Mobile Marketing Strategies for a Shoestring Budget

5 Mobile Marketing Strategies for a Shoestring Budget

Local mobile marketing is a virtual goldmine! But you wouldn’t know it studying the marketing activities of most local businesses…

While it’s true that the mobile revolution is here, local business owners are still struggling to catch up with changing consumer behavior. In a Web.com survey of 500 small-business owners, only 26 percent of respondents said they’ve invested time and in money mobile marketing ensuring that their site was optimized for mobile devices. Exactly what does this mean to you? It means you have a great chance to get noticed as a leader among local businesses—and poach competitors’ customers at the same time…

More than 50 percent of all searches are being done on a mobile device and you being a small business owner can take advantage of it. Even a small business on a budget can make use of these 5 mobile marketing strategies to target mobile users.

1. Optimize the Site for Mobile Users – Google did a survey and found that 61 percent of consumers will leave a website if it is not properly optimized for mobile users. Without a mobile optimized or mobile responsive website, whatever else falls by the wayside. Your website needs to be mobile friendly and available on all platforms.
2. Get into Mobile Ads – As surprising as it might seem, mobile ad platforms can be cheap and effective. Also, there is a lot of inventory going unsold every month, keeping prices down. Now would be the time to explore mobile ads.
3. SMS and Push Notifications – SMS messages have several advantages. First and foremost; they get opened. A lot. According to Frost and Sullivan, SMS messages offer an astounding 95 percent open rate! Push notifications are a great way to connect with your subscriber base.
4. Using Mobile with Your Social Media – Having the capability to connect real-time with your social networks and send links to coupons, specials, events or a link to your latest YouTube video is a quick way to not only increase traffic and buzz, but also to help your site’s search engine ranking. Google Hangouts are now becoming a new and exciting way to reach prospects in real-time.
5. Location Based Marketing and Passbook – Be sure you’re able to be found with the various location based mobile services like Foursquare and Yelp, as well as look into new technology like Passbook, a terrific new app that enables users to store coupons, boarding passes, gift cards, event tickets, store cards,  along with other types of mobile payment.

Using mobile marketing in local business doesn’t need to be either complicated or pricey. The secret is to collect knowledge first, and add pieces along the way.