Marketing has drastically changed over the last 20 years. A well-placed poster or billboard used to be an effective way to grab someone’s attention. Nowadays, most of us don’t notice these ads because we’re glued to our phones. The solution: target your marketing towards customers’ phones instead!
There are lots of ways in which you can connect to customers through their smartphones. Below are 7 of the most effective examples.
Telesales
A phone call can still be an effective way to convert customers. Admittedly, cold calls are not so effective nowadays – many of us ignore and block calls from unknown numbers, plus you need to be careful where you obtain phone numbers from. Instead, telesales is more effective on warm leads (potential customers you’ve already spoken to) and existing/past customers. This post offers some telesales tips that could be worth trying. Alternatively, you can outsource telesales if you find this task daunting.
SMS marketing
SMS (short message service) marketing involves marketing via text message. Texts are more likely to be read than emails and have a higher click-through rate. The downside is that they cost more to send and you have a restricted character limit. Most companies who use texts as a marketing medium do it via text mailing lists in which customers opt in. These mailing lists are a great way to advertise new products and exclusive discounts. You can compare some of the top rated SMS tools here.
QR codes
While less people pay attention to print media nowadays, there are still some people who notice a poster or a flyer. And you can in fact use print media to connect to people’s smartphones – QR codes allow smartphone users to easily visit your company website by scanning the code with their phone camera. It’s much more convenient than customers having to type out your website address, plus you can track how many visitors you’re getting from QR codes to measure the success of your print advertising.
A customer app
A growing number of companies are developing their own mobile app as an added way to connect with customers. You could allow customers to order through your app at a discount, while promoting other deals and new products via push notifications. There are simple app builders you can use to make a basic customer app. Alternatively, you can hire a software development company to build a more unique and elaborate app. Just be wary that building an app from scratch isn’t cheap – and the more detailed you make it, the more it will cost.
Mobile SEO
SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of increasing your presence on search engines like Google and Bing. Nowadays, most people use search engines on their cell phones rather than on a desktop or laptop. While most SEO rules apply to mobile phones, there are some differences in how search engine results display. A mobile SEO campaign can help you target phone users using search engines. This includes using local keywords to target mobile users on the go, adding call buttons to search engine listings and making sure that you display on Google Maps.
Social media marketing
A lot of us use social media heavily on our cell phones. By creating company pages on different social media platforms, you can keep existing customers updated on company news and deals via regular posts. You can also use social media adverts to reach out to new customers. Images and videos are some of the best ways to stand out on social media. There are social media advertising companies that can help you create content. You can also connect with influencers that have a large following and get them to promote your company via their channel.
Email marketing
Many of us also read our emails on our phones. Emails can display a lot more information than texts and are cheaper to send. However, there is more competition and the click through rate is much lower than texts. Eye-catching subject lines are key to getting customers to open emails. Phone screens display even less characters of a subject line than a laptop or PC screen – therefore it’s important to keep email subject lines snappy and include the most exciting words first (like ‘win’ and ‘30% off’) in order to entice people to open your emails. While you can use cold emails to attract new customers, promotional emails are often best suited to connecting with existing customers via mailing lists.
