare, a smartphone application and website, is actually a location-based app that turns your entire social life into a mobile campaign. Foursquare allows participants to take advantage of discounts, special promotional offers to mayors (people who have checked into a location more than anyone else).

Jagtag launched a mobile campaigns promotion for Axe as part of the launch of their newest addition to the Axe fragrance portfolio: Axe Twist. The target audience of this mobile campaign was males between the ages of 18 – 24, a group that is more than known for its use of cell phones and smart phones.

Because Jagtag is the provider of video, audio, images and text to both smartphones and standard phones, mobile campaigns like this are not too difficult. Marketers who want to try mobile campaigns would do well to find an agency already expert at creating their own.

Starbucks, the leading competitor in coffee today, gets the importance of mobile campaigns. In fact, they partnered with Foursquare, which gave mayors of the individual stores a special promotional offer: “As mayor of this store, enjoy $1 off a NEW however-you-want-it Frappuccino blended beverage. Any size, any flavor.”

On a smaller, but possibly more successful level, Scotty’s Brewhouse of Indianapolis, Indiana credits social networking strategies and mobile campaigns for a majority of their success. Back when social media was taking off, owner Scotty Wise cut his advertising and marketing budget for his 6-location chain, and focused solely on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, saving a total of $250,000. Their concern was that none of the ad salespeople could promise him an ROI on their ad spending. So rather than blow $250,000 on techniques that could not prove an ROI, Scotty created the restaurant’s social media and mobile campaigns, and managed them himself. The long and short of it is that Scotty’s has seen an increase in business through social media, all of which is measurable, and he has not had to lay large amounts of cash to see the increase.

These are just a few of the many marketers who have found success through mobile campaigns. They focus on the new advertising and marketing channels, like mobile phones, targeting their audience, forming relationships, and giving them some entertainment and additional value in the process.

Mobile promotions dovetail seamlessly with your company’s marketing objectives. While you want to increase sales and improve your revenue base, there are several ancillary goals you need to meet along the way. For example, you want to improve your brand awareness to consumers; you want to attract consumer data for future CRM efforts; you want to increase customer loyalty and drive traffic – both online and offline. Mobile promotions provide the lever to accomplish each of these goals. And they do so at a cost that fits nearly every marketing budget.

As cell phones, PDAs, and other mobile devices have flourished, they have created a new marketing platform from which you can engage your audience. Below, you’ll discover how to use mobile promotions, such as SMS promotions, mobile coupons, and ringtone promotions, to capture valuable mindshare within your market. Once you catch the attention of consumers in a way that excites them, motivating them to take action becomes far easier.
Mobile Promotions Leverage Affordable Digital Incentives
Even if your profit margins are healthy, every marketing budget has inherent constraints. It is critical that you offer incentives to your audience that are as affordable as they are engaging.

Mobile promotions are delivered digitally to consumers’ mobile devices. As a result, the cost of delivery is extraordinarily low. This is the case whether you’re allowing consumers to download songs, play instant win games, enter sweepstakes, or redeem mobile coupons. Because mobile promotions are comparatively inexpensive, you can launch them while continuing to leverage conventional marketing platforms, such as print and DOOH signage.

How Mobile Promotions Motivate Customers To Respond

The right incentives can drive market participation regardless of your product. The key is to offer incentives that your customers find immediately appealing. This is one of the unique advantages of launching mobile promotions. Consumers can download digital content (e.g. songs, games, images, etc.) instantly to their mobile devices. They can enter contests and sweepstakes for a chance to win alluring prizes.

When you launch mobile promotions to your audience, you’re not only offering consumers attractive incentives, you’re giving them an opportunity to enjoy instant gratification. Those two levers complement each other. In doing so, they trigger a response from your customers.

Mobile Promotions Capture The Mindshare Of Your Audience

If there were no other demands on your customers’ time and attention, motivating them to buy your product would be simple. The reality is that your audience is inundated with a constant torrent of offers and solicitations. Consumers instinctively erect a mental wall that deflects them. That means there’s a high likelihood your market is unaware of your product or uninformed with regard to its benefits. Mobile promotions offers a seductively simple solution.

Free song downloads, instant win games, and mobile coupons can quickly penetrate the mental wall your market has built to block other companies’ offers. These digital incentives tap into your audience’s desire for instant gratification. They are irresistible. They capture mindshare and engage your customers. As a result, your customers become attentive to your message, and far more likely to purchase your product.

Leveraging Mobile Coupons And SMS Promotions

While mobile promotions increase brand awareness, attract customer data, and educate consumers about your product, mobile coupons lift sales and improve customer loyalty. For example, you can use them to reward loyal customers with discounts, thereby driving repeat sales. You can also use them to entice consumers to try a product that you have recently launched. You can leverage these type of mobile promotions to temper the impact of price increases, or to move excess inventory.

Mobile coupons can be delivered to your customers’ cell phones and PDAs through text messages. You can communicate the offer, expiration date, and any other relevant information through short, targeted SMS promotions. Consumers can redeem your coupons at the point of sale in-store or online. Plus, because these mobile promotions use redemption-based incentives, you can easily control the financial risk.

How To Take Advantage Of Mobile Promotions

You have access to a broad menu of engaging and affordable mobile promotions that you can leverage to tap into your market and trigger a response. Ringtone promotions, free music downloads, instant win games, and sweepstakes are attractive to consumers on an instinctive level. They are seductive because they offer instant gratification. As a result, mobile promotions help you capture valuable mindshare, delivering your message to an attentive audience.

By capturing your customers’ attention, you can educate them about your product and its benefits. You can motivate them to purchase, and collect opt-in data for future CRM campaigns. And in the process, you can improve the loyalty they feel toward your company. Mobile promotions can propel your brand ahead of other companies struggling to reach your customers. In today’s competitive environment, that edge can be priceless.

–Cynthia Walker, Promotional Currency