If your business isn’t mobile, you’re at a significant disadvantage. Six out of 10 of businesses target customers with open email campaigns for digital devices, according to a 2013 survey by marketing firm Movable Ink. Consumers also rely on their smartphones to perform product searches, check service reviews and make purchases. Your social-marketing strategy is not complete without mobile business tools that reach your on-the-go customers.
1. Mobile Website
A mobile website is a simpler version of your business’s desktop website that can be opened and easily accessed on a smartphone or tablet. When a client clicks on your business’s URL, the mobile device will instruct the browser to load the mobile site. The design may include only one column, large buttons, links, and only the essential information about your business. If it offers product or service purchasing, the e-commerce steps should be easy to navigate on a small interface. Many professional themes offered through self hosted WordPress.org sites are mobile friendly such as my web site. Google researchers found 67 percent of smartphone users prefer to make purchases on a mobile website.
2. Google Offers
Google Offers is an Internet coupon tool like LivingSocial that sends a discount or promotion to a customer email list. A smartphone can save a mobile-friendly version of a redeemed offer. It also provides the merchant a code to scan. No printing is necessary. A mobile notification will alert customers prior to the coupon’s expiration date.
3. Free Mobile Apps
Creating and customizing a free mobile app is a few simple clicks away. I prefer and use the services at Pixtas.com. Small businesses need every mobile tool available, why not an easy to set up and free app? Click this link for the free iPhone or Android app for Maria Snyder Consulting, get yours now!
4. Google Places for Business
A local informational and review website will help your on-the-go customers find your brick-and-mortar location. Yelp is a widely used site that draws 86 million users per month, and the app has been downloaded 9.2 million times, Search Engine Journal reports. Through Google Places for Business, your business can also display its address, reviews, photos, hours, and other essential information on a Google search page based on an SEO ranking. Ensure your business’s local Web details are accurate from the outset.
5. TextUs.Biz
Send a coupon, sale announcement or appointment confirmation to a customer with a text message, and receive one from them in return. TextUs.Biz costs a few cents per message, and the view rate is high. Use the service to send a campaign or an individual message.
Guest post by: Robert Coleman
Robert is a serial entrepreneur with six small businesses under his belt.
