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Posts tagged growing mobile industry
Small Business Marketing: How To Get Started With Mobile Apps
Mar 31st
Mobile Marketing has, in recent years, become a hugely successful way for small and mid-sized businesses to compete with their much larger counterparts.
The rate of mobile app marketing growth amongst smaller businesses has grown exponentially this year alone, with business owners realizing that smart phones are the way of the present and future, and scrambling aboard to offer their customers the features and perks that other, larger companies are offering. Small and mid-sized businesses may even have a distinct advantage over the competition.
Global non-profit Mobile Marketing Association defines mobile marketing as “a set of practices that enables organizations to communicate and engage their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network.” So what does that mean? Basically it just means that businesses are able to reach out to their customers through their smart phones. It seems pretty easy and straightforward, but it can be a complicated process, and many larger businesses have been reluctant to jump aboard thus far, to their own detriment. Small business owners have been wary too, but have recently begun to warm to the idea of mobile app marketing. We’re seeing a surge in small and middle sized businesses creating apps, offering exclusive mobile content, geo-fencing, and more.
Research mobile app marketing before you begin.
The best way to ensure that you’re going about mobile app marketing right is to firstly familiarize yourself with mobile app marketing hands-on. It’s as simple as obtaining a smart phone (if you don’t already have one) and downloading apps for the businesses and services you frequent. Check out how other business approach you through their app – do they send push notifications? What features do they offer? Can you order through the app, and if so, is it an easy process? What kind of loyalty rewards, incentives and promotions are offered? How many different apps are available for the same type of services? Which one is the best, and why?
Develop a mobile app that your customers will love.
Once you’ve done some hands-on research, then begin to take notes of your own business and how you might develop a mobile app. What can you offer your customers that your competitors cannot? How can you set yourself apart? Outlining your goals and objectives is paramount. Reach out to your customers and ask them directly – what might they want to see in a mobile app? Which features do they find necessary? Would they embrace direct messages and push notifications? Would they take part in a rewards program? Take the time to write down your goals and what you hope to get out of mobile marketing. Take account of the cost, of the time involved, and be really specific about the mobile presence you want your business to have. Taking the time to really lay out a plan can mean the difference in failing and succeeding.
With mobile app marketing also comes social media – the two go hand in hand!
Your business needs to be online, if you’re going to stay accessible in this day and age. If you haven’t already, set up a Twitter and Facebook – other sites like Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, and others may be relevant to the goods and services your business offers. Tie them into your mobile app, once you’ve got one started. The more ways you have to advertise and interact with customers, the better.
Keep it simple when you first start out.
There is no need to spend a ton of money on mobile app marketing. Mobile marketing can be adapted to fit even the smallest budget, through careful planning and research. As long as you are reaching your own goals and needs, and seeing a successful (no matter how modest) return on your mobile marketing strategies, you’re doing something right. With a platform like Bizness Apps, you can have a mobile app and a mobile website customized for your business for less than the cost of a newspaper ad!
Read more of our blog to find out more about mobile marketing, apps and more. Be sure to check out how to easily and cheaply develop an app for your business right here on our website!
How to Use Mobile Marketing to Benefit your Small Business
Mar 28th
We live in the age of the smart phone – there’s no doubt about it.
Nine out of 10 Americans have a cell phone, and over 50% of those cell phones are smart phones. The technology isn’t going anywhere, either. With smart phones getting “smarter” by the day, offering more and more helpful apps and features, people’s dependence on them is only going to grow. For a small business, the time to adapt to this market is now.
Making your business mobile-friendly is the best way to make yourself indispensable to your customers.
Below are a few tips to help you use mobile marketing to grow your small business:
• Start with developing a Mobile App – This is the first and foremost one that you need to do. Develop an app for your small business, and get it up and running as fast as you can. You’ll want a reliable, easy-to-use app that customers can navigate quickly, that will enable them to access all the features they need to do business with you. You want it to be functional, easy to maneuver, and also fun to use.
