Mobile is the 800 pound marketing gorilla. It is neither breaking news nor a marketing revelation that the importance of SmartPhones as a marketing tool has grown exponentially. For many advertisers, these facts are overlooked in the budgeting and the marketing plans for more traditional advertisers. I've always had an affinity for the saying "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." So, although I don't think mobile actions should be overlooked, I don't think they should necessarily be immediately embraced.
As you review mobile marketing capabilities, you have to evaluate which ones have the best potential impact for your business and whether you are prepared to capitalize on the potential increase of mobile inquiries, responses, or calls. There are some adaptations to the mobile revolution that every advertiser must make. Chief among these is having a responsive design website. Responsive design is no longer a “nice extra”, but is now imperative with the latest Google algorithm update factoring in when delivering search results whether your site is mobile friendly. Here is a partial list of some of the newer marketing capabilities of mobile that your business may want to consider:
- Geo-fencing (some vendors use other terms) – This is a capability of identifying and targeting people who are potentially located in your specific geographical area. This has obvious implications for restaurants, retail stores, walk-in medical clinics, etc.
- Pay Per Call - Google is now experimenting with and offering a Pay Per Call capability, which from what I understand, is structured similarly to Pay Per Click. The important issue for this type of program is figuring out what hours you would want your Pay Per Call ad served, and making sure your call answering capabilities are prepared for the possible increase.
- Google Local - Google has been putting a tremendous emphasis on delivering localized results. Make sure your “Google My Business” profile is as robust as possible, and pay attention to your Google+ account even though it has become an underperforming social media environment.
- Competitive Price Shopping - Mobile has probably had its greatest impact on consumers' ability to get immediate competitive pricing information while in your place of business. This puts additional pressure on businesses to make sure you're constantly checking and updating your competitive pricing strategy. Knowing where you stand in the competitive pricing landscape helps you determine your in-store marketing strategy. Major retailers are responding with price matching strategies which may not always be viable for small businesses. The greater emphasis on the in-store marketing strategy may need to be focused on the buying or shopping experience along with greater customer service.
- Mobile App Marketing - A variety of mobile apps which have large audiences offer unique opportunities to market to the users of these apps. Pandora, The Weather Channel, radio and TV station's apps all provide such opportunities. I believe that a critical element in evaluating the use of mobile app advertising is to critically evaluate how the advertising message is delivered within the app. Small banner ads have limited value, but ads delivered within the information stream of the app can be effective. As with mobile ads, all the ads have the unique capability of click-to-call.
In the end, when making your marketing decisions about capitalizing on these new capabilities, it still boils down to how effectively the message is delivered and how prepared your business is to respond to the expectations of the mobile user. More and better accessibility to a target audience is a good thing, but by no means guarantees better results.
