Marketing

Why Mobile Marketing Will be Essential in 2012

December 23, 2011 by Kari Rippetoe

You’ve probably read at least 100 blog posts listing the big marketing and social media trends for 2012 (our 5 social media trends included) – I know I have. It’s that annual tradition that starts around October and continues right into January – lists of tools to use, companies to watch, everything you should be thinking about when it comes to marketing in the new year. And a lot of what you’re reading isn’t necessarily new stuff; but they are things that will grow and become more popular, and therefore, should be worthy of your attention and consideration.

Mobile is one of those trends. It’s been listed on many a marketing trend list for 2012. Mobile marketing has been around for a few years and has gained momentum since the advent of the iPhone; but why is it suddenly the hot marketing platform for 2012?

To start, here are some stats from Mobithinking.com, which we talked about at a recent Foundation Center DC seminar on social media trends for 2012:

90% of mobile phone users interact with it daily.
85% of handsets will be able to access the mobile web by the end of 2011.
Smartphones will overtake “feature” phones (those handsets that allow for calling and texting only) in 2012. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore those using feature phones – still a big segment of your customers and prospects.

Another stat that shows the importance of mobile: many mobile users are mobile-only – 25% of mobile Web users in the US, in fact. They rarely use their desktop, laptop, or even tablet device (although that last one could change significantly over the next couple of years).

Mobile marketing can be implemented in a number of ways, including:

Making your website mobile-friendly or creating a mobile version: Perhaps easier said than done, but there are a number of low- and no-cost tools out there to help you if you don’t have the web design and development resources to do it for you. Google also launched a free tool for building a mobile landing page this year.
Developing a mobile app: Again, resources for building a mobile app may be an issue; but tools such as AppMakr can help you build your own – no coding required. There are lots of mobile app building tools out there, both free and paid, and this exhaustive list will help you choose the one right for you.
Using QR codes: This is one of the easiest ways to get into mobile marketing. QR codes are most effective in offline places like print and signage – where people only need to scan the code with their phones to easily access your content. QR codes are easy to create using free tools like Delivr or even URL shortener Bitly, and can direct people to any content you want – like your mobile-friendly website, a product information page, or a video.
Leveraging location-based services: If you have a physical location (like a retail store or event of some sort) establish a presence on a location-based service like Foursquare. It’s free and a great way to get people interacting with your business or organization through their phones. You can also offer check-in specials and provide tips on your page to help your customers (such as staff favorites, off-the-menu items or secret discounts).
Launching an SMS text campaign: I don’t know about you, but I see more people texting than talking on their phones! Texting campaigns can be a bit more time- and labor-intensive to collect mobile phone numbers, plus it can get expensive depending on the size of your database and provider rates. But, check out tools like TextMarks (their ad-supported Lite version is free) and EZTexting for some relatively low-cost options.

How you use mobile marketing all comes down to what will be the best fit for your business or organization. A location-based service may not make the best sense for an online-only e-commerce site, but a mobile app may help customers choose the best product to buy. Determine what goals you want to achieve with mobile marketing, then look at what other similar businesses and organizations are doing for ideas.

Do you you plan on adding mobile to your marketing mix in 2012?

What is Social Media Optimization?

November 30, 2011 by Kari Rippetoe

Bryan Haines of About Online Business/Hosting recently interviewed me on social media optimization. This is an excerpt from his post. You can read the full interview here.

Bryan: To get started, maybe you can clarify: What is social media optimization?

Kari: Social media optimization (SMO) is basically optimizing your website and content to be as socially-shareable as possible. How easy is it for people to share your content via social media, and how present are you on social media so people can connect with you.

Bryan: How does social media optimization (SMO) differ from search engine optimization (SEO)?

Kari: SEO is a method by which you optimize your website content so it can be easily found in search engines. But, SMO factors greatly into your search engine visibility. As I mentioned before, SMO is about making it easy for people to share your content. Valuable and shareable content continues to be king – and how much your content is shared is becoming an important factor when it comes to search engine rankings. Run any search on Google and you see a +1 button on every result – a +1 for a certain result is a recommendation, increasing that site’s exposure. Any links you share within Google+ are also picked up in Google search results. So, while SMO is different from SEO, it’s also an important SEO strategy.

Bryan: What components are involved to properly optimize a site for social media?

Kari: I think the foundation of SMO is to create content that people will value and share. But what will people value? Listen to and monitor social media channels to find out what people are sharing and what they want to learn. Then, give them what they want. Use this data as a basis for creating content that will help them.

Secondly, it’s important to make sharing easy. Do your blog posts have social sharing buttons in an easy-to-spot place? Do you provide ways for videos, slide presentations and other documents to be embedded?

Bryan: What role does SMO play in online reputation management?

Kari: It plays a huge role! Actively staying on top of your social media presence by updating it with relevant content (your own and from others), making your content easily shareable, and engaging with other people will help you build and maintain a positive online reputation.

Bryan: It seems like every day there is a new network being launched. And they are becoming much more specific. How can a business owner know where to direct their efforts?

Kari: Social networking fatigue can be a big pitfall, and it can be difficult for marketers and business owners to figure out where they should be. Basically, they should direct their efforts where it makes the most sense. Don’t feel like you should be everywhere in social media just because it’s new and available. Do some research to find where your prospects and customers are hanging out – this may even include surveying them to find out what social networks they use.

Read the rest of Kari’s interview here!

Google+ Pages for Business Launches: First Thoughts

November 8, 2011 by Kari Rippetoe

Since Google+ first launched in June, the question on the minds of many people (especially those of us in the social media “biz”) was when they would launch a platform for businesses to compete with Facebook pages. Google sure didn’t wait long. Less than 2 weeks after announcing that Google+ Pages would be launched in November, they rolled it out in rather quick fashion – within just a day. Sure, it was slightly haphazard (this page led many to believe they could create their page, when in fact it hadn’t been rolled out to them yet); but Google really didn’t muck around.

We’ve created a Google+ Page for Tuvel Communications, so I’ll be playing around with it a bit more in the coming days. I talked about Google+ as a big social media trend to watch in 2012 at a recent seminar we gave, and even though it’s still early days, I’m excited to see what the future will bring for business pages. Google still has some work to do, though.

I really like the idea of being able to share content with targeted Circles of people, which really brings content and marketing relevancy to a new level in social media. If you were able to get your customers on Google+ and then add them to Circles based on their purchases, interests, industry, etc., you’d have a strong content delivery platform at your fingertips. Not to mention the ability to create Hangouts (basically live video chats) with your circles.

I’ve noticed that a business cannot add people to a Circle until they’ve added the business first, which I think is a bit of a speedbump. The Google+ crowd is still very much comprised of early adopters, so businesses have to clear two hurdles in order to deliver content to their customers – first, getting them on Google+, and second, getting them to add the business to a Circle. A third potential hurdle is getting people to actually use Google+ once they’re on it. Social media fatigue might cause many to wonder why they need to join yet another social network, and it won’t be just so a business can bombard them with more marketing messages. As Google+ grows, marketers will begin to figure out how to best utilize Google+ Pages and deliver value to their customers in a new way.

What are your thoughts? Do you think Google+ Pages will become the next big social network that brands and businesses must be a part of, or is Facebook too much to compete with?