If you offer goods and services, make it possible for customers to order right from the app, and to enter their data (like payment info and addresses), to be saved for future reference. Those are the kind of features that customers love because it saves them time. You can also have two versions of your app – a free version, which is simplistic and easy, but also a “premium” version, for a small cost, that will offer some perks and content that the first one does not.
• Rewards and Perks – Everyone loves a rewards system, and you might be surprised at just how much more business you can get if you have a loyalty system in place with your customers and clients. If there is some incentive involved, customers are more likely to engage your app more often.
You can reward them with freebies every time they spend a certain amount, offer them weekly exclusive coupons for signing in every day, or even have contests and promotions every so often. Having these kinds of perks on your app will ensure brand awareness, bring more people to download the app, and then keep it.
• Push Notifications and User Specific Messages – More and more companies are implementing direct messaging into their apps. Allowing your customers to sign up for this will ensure that you can reach them at any time to offer them special deals, promotions and incentives – if you use geofencing in conjunction with your push notifications, you can even send messages to them when they are in your area! Keeping the messages short and sweet is imperative – flashy fonts and other flourishes only distract the customer and annoy them. Send small messages every now and again, based on the customer’s interest and needs. They will come to look forward to them, and keep using the app in the hopes of receiving more.
You’ll also want to make sure that the customer IS able to opt out if they so choose – not everyone wants to receive messages or notifications from the businesses they frequent. They need to be able to sign out of that service if they so wish, otherwise you could lose a customer.
These are just a few simple tips on how to get your small business mobile-ready.
Setting clear, obtainable goals for your business is really important when it comes to creating apps and making your business mobile friendly. The idea is to be more accessible to smart phone users, so always keep your website and its content optimized for mobile use, make sure your information is easily obtained and that the customer can access order pages and product information quickly.
Make sure you advertise regularly to bring new customers into the fold. Promotions, incentives and push notifications, used sparingly, will go a long way once you’ve got your app established. Also remember, excellent customer service is key! Having ease of access is nothing if there isn’t excellent support behind the scenes.
Looking to create a mobile app for your business? Check out Bizness Apps today!
Mobile Is Becoming the “First Screen”
Mar 12th
Screens, screens everywhere and not a moment to think…
If you’re like most people, your field of vision is generally full of screens throughout the day. Televisions, laptops, tablets, smartphones… you’re almost always looking at one or more of these things. And when you’re not looking at a screen, you’re trying to wrangle a pile of charger wires and get your device back in business.
But, when it comes to the relative importance of these screens, things are changing.
The “first screen”
Each person is different when it comes to which screen they consider their “base of operations.” For some, it’s the television, from which they get their morning news and unwind after work. For others, it’s a laptop (that they probably use with the TV on in the background). But for a growing number of people, and not just those that are highly mobile, the first screen has become a mobile device – either a tablet or a smartphone.
And in the near future, this increasing popularity of mobile technology is expected to lead to time spent on mobile overtaking time spent on desktop.
The trend makes a lot of sense, since mobile devices are always with us. They’re in pockets and pocketbooks throughout the day, so while we transition from place to place and perhaps use a variety of devices, the mobile device remains constant. Thus, time spent learning to use it pays off quite a bit, and familiarity continues uninterrupted. In addition, as many devices are released in successive generations year after year, fans and loyal users can become strongly attached to and deeply invested in their devices.
Implications for small business owners
Same as always!
As the evidence for continued mobile growth piles up year after year, mobile’s position as a critical marketing, customer service, and customer satisfaction tool becomes larger and larger. With customers migrating to mobile as a first screen, business owners that ignore mobile will experience a constant decline in the total number of people they can reach through traditional digital means (e.g. a non-mobile website). As of today, there’s no telling where this trend will stop, but it’s clear that a steadily growing portion of your audience is focused on mobile.